Henry at school!

Today was Kaleidoscope, Columbus Alternative's open house for eighth graders, so Mommy was doing her best to tell all the kiddos that are making their decision of which high school to attend that they would like nothing more than to be Pegasuses. Rather, Pegasii? CAHSmic? Uh ... she wants them all to want to come to Columbus Alternative next year.

Henry wanted to get in on the fun, and cement himself as the real mascot of CAHS. He did just that, surprising Mommy and all the other teacher-heads (and principal-heads) by running down the hallways, cackling at the artwork, and trying to hack into every computer he saw.



Then he settled down with a good book (his trusty Dictionary!) and started studying for the SAT's. That kid's determined, I tell you what.



All the teachers ooh'ed and aah'ed at him. They all commented on how adorable he is. We're trying to keep this from going to his head, but I think we're too late. He knows just how cool he is ....

Snowy Bubs

Henry went out and played in the snow today. His first snowfall! I suppose you can point to last year, but I really don't think he appreciated the snow that we lugged him through, car carrier and all, last year. When he grows up, he can decide which was his "first" winter snow. Until then, we're going with this.

First, Mommy bundled the bubs up. He had on snow pants, snow boots, a winter jacket, a hat with chin strap, and mittens. He had some troubles walking even inside! Even harder was getting up after falling down (think of Ralphie's little brother in A Christmas Story ... "I can't get up! Ralphie, I can't get up!")

Then Henry and I got to work. First we had to laugh it up with the dog, Teddy, who thought this snowfall was brought to Columbus just for him. He was in heaven all day, which unfortunately meant that we had to dry the snow out of his golden retriever-like fur. For those of you not quite following, I'm still talking about the dog. Anyhoo, Henry dug watching the dog make a dog out of himself in the wintry conditions, and his cackles were contagious.

Then Henry insisted that I let him shovel the driveway. I tried to keep the shovel to myself, but we all know how insistent Henry's can be. He wrestled the shovel out of my hands, so I sulked inside to watch the Bears game as he finished the driveway and the sidewalk. The Bears won, by the way.

You get to decide for yourself if I'm kidding. What is assuredly true is that we had a good time with the snow, and have decided that it is time for spring. On with the thawing, the pretty-pretties (that's flowers for you lay people), the ducks, and all that Easter hullabaloo! Oh yeah, and Daddy's Graduation (March 18th ... apply directly to your head ... March 18th ... apply directly to your head)

Nice hands, Henry, nice hands!

Henry is finally figuring out that if he doesn't pull Teddy's and Simon's fur, then they will hang out with him. Well, they'll hang out with him for a little while, then will get freaked out and run away. Henry has lured Simon, the cat, to him by casting a "fishing pole" with a stuffed animal fish on the end ... Simon can't resist it. Sometimes, though, Henry forgets that it's the stuffed fish that Simon's after, and instead assumes that it's the stick that's in his hands. So he runs after the cat bopping him on the head. Again, this game doesn't last too long ...

Winter has finally arrived, so both animals are trapped in the house when Henry decides to play. Teddy is pretty cool with everything until Henry breaks out out of his push cars. Henry cackles and runs through the house, transforming our house into an Indy street course. Tires squealing and dogs running for cover, Henry will go lap after lap through the house, or around our kitchen island, or do a kind of figure eight that encompasses both loops. It may just be his favorite game. It's certainly not Teddy's.

Henry's Journey

Henry the Big Boy

Man, is Henry getting to be grown up! Every morning, we get up and Daddy tries to convince the boy that, not to worry, that breakfast is waiting at school (daycare) and that he doesn't need a Mah-Me-NAH (banana) before he goes. Daddy is successful about half the time. If Henry is persuasive enough, then we all sit around the table and Henry sits in his new booster chair in front of his Superman placemat. Oh yes, the high chair is gone and the morning starts in big-boy land.

After the breakfast decision, Henry gets amped to see the car-CAR. Sometimes he dances down the hall and waits at the top of the stairs leading to the side door. We bound down the stairs and he peeks out the doorway, where his eyes get large and he starts bellowing "Car-CAAAAR, Car-CAAAR!" and running straight at the Honda. He crashes into the back bumper, starts smacking it and laughing, and waits for Daddy to put him in. That picture is of him carrying Daddy's lunch to the car-CAR. It slowed him down, but only a bit. I call the picture "I'm off to work, Dad!" He carried it from our living room out to the car. I had to snap the pic on my phone, so it's not that great (but funny!).

Winter hasn't really hit yet, so there are plenty of puddles to splash in ... we'll see what Henry thinks about his first snow fall (if it ever comes).

Daddy is Done!

Let's clarify, though ... Daddy is not done being a Daddy. I am, though, finished with my Master's Thesis, which means I am set for graduation from The Ohio State University in March. I will pay no more fees, I will study no more, I will write not another page of another paper in the quest for my degree ... I AM DONE!

This came at no small emotional cost. My expectations on what this process was like were way out of whack. I thought the paper was basically written 3 weeks ago (well before the January 2nd deadline), but I was really wrong. So I decided to spend my two weeks of vacation locked in a room on campus writing, analyzing data, revising, conferring, getting frustrated, then back for some more.

The paper has gone through 3 wholesale transformations. I literally had to gut it and start over. My frustration peaked on New Year's Day, the day before my defense, when I sent Henry and Sarah off to watch the Rose Bowl at Grandma's house while I sat in my cave and tried to finish. I may have been even more frustrated than the Wolverines fans that had to watch their team get picked apart by the accursed USC Trojans. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't very happen with my University or anything associated with it at that moment. I envisioned myself walking up to my defense committee and saying that I was pretty sure that the only thing that I respected at OSU was the football team. It sucked.

Shanny Fanny (that's really his name ... no, really) called and we talked about his Master's process, and how it's a learning experience, and how I was going to get through it. That helped. My brother had also called earlier in the process, so I knew I wasn't totally alone in this I HATE MY MASTER'S experience.

When I woke up on January 2nd to defend, I was barely keeping it together. The goal: get through my defense meeting, pass it, get my changes into the University, and have them accept it before the 5:00 deadline.

The committee grilled me, but when it was over they passed me! We shook hands, they congratulated me, and I turned my attention to the University requirements. I cracked open the 24-page Guidelines document and the 18-page Examples document, and got to work.

I turned my Thesis in at 3:30 PM. An hour and a half before the deadline. They accepted it!

My commencement will be on Sunday, March 18th. I am very excited to receive my diploma, which already has an OSU diploma frame waiting for it, thanks to my very intelligent and clever wife.

When I got home, Sarah greeted me with an O-H!

Grinning ear to ear, I responded in the only appropriate fashion ... I-O! Then I hugged the crap out of her.

DC: Day 1

We got into DC last Wednesday, and Bubs got to take his first cab ride! He wasn't impressed. We got to the hotel room, he immediately found the toilet paper in the bathroom, and TP'ed our room. Shockingly, our Marriott wasn't toddler-proof.

We got up the next morning, got Mommy situated for her conference, and went to the National Gallery for the day. We started at the modern art statue garden. Henry bounced, ran, scooted, and fell amongst works by Roy Lichtenstein, Anthony Calder, and Juan Miro. Again, he wasn't impressed, but the garden was really impressive. They also had a Metro stop from Paris that was used erected for the World's Fair at the turn of the century (the one 106 years ago).

We continued on to the "classic" section of the Gallery. We saw Leonardo's Ginevra, which is quite striking, and the only Da Vinci painting outside of Europe (or so some teacher-head told me). Just after seeing it, though, Henry decided to take a header on a fountain, split his chin, and start bleeding pretty heavily. So, Dad is whisking a howling, bleeding Bubba through the National Gallery to get him outside and assess the damage. What a time for a first major injury! We decided that it didn't need stitches (how the heck would we get to an ER, anyway? What an adventure that would have been ...), and we put a Band-aid on. Which was torn off within an hour. So ... Band-Aid #2. That one lasted about 26.3 seconds. We found a CVS in the evening, and bought some liquid bandage. Voila!

Anyhoo, after about 10 minutes, Henry had completely forgotten about his spill, so we moved over to the Modern building. Very cool. We saw some Warhols, another Lichtenstein (an Ohioan and OSU alum, by the way), and some very cool murals. Again, Bubs wasn't very impressed. He did really like the I.M. Pei fountain that was installed next to the food court and gift shop. It was basically a waterfall that started at ground level and ran against the large window/skylight of the building.

Then, dinner and SLEEP. Both very necessary.

Big week for Bubs

Even though Mom and Dad totally flaked on Thanksgiving Day and forgot the camera at home, we have plenty of great Henry pictures for the weekend. Just one short day later, Henry spent Black Friday hanging out at the zoo with his cousins Asia and Tenzin. They saw the lights (of which Henry said "Wooooow"), they pet some goats, and they saw a serious amount of fish.

We also found the newly reconditioned carousel that was built in 1906 or 1857 or 1356 or something like that. It's old, OK? Tenzin had skedaddled by the time we found the wooden horsies, but he was indeed a trouper.

Then we went to dinner, and the babes found a driving video game. The pictures are, indeed, classic. "You work the shifty guy and I'll turn the turny guy!" Such teamwork.

Next installment: Washington, DC!

What a day! What a game! Go Bucks!

Sarah and I both got the best birthday present possible this weekend. We hung out all day with Brutus Buckeye, our Bucks hung on to beat that Team Up North (if you don't know who that is, I'm not tellin' you), and we had an absolute blast hanging out, yelling ourselves hoarse in the 'Shoe, and watching the sea of humanity descend on the field after the game was over. What a game!



All the buses were full trying to get down to campus, so we walked about 2/3 of the way with Brutus (aka Chris Williams). Along the way, Brutus had to get some cash for the bus (just in case we ever caught one) and made sure that he was available for the adoring fans that honked at him all the way down High St. Brutus got a little frisky and started pounding on store windows and scaring (I mean pumping up) the folks inside with his outpouring of Buckeye pride. When we got to campus, the pandemonium only increased. Every third person we ran across (and there were about 400,000 there) made sure to high-five Brutus. He had his picture taken about every 25 seconds. It was a trip. We made our way to the tailgates, had some grub (Brutus gets hungry!), and forged our way to the 'Shoe. We had to part ways with Brutus, because he didn't have a ticket. Ironic, I know. We found out later that he found an viewing angle from outside the stadium that he could see into the stadium and watch the Jumbotron erected above the South Stands. His radio provided the sound accompaniment. We caught up with him, watched all the crazies scurry from the stadium with clumps of "sacred turf" in their hands, waited for a bus, and were whisked back home.

Henry hung out with Grandma and Grandpa Thornburg (and the assorted dozen other people that happened by) to watch the game. We had all intentions to pick him up that night, but after being on our feet for 12 hours, getting home at 10:00 PM, and knowing that the traffic wasn't about to let up, we fell over, slept in, and had a sleepy Sunday morning. Again, what a great birthday!

Mood swings

Ah, Henry is finding the shock and awe qualities of the toddler tantrum. A tantalizing temptation, to be sure. Truly trying. Kind of funny. He had a positively traumatic 45 minutes last night, where he kicked on the ground, punched Simon, and really was beside himself.

But then the clouds cleared, and we had one of the most fun evenings we've ever had. A full tummy has a powerful way to cure what ails you, I guess.

He's learned to put away some of his toys, he's building with blocks (kind of), and he gets really excited and happy about just about anything. Oh yeah, and check out his stylin' duds.

The Poop Parade is over!!!

Henry's digestive system, as an homage to his new cousin Tenzin, has decided to revert to its newborn behavior and Henry has been in a constant state of poopfulness for about a week. He was pooping about four times a day. Unfortunately, neither his parents nor his backside could keep up with this, and he has had a nasty diaper rash. I overheard him talking to one of the other kids in daycare: " ... yeah, I got it over in 'Nam ... nasty spell over there".

There has been a myriad of products sprinkled, spread, and otherwise applied to Henry's butt. Boudreax's Butt Paste, a mix of Aquaphor and Maalox (don't laugh, it works) and corn starch have been the hands down favorites. This routine and the obvious pain Henry has been in has overshadowed the unbelievable strides Henry is making ... he's putting his shoes (and ours!) away, his learning to eat with a spoon and fork, he's learning his body parts (eyes, ears, hair, nose, and tummy are all in the repertoire) and he is a wicked good dancer.

Now the Poop Parade is over and we can focus on all that great stuff.

Trick or Treat!

Who is, in true Alabaman vernacular, "as cute as a lil ole bug's ear"? Why, Henry, of course. Duh. Our little bug went to two three houses, collected a coloring book, a 100 Grand bar, and a lot of "oh, isn't he just adorable".

We agree.

His cousin Tenzin went as a pumpkin, although we all thought we would do great as Henry's sidekick inside his bug-themed trick or treat bag. Oh well! The Thornburgs descended on 37 W. Kenworth and we had a really great time just hanging out and playing with the babies (er, I mean, one big boy and one baby ... sorry Henry).

Henry Jammin'

The little man can move, can't he? He took top honors at Stephanie (Still) and Kevin Stockton's wedding last weekend. More pictures will be coming. Henry's Dad posted an honorable mention in the dancing category as well. It's tough seeing a son best his old man, but I have a feeling like I need to start getting used to it. Or I have to buy some prosthetic cheeks!

(BLOG) RED

Hey, I'm trying something new. I am quite interested in this whole (PRODUCT) RED movement, where the stuff we buy contributes money to worthy causes. This is the thing you've heard of with Bono moving everything from shoes to iPods. Their blog and Tenzin's blog will automatically update (over there on the left) if you want the skinny.

--The Editor

Tenzin James Thornburg

Baby Thornburg has arrived, and three weeks early! His name is Tenzin James Thornburg. He is named after the Dalai Lama (no, seriously, he is). No pressure there. He is my first nephew, and Henry's first boy cousin.

I think his height and weight were 6 lbs, 14 oz and 19 inches long (you know, give or take). Mother, father, and baby are all doing great. Reports are coming in, but they are a bit fuzzy. Here's what I know:

Rachel's water broke on Tuesday night at around 2:00 AM. She and James quickly got to the hospital (it's about 6 blocks away), hung out for a bit, and called some family in the morning. They labored and labored and labored and labored and labored (but with an epidural) and finally went in for a C-section at around 4 PM. The babe was born about an hour later. The Thornburgs were all there to see the baby shortly after he was born, and I got to see little Tenzin after I rounded up Henry. We left the hospital around 8:45 PM to let both of them sleep (Tenzin has no problem sleeping at this point ... but give him time!)

Unfortunately, Rachel's family couldn't see the birth. They all have plane tickets ready to make the flight from California, but those tickets are for when the baby was supposed to come. They are bummed, which is understandable. Hopefully these pictures help!

More pictures are here.

Lynd's Fruit Farm

We returned to Lynd's fruit farm to seek our future (and some pumpkins and apples). We were joined by Grandma and Grandpa Thornburg. Henry got to play in field corn ... who knew that was fun? ... and helped us pick our pumpkins.

He also got to enjoy a good many apples. As of that day, they were pronounced "Ah-POE" and he was very excited to eat them.

We had a great time, climbed some trees, ate some apples, and basked in the 80 degree weather (last year it was about 40). Check out the way-back picture of Henry, too!

Go Bucks!

Henry and Asia have been solid assets for the football Bucks this season, dutifully cheering the "big boys" on to a 5-0 record. Henry loves watching football, and stares intently during the games. When a solid tackle is made, Henry screams "BOOM"! I guess he'll be blowing up quarterbacks before we know it.

Henry has logged another first: first bee sting! He actually got a two-for-one. Our neighbors threw a big ice cream social to get the neighborhood together. Henry was adamant about playing with the big kids. The big kids, though, ended up messing with a Yellow Jackets nest. Three kids got stung (one little girl eight times!), and one of them was Henry. He wasn't very happy. Five minutes later, though, he was up and running and couldn't care less.

Henry is also the proud owner of two more teeth! He decided not to wait for the last two bottom incisors and the canines, and went right for his top two molars. Go figure!

Thank you Grandma Pitts!

A surprise package landed on our doorstep on Wednesday. No note, no card ... big mystery. Who delivered it? What was inside it? Inside were some very cool Alaska-themed finger puppets and a T-Shirt from Sitka, Alaska (http://www.sitka.com/ or http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=Sitka,+AK).

Now how, do you ask, does a flimsy Godiva bag filled with gifts for Henry purchased in Alaska show up on my doorstep? Answer: Henry has a sneaky Grandma who lives in Tampa, just got back from her Alaskan cruise, and is currently travelling through southern Africa. She gave it to a courier (her pal Tom) who returned to Columbus and dropped it off, all secret-like.

Thank you thank you! Henry has a finger puppet in each hand, and is (obviously) wearing the shirt in this picture. Come home safely and we'll see you soon!

We survived the first week!

Mommy had her first week of school, Henry went back to five days a week, and all of us lived through it!

The bigger news is that Henry is walking like a champo. He's booking up and down the driveway, around the back yard, through the house, and everywhere else he can think to scamper. He's also saying Airplane (although it sounds an awful lot like "Ah-Poo") and a bunch of short words (boom, up, on ... stuff like that). He marvels at light switches, turning them off and on and off and on. And he's trying really hard to take off and put back on his ball caps.

The other news is that Daddy tweaked his back after a little too much exercise and an ill-timed battle with a screen door. Arghh!

Check out the video ...

Off to the Zoo!

Henry is still growing and learning like crazy. He's been working so hard, he actually fell asleep in his high chair! We all know how much this kid likes to eat, so it was a shocker to see him face down before any food arrived ...

We took him to the zoo last weekend, and he had a good time checking out at the animals. He laughed at a Wolverine (seriously ... no prodding), pet some goats, and was absolutely mesmerized by the fish. We walked into the aquarium, and he was beaming! We sat right next to the fish for 15 minutes just watching the big ones swim right past our faces. It was good times.

We checked out the manatees, but they move too slowly for him to track. We also trucked right past sleeping bears, sleeping wolves, sleeping mooses (meese?), and everything else that Henry wouldn't be able to see. Henry napped while we dealt with ridiculous food lines, and woke back up just in time to continue the adventure. What a trooper! We stayed at the zoo for 6 hours ... which astounded both of Henry's parents.