Henry is FIVE!

Henry turned five on 2/26. How can it be?? Five is like a real life, bona fide, KID! Where has the time gone? I seriously feel like our precious boy was born just yesterday. He made us parents and changed our world! Below is his little bday questionnaire along with a bunch of notes on the past 6 months. I could write a book, so I just have to stop myself at some point!

1. What is your favorite color? Red
2. What is your favorite toy? Stuffed animals (all)
3. What is your favorite fruit? Strawberries
4. What is your favorite tv show? Cat and the Hat
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? pretzels, cheese, crackers (He still eats a peanut butter and honey sandwich everyday at school-he's a creature of habit just like Daddy!)
6. What is your favorite outfit? Slicky clothes (ie-sports clothes)
7. What is your favorite game? Hide and Seek
8. What is your favorite snack? Cheese-its, Trail Mix
9. What is your favorite animal? Flamingo (ha!) This seemed weird to me, so I asked him another day and he said cheetah and mountain lion
10. What is your favorite song? He's Got the Whole World in His Hands
11. What is your favorite book? Curious George, Jesus Storybook Bible
12. Who is your best friend? Eli and Abby
13. What is your favorite cereal? Raisin Bran
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Ride on my Scooter
15. What is your favorite drink? Sprite (This is new as in just a few months ago he tried it. He says he likes it, but it is funny because when we order it for him he just takes a few sips. He knows it is special and a big kid thing, but I'm not sure if he actually likes it or just the idea of it! He does like juice, water, milk, though!)
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Big blankie (gray and white one)
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cereal, doughnuts (special treat-I had to remind him that this was an option!)
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Pizza
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A veterinarian

Henry's #1 love is still arts and crafts. We say that's where he finds his true joy!:) We hope he can get into some actual classes maybe this summer since he enjoys it so much. He is a very focused worker. This is a trait I hear from ALL of his teachers (each day is a different teacher at school), and we see it at home as well. He is this way about his art as well as his school type work (writing, math, cutting, coloring, etc). His Pre-K teachers will say that he chooses to continue working on his school work rather than go play! He will extend whatever they've taught and whatever activity they've done by continuing it and adding onto it (ie-they all make a rainbow out of tissue paper, then he also makes one out of construction paper. They all make a shield, then he makes a sword to go with it...then a couple of days later a breastplate of righteousness!). Then oftentimes at home he will re-create whatever he has learned at school as soon as he walks in the door! He also will visualize what he wants before he goes to do it. We see him stopping to just think aka "dream" about what he wants his project to look like before he begins. Then he will work and work to get it like he wants it. Grandma recently noticed this when she was keeping him at home during sickness. He made a monkey, giraffe, whale, and tiger all on his own and thought it all up himself. He cut out tons of little pieces of paper and put them in a pile (to us it would look like trash). Then he assembled it all into these perfect creations! He asks for tape and glue and scissors ALL.THE.TIME.
We love this about him, but sometimes his little perfectionist qualities can drive us bonkers, too, as he has a hard time quitting a project or gets upset if something does not look how he wants it. He is like his daddy in this way rather than me!! He is very meticulous. One example of this was when we were wrapping Christmas gifts and were using striped paper. I had it wrapped around and was about to tape it, but he stopped me to tell me that it wasn't right. On the underneath part the stripes were slightly off and not lined exactly up!! Steven agreed (oh brother!!), so I re-adjusted it for them!! Oh, and related to that, Henry wrapped quite a few gifts for Christmas. I just gave him the supplies, and he went to town. I didn't help him cut, tape, or fold a single thing. He actually did a really nice job!! And he loved doing it, of course. This translates to his clothes folding abilities, too. He and I fold clothes together and he does them perfectly-lays them out flat on the ground and then works until he gets a perfectly folded bundle to stack with the rest of the laundry.

Henry still loves all music and really seems to have an ear for it. He picks songs up SO quickly-we are always amazed. He is always singing a little tune and humming as he works. He knows quite a range of genres-anything from church songs, traditional kid songs, radio songs, and Steven exposes him to the classics like Queen, The Beatles, etc. along with all of his obscure rock music. We get a kick of what he decides to belt out! He is getting some kid-sized drums for his birthday, so it will be interesting to see what he thinks about those. Just a funny note-we were with family over Thanksgiving and the girl cousins wanted to go into Justice. He went to be with them and they all (family and workers) got a kick out of him dancing down the aisles and belting out "let it go" from frozen-perfectly pitched and on key. Future blackmail??
Henry has a very sensitive spirit and loves talking about God. We had a really special talk on December 19th in Lexington this Christmas. He and I were by ourselves upstairs and there was an ornament on the tree that he pointed out was made by a family member (Steven's great grandmother) who isn't alive anymore. I said yeah, but she's in heaven because she was a Christian. He piped up and said, "I'm a Christian!" so Romans 10:9 came to my mind (we had just been talking about it at school!), and I used it to ask him if he believed in his heart that Jesus is God's son (yes!) and if he professes with his mouth that Jesus is Lord (I explained what this is-yes!). Then I said, yeah, buddy, that does make you a Christian! Then he actually brought up the fact that he sins, but that Jesus forgives him. Anyway, it was a really sweet talk, and it happened so organically. Just the Sunday prior there was a song in church that really resonated with me called Simple Gospel, and this little conversation brought that song back up in my mind. We adults complicate things, but really the Gospel is simple. The Bible talks about the value of having faith like a child which I can totally see in our little guy. He doesn't complicate things, he just sees the simple Gospel and believes. It's really an encouragement to me!
While I'm writing about that, I'll include a few other little conversations we've had lately. A few weeks later he came home from school and ran to his art table. He drew a few things, then showed them to me. He talked all about God's heart vs. our heart and explained that our hearts are broken and yucky (heart pic), but that God's heart is perfect (different heart pic). He also talked about how we are kind of broken and messed up, but when we get to Heaven he explained that "God kind of sews us up". It was so sweet in his little way of explaining, and I want to remember it forever. :) He also recites the Lord's prayer now, which he learned from church, and says it before dinner sometimes. He's recently asked us a lot about Satan (in view of the armor of God to fight against him), so that was interesting. He talked about how Satan can't take our peace or joy because that comes from God. He had LOTS of  questions, and I'm not sure how great of a job I did, but I'm glad he's asking and has a desire to understand more! He knows the Lord's Prayer and quite a few Bible verses, but I think we need to challenge him with longer passages at this point!
He's still such a sweet brother and will say things like, "I have a lot of other friends, but you're my best friend, Annie." Of course they have their moments, but overall they get along quite well, and he is very tolerant of her 2 year old antics. Some of their favorite things to do together are sidewalk chalk, race, build forts, play hide-and-seek, play with stuffed animals, and play games like Hungry Hungry Hippo-if an adult is there to mediate. He is great to play with Ruby and talk to her/distract her when I need to do something. He does some great baby talk. He's not allowed to pick her up, but one time I asked him to sit with her while I was doing some kitchen stuff, and she was on a blanket. He started pulling the blanket around with her on it like a chariot. They ended up in the kitchen and she was all smiles and squeals just egging him on. He'd taken her on a ride around the entire house much to her delight! He also sits with her in the car when we get home because I immediately go in and lay Annie down, then come back for Ruby. He takes this job very seriously and will climb up and sit on the back of her car seat and sing, talk, and make noises for her. Even when he gets a little wild and rambunctious it is hard to tone him down because she is all smiles and laughs egging him on. He feeds off of her encouragement!
Just some random notes: sock layers. chomps gum-Annie wants some but we tell her she has to be 4 like Henry before she can chew gum. Taught us googol is more than infinity. Asks "what??" all the time lately-in true man style he has to have things repeated!! He also can't find anything he's looking for just like Daddy, and I have to go in and can find whatever he is looking for in an instant. He's the quiet mouse champ at school. Loves LEGOS-started around Christmas. Still sensitive to movies and prefers mild shows to anything suspenseful. We saw Storks at the $ theater and he made it through ok, but it's like it's all too stressful for him. He calls more dull colors "moldy" like brown, army green, gray, etc. After continual ear infections, he got a second set of tubes and also adenoid removal on 2/16 and did well. It was coupled with a virus following that made it a rough recovery, but the actual surgery went well. No more nap-dropped in the fall since he was having a hard time going to sleep at night. He is still a hard sleeper and is all wrapped up like a cocoon in the morning. He needs extra time in the morning to wake up (whereas Annie just pops out of bed in the best mood). That is more like me! Got a kick out of him saying-It's too sausagy, but I go with it! He also says, "Yeah, baby!" a lot. Tells us, "I love you more than the sand at the beach!" Started tball mid Feb-so far, so good! Sevender-guard and crank it like a chainsaw and double-dating are all school phrases with stories I won't go into. No I amn't for no I'm not, still says popstickle, hates the windows down.

We sure do love you, little man. Thanks for making the past 5 years so sweet. We look forward to what's next!