Henry's First day of First

 First grade, that time in grade school where you really start to establish memories and friendships, blossom as a reader, and make your mommy gulp at the realization you're growing into a big wonderful boy.  

I held onto him as long and hard as I could.  For six wonderful years this boys has been mainly under the care of our home.  We chose the path of two day a week preschool and half day kindergarten, both of which were the perfect fit for our homebody Henry.  I'm so thankful for every ounce of time I have been able to eek out with him, but now there's no turning back.  It's been a bit hard to swallow him being away from me more than he's with me in a day, but if he has to go I'm thankful it's at a school where I feel so comfortable with.  Trinity has been such a blessing to our family so far and I am excited for him to begin this new chapter.  He has already felt like such a big boy, eating lunch at school, going to chapel with the older kids, and seeing all of his friends in other classes on the playground too.  

Just as we suspected, ML missed him something fierce but honestly she did better than expected.  Other than wanting me to pack her lunch just like his, asking me if he was eating lunch at the same time she was and not wanting to have a treat if he wasn't having one too her days have been pretty normal.  

For the most part, we met that first day with a smile and anticipation of all the fun in store for him this year.  Two nights before, after I had tucked him into bed he came down the stairs and grabbed me for a hug with tears in his eyes and blanky in his hand. 

 "I'm nervous about the first day" 

   "But I'm not going to be with you ALL day mommy!"

 "I'll miss you."

 Just place my heart in a puddle why don't ya?  I assured him it would be fun, full of new exciting things, and that I would be thinking about him and praying for him all day long. 

 "You will?" he asked.  

I will.....and I did.  

and ya know what?  we both survived with flying colors.  

 Though our days are flying by and my first born is getting, well....big; I can still see a baby boy peek out and wink at me if I look hard enough.  Oh and apparently this is an instinctual first day of school dance ingrained deep into his DNA.

 

 Sweet Henry my love I could truly eat you up, I love you so.  

 The morning went smooth as his excitement built, and then came goodbye.  A hug from me, and one from his dad and I saw those big brown eyes begin to blink at a rapid pace.  Teary eyed but smiling big we grinned at each other and I told him it would all be great.  I had it all together the rest of the day....unless I thought about that moment.  

 We passed the time on that first day by making some homemade chocolate chip cookies to have warm and waiting for our big school boy.  It's a tradition my mom started when I was a kindergartner, and she carried it through all the way to college.  Finding little ways to celebrate that first day makes it sting a little less.  It also helped this loving little sister to feel like she was doing something her Henry would love. 

So we heard all about his first day goodness over cookies and I may have hugged and kissed him a few dozen times.  "Oh you just don't know how much we missed you!" I said.  

"Like so much you had tears in your throat?"  

"Yes, there were tears."  

"Really??!  I had tears too when you said goodbye today but I made myself get them to go away."  

On Friday he shared with me that his belly hurt him at school.  I asked him if it was before lunch or after and he replied, "No, it's every time I think about you my belly goes gggrgggerrggggg, but if I stop thinking about you it goes away."
Melt my heart on the floor!
Absence makes the heart grow fonder, the smiles brighter, and the freckles more unique.  You are a treasure to be held my sweet Henry and I'm thankful for every moment I get to watch you grow this year.  

Six Years of Knowing Heaven on Earth -HTC

It's hard to fathom even as I write it, but our baby boy, our first baby born, has been such for six whole years.  Watching you become Henry has been one of our greatest joys.  Serious and smiley, theatrical and studious, cautious and carefree, the unique workings of our boy took us under a spell from the beginning.  As each year has passed we have watched your personality grow into a fuller version of your youngest self.  You continue to amaze us in a multitude of ways and our love for you has grown deeper roots. 

You are sure of yourself in so many way, and usually quite confident.  This year we have watched your love for sports grow as you dove into your first year of T-ball,  tried your hand at basketball, your feet at soccer and continued your love of golf and played on the Junior PGA league.  Learning to lose is not something you particularly enjoy and though we are trying to help soften your heartaches I'm happy to see that competitive edge inside of you.

Surprisingly you love clothes and get excited for new threads or kicks.  You are heavily opinionated on what you wear and for the most part prefer comfy athletic wear over anything else.  You love to put together outfits and have even started helping your sister get dressed for special occasions like UK games, or plays you two put on for us. 

You've started down the road of great adventure as the world of reading was expanded to chapter books at bedtime.  We began reading the Chronicles of Narnia to you and still not a fan of scary characters, you were at times hesitant to continue, afraid the White Witch might somehow win;  but we continued through and landed ourselves on the third story, The Voyage of the Dawn treader. 

 You have really taken a leap in school this year, both academically and socially.  You crept out of your shell of shy and are more vocal and playful in the classroom. Memorizing verses and poems each month comes easy to you, math has taken off and become a favorite and watching you turn into a young reader has been incredible.  Through sight words and decoding skills you are learning to read books independently and I can't wait to watch your life light up as the doors swing open to new places uncovered through the pages of a good story.  You are fascinated by space, history and all things America and will listen intently to documentaries and books on any of the above, soaking facts up like a sponge. 

You continue to love music and performing though you have started to let the shy bug creep in when you are unsure of yourself or audience.  I love your imagination; it knows no limits and can be inspired by the smallest of things.  Costumes and dress up are still your thing but you have expanded to creating your own for yourself and Mallie Lynn. 

She watches your every move and tries her hardest to be as much like you as possible.  As your little sisters personality has grown you have had a new challenge of learning to get along.  Both of you are strong willed which can make things interesting but when the dust settles you are sweet friends.  She makes you laugh, your protective over her, and you think she's cute "especially her puffy cheeks".  I love watching you divise plans of secret attacks or teaching her how to swing a club, write a letter, and buckle her bike helmet.  My favorite exchanges between the two of you happen when you think I'm not looking.  You helping her zip her coat, pulling her hair out of her collar, or fixing her bow are all signs to this mama you have deep love for her.  

My biggest hope and prayer for you is that you love and know our God on your own.  That the Jesus kind of love you learn about pours from your spirit and that your gifts and talents are used to bring glory to His kingdom.  Listening to you pray, watching you wrestle with sin, and hearing your questions, thoughts and concerns of it all have stretched me in so many ways.  You have a heart for heaven in ways I've only uncovered in my recent years and it is one of my greatest joys to watch you grow your faith.  

I love you sweet boy, through heaven and back.  Please never stop your spontaneous hugs, random I love you, and sleeping with that precious blanky!  

Happy 6 years of love!

Tooth number three - HTC

Tooth number three has left the building and it brought a hole host of excitement with it.  We had known he had two loose front teeth for sometime, and lately his left one began to stick out  farther and farther.  After visiting the dentist for a cleaning we discovered that Henry actually has six loose teeth!  I guess he is trying his best to get served milkshakes for all his meals.  He was given some "tooth homework" to circle his two front teeth to wiggle them free.  So after chomping into an apple yesterday and pulling his snuggletooth further out of place he took his tooth homework to heart.  With excitement and a smile he kept working on that little tooth until he started to make serious progress.  

"I don't want to do anything else but this!" he exclaimed as he refused to play, basketball, soccer or do anything else but wiggle his tooth and smile.  Over the next two hours we heard "When you see me next I'm going to look so different!" at least a dozen times as he whisked into the bathroom to work and wiggle.  He kept checking in with me for "is it ready?" checks where I would move his tooth around to tell him what I thought.  After telling him he was going to loose both of his front teeth really soon he grinned and got a serious look on his face as he whispered "I'm going to be RICH someday."  

He asked me to step in for the final yank, and with a bit of nervous excitement and blood he showed us his new smile.  Those two front teeth change the look of a kid so drastically in my opinion.  In one day he went from little boy to transitioning into big boy status.  That toothless grin is a sign of changes to come and growing up to happen ahead.  So if I don't encourage the wiggling of teeth you'll know why.  What a sweet blessing it is to witness the joy and excitement of childhood milestones.  

 Oh and at his request we had to have a tooth celebration all night!  A little frozen treat for that sore gum hit the spot, and a tooth loss tradition was born.