Around and around

Henry has never met a set of wheels he didn't like. He loves to overturn his toy buses and cars to spin the wheels. Sometimes he even enjoys rolling them back and forth right-side-up on the wheels. He loves to ride in or on wheeled vehicles. And he loves to listen to and accompany the classic "Wheels on the Bus" song with his own crazy wheeling motion. Let's just say, it looks like the axel's busted on that bus, but Henry enjoys his attempts at the motion. And so do we, of course.

Here Henry is at Noodle Noggin n Bean, looking very much the little boy, and trying his hand at a small riding car.

NNnB was a fun-filled adventure with cousins Liam and Evan. Henry had a great time finding lots of another fave, balls. Among other themed rooms, he spent a little time in what would have been my favorite room as a child (okay, it's still my favorite room there as a grown up, too). As you can see below, this room is mini diner and kitchen, complete with seating, a stocked fridge, grocery carts, and much more. Cousin Evan treated me and Henry to a gourmet meal of asparagus and lemon cookies. Mmmm.
Though it's a little pricey, NNnB does deliver when it comes to providing something for everyone. Even the hallways had toys hanging from the walls.
Our trip to NNnB followed a big "first" for us. While I attended a meeting of a local child development committee, I left Henry with a babysitter who was provided for meeting attendees. Believe it or not, this was the first time I have left Henry with a non-family member. And it only took 10 months to do it! As with pretty much every major change or development so far, I worried much more than necessary. Henry survived. Phew! In fact, Henry did more than survive. From the report of the babysitter, he was happy as a clam. A busy, non-stop clam. I'm pretty sure the woman who watched him needed to go home and take a nap after her time with Henry. She greeted me with "Wow, you have your hands full with that one! He gets into everything!" That's my son.

In other Henry news, we had a great time returning to another session of the Baby and Toddler story time. Henry was at his most charming, energetic, and friendly self. His attention span for the stories was on the short side, but that was fine since the "story time" is also comprised of songs, parachute play, and free play time. Henry showed off his new skills by clapping at the end of each story and song. He bopped up and down on his knees during the reprisal of the "Chicken Dance" song (Why the chicken dance at story time? I don't know. It was a little weird, frankly.). He smiled, waved, and babbled to the other kids. It was lovely. Until the parachute. I'm not sure what it is, but my dear son does not like the parachute. Not one bit. We needed to take a short time out while the other kiddos had fun waving the parachute around, hiding under it, and bouncing balls on top of it. All in all, though, it was one of the most fun times I've had with Henry. I'm looking forward to six more weeks of stories, songs, and play with the little guy at this fun opportunity.