It's daylight now from 5:30 am to 10 pm, with that range expanding by the day. The snow is melting at the slowest pace since 2002, but sometime before July it will be gone. In the meantime, the rays of sunlight are trickling through our bedrooms blinds sooner and sooner and Henry knows it. He's rustling a bitter earlier in the morning and itching for more fun outdoors.

He's still in love with dragging his boots out in the evenings, and has now extended that fun to the middle of the day. The first time he gave it a try Becky was quick to chuckle and caution that the boots were for the evening (If we must live with indoor stomping and jumping, let's at least sanction it). He left them at her feet undeterred, and steadfastly headed for his pile of winter clothing. Soon there was a deliberate pile of snow pants, jacket, hat, and gloves, coupled with firm pointing at the baby backpack.

"Hike. Hike."
"Daddy will take you when he gets home."

When I got home I heard all about the B-O-O-T-S and the H-I-K-E and quickly agreed. We've been on a hike through the bog every night lately and Hank loves it. Henry gets to point at birds, the faint outline of the moon, announce "puppy" to every dog that passes, and kick and buck when a plane traces the skyline. Spring and summer are coming.

Henry's words are spurting out at an incredible rate these days, and from that Henry is able to express preferences and desires more than ever. I'm sure his language will slow down at some point, but right now it is in overdrive. We endlessly enjoy asking him to repeat cowboy, people, grandpa, and peek-a-boo.

Whenever bedtime is within 60-90 minutes, we'll find Henry carrying his boots to us with the simple statement, "Boots." The boots need to be firmly strapped on so a happy Hank can run and bounce around the first floor. I don't know where this desire came from, but his ease at saying boots seems to have been a big part of it. The carpeting will be getting a good steam cleaning in a few months, so have at it cowboy.



My reading is that anything an adult is doing is something that Henry needs to sign up for. Daddy wears his keycard/fob to work, so Henry needs it. I'd like him to go in to work for me and handle calls from my client.

"The JMS piece seems to fail to deploy when I start the app server."
"Hockey. Cocoa. Monkey."

If you were to ask for bullet points regarding Henry's Easter, they'd probably break out this way:

• Henry wore a charming sweater vest. It was slimming.
• He needed coaxing to find the eggs, but eventually enjoyed the spirit of the search.
• As with most held things, they are flung to the ground in happiness at some point.
• If it makes noise, shake it so it makes more noise.

This video has it all.

Easter really snuck up this year. We ended up with typical near 40 degree highs, though we had heavy snow and bitter cold the preceding week, tricking us into just hoping the drive out to Randy and Kelly's wouldn't be on a sheet of 20 degree ice. All ended up sunny and dry. We may get another dump before it is all over, but it sure does seem like we are in break up. The Nenana Ice Classic feels closer than ever, and our 4 tickets feel lucky.

Henry helped color eggs the safest way we could manage it -- with water based markers. We'll give the 'ol Paas kit a try next year(we grabbed one on the after Easter blowout sale at Walmart). Henry chipped up a poor egg in the process, but that's the price of forward motion around here.



Easter dinner was delicious as usual and Henry plowed through his mashed potatoes like a champ. When you enjoy the photos, know that his smiles are powered by plenty of ham and yukon golds.

Henry received a few toys from the Easter Bunny, which was more than enough to pull all his attention far away from any of the dozen hidden eggs. After some prodding he did find a few, but those new toys were just too magnetic. If a few hot wheels and a toy house are enough to keep him riveted, we're in for a smooth ride as parents.