Henry's Short Stories

Hanging Out
As Henry and I get ready to go downstairs to play/watch videos, he has to gather all of his preferred toys of the day (usually all of the trucks and tractors) - and because Mama complains that it is too much to carry and still have a hand free to hold onto "Baby Henry", he has decided that he needs a bag. He is very smart. So, we fill up the bag - a bag that doesn't always get emptied, but by God we have the trucks and tractors downstairs - and drag it downstairs.

"Balooms"
Henry was given some balloons by our neighbors and as the days went by he had fun playing with them, but was also quite interested in the fact that they deflate. He kept shrugging his shoulders and lifting up his open hands and say, "baloom, baloom", as if he had no idea where it was going. We both were startled one evening when a kitty popped a "baloom", and the next day Henry walked around the house saying, "Baloom, pop, BOOM".

Obsession
It is rather likely that my son is somewhat obsessive compulsive about dirt like his Mama. He tends to be a cleaner, a picker upper, and likes the "vroom vroom" which doubles for a car, but also the dustbuster. So, I was getting him ready to go out and I laid down his snowsuit and encouraged him to lie down upon it. Standing upon it, he pointed at the dust/dirt that he likely deposited there himself by stepping into it, and repeated, "dirt. dirt. dirt."
"I know, but it's not bad," I suggested wiping the inside of his suit clean. I encouraged him again to lay down. He then noticed a speck of wetness on the inner lining, and pointed at it, repeating, "wet. wet. wet."
Oh for God's sake.

Sub-Zero Degree Weather
It was monstrously cold for a little while, but it didn't keep us from going out. After a trip to a mall, I was getting Henry ready for bed when Kev entered his room with a bag of wipes that he got from the car. "It's a good thing we didn't have a poopy diaper while we were out," he stated.
"Why?" I asked.
He then tapped the wipes on the dresser and made a hard, clunking noise, and handed me a frozen solid bag of wipes.

Helping
Henry is a big helper. One morning I asked him to get me some socks from "my room" (translation: guest room. Interestingly enough, it is my favorite room in the house, and he thinks it's mine), so he said, "ah huh", and trundled off. Usually he returns with 2 matching socks that he pulls out of the dirty clothes, but this particular morning he was gone a bit longer and returned with, oh, about 9 socks in his arms, which he pulled out of a clean clothes basket. I thanked him, picked out 2 socks, and told him to return the others, which he did promptly. Then, he proceeded to go back and forth between me and the dirty clothes basket as he brought me various pieces of clothing announcing who they belong to.

Manners
Henry occasionally says, "thank you" and "please". Today when I suggested that I change his diaper, which isn't something he often loves as it takes him away from whatever is holding his attention at that current moment, and he replied with, "No, thank you".