Monday, November 18, 2013

The snow is here as are the nights below zero and Henry loves it as long as the sled is part of the equation. And if dump truck and excavator are in the mix, well that is always a cause for happiness. I'd like it if we could get another snow dump or two to get the nordic ski trails ready to go. We are making ice every day, so the hockey skates will be in motion within a week.

On Saturday the sun had long set and the temps plunged quickly into the low teens, yet Henry only wanted to keep sledding down the hill at Baxter elementary. As chilly as that was, the truth is that he was geared up just fine. The cheeks never became fullly blown red and the smiles continued, so we kept sledding away. I did wisely text ahead to Becky for some hot (eh, more so warm) chocolate for the big guy.  After an hour at 12 degrees he happily chugged down his treat.

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Monday, November 11, 2013

We all piled in the 4Runner for a Sunday field trip to Costco. Henry's buckles were snapped in and Becky turned the key.

Groan, click, click, click.

We sighed. "Try it again."

Click, click, click. "Well, time for a new battery."

The day before it started but needed to crank really hard. The battery is 12 years old, so we quickly decided to buy a new one. The field trip rolled back into the house and Henry ran for the fridge, opened it, grab something, and shut the door. Very quickly he walked to where I stood and placed a package of AAA batteries in front of me. Problem solved.

When I returned with a new battery I was told that all of the cars had been placed uniformly on the kitchen floor. When Becky asked what was happening to the cars she was given a simple answer. "Car needs a battery."

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Friday, November 8, 2013

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Sometimes you see the wheels spinning clearly in Henry's eyes and for a brief moment you know precisely the assumptions and choices that led him to his present conclusion. If you blink you'll miss your chance and the revealing moment will scurry back into the ether (like Bigfoot into the deep woods). I cherish these moments when I catch them.

Whenever Henry sprouts a new 1/4 inch in height, he drifts around and tries to touch everything he couldn't the week before. Call it doing rounds. He's still unable to flick on our gas fireplace, but is close enough to call my attention to the switch. He stretched his arm up as much as he could and showed deep desire in his eyes.

"That switch isn't safe. We can't turn the fire on." I waved my hands in a "no" sign.

He processes it for a few moments, then almost turned white.

"The fire isn't safe."

He seriously looked around the room and keyed in on the baseboards. He then began slowly touching the baseboards, looking up at the switch, meeting my eyes, and then repeated himself -- all with deep intensity.

The conclusion was clear -- that switch made fire shoot out of our baseboards. If he wants to believe that and stay away from the switch, I think that's great.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Now that the dust has settled on Halloween we can confirm that Henry collected a ton of candy thanks to two Trunk-or-Treats and a single lap through a Chugiak subdivision.

The odd thing is that we had zero visitors at our home. Knowing we would be away, we turned on the porch light and placed a basket of candy on the salt bucket, clear and obvious. Because I'm wired up this way, I counted 15 kit-kats to lay on top of the plethora of suckers. There was plenty of candy for all visitors, but knowing how many kit-kats were in play would allow us to reverse engineer the happenings. All 15 remained. What a dud. I can't think they pushed them aside to get at the suckers.

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After many years unscathed in the hands of cousins Cody and Nick, Henry has become the one to defeat the forklift. To be clear, lately it has been declared a Feller Buncher and has spent its time lifting and cutting plastic trees. Maybe those trees were just too big (probably redwoods).

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Friday, November 1, 2013


I hadn't anticipated putting on a few bits of a costume, but my foreman below seemed to encourage it. (Also, it seemed wise given the dark streets in Chugiak). Whether Henry was Bob the Builder, a regular construction guy, or Uncle Randy, the important fact is that he was on the job and ready to drive a Feller Buncher.

Off we walked holding Henry's hands, his bag, and wearing a few blinking lights. Thanks to the warmer (38 degrees) weather this year and Henry's longer legs, we added a few more homes and cul-de-sacs to our route. He was up for all of it and his "trick or treat" and "thankyou" only grew in volume and confidence as the night wore on. We only assisted in carrying him up some staircases (to speed things up) and politely pulling his hand away as he began to grab for repeat handfuls. He was in a groove.



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Unlike times past, he's Randy's buddy all day long.


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