Daddy's Party

Last night we went to a party!! All of the people in Daddy's program got together to have a party. There was food, music, lots of people, and...lots of drinks. At first I was really nervous and wouldn't let Mummy or Daddy put me down. But eventually, I realized that all the people there really liked me--that's why they got right up close and said "AWWW!!!"--Mummy said that is actually a compliment.

There were so many drinks at the party. Everyone kept offering me drinks, but Mummy said "No thank you" to lots of them. That was ok, because Daddy went and got me some Sprite! I love Sprite!***

I wore my Santa hat and while we were there, somebody put a Santa hat on Daddy! We were twins!

We stayed long enough to get Christmas Crackers (which are cool, but really loud) and exchange our White Elephant gift. A month ago, Daddy sent in 2 sentences about our family without giving away his name. Then, we got a note about our person and had to get something for them. When we opened our present, I was so excited--whoever had our name got me the perfect gift: a stocking!!

Overall, it was a very fun party. But I was definitely ready to go home and go to bed--I'm glad we didn't stay as long as everybody else!

***Mummy's Note: Yes, people actually did try and give our baby wine! Red wine and white wine. They didn't seem to believe me when I said no thanks. One girl even got the cup all the way up to his lips before I could stop her, good thing that was during Little Brute's "not so sure" time and he turned his head away. Seriously!

My First Thanksgiving

Mummy told me my first Thanksgiving was rather unconventional. I don't really know what that word means, but I thought it was wonderful. On Saturday, we got to go over to Dr. Martland's (Mum says I can call him Peter when I'm a grown-up) and had turkey dinner with him and a few of his friends. It was so much fun!

We had turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, and cornbread, which Dr. Martland was pretty proud of himself for making. It was his first time making it. Mummy laughed because it was the boxed kind, but she was proud of him, too. Anyway, Mummy also got some sweet potatoes baked, which Dr. Martland got from the store on the American Air Force Base. Dr. Martland also found some pumpkin pie mix and asked Mummy to make a few pies.

So Friday night after I went to bed, she and Daddy made their first pumpkin pies. I think it turned out delicious, and everyone else thought so, too. Mummy and Daddy said they both don't really like pumpkin pie, but they both ate a piece at Dr. Martland's and didn't seem to mind it. I think they liked it because of the amazing white stuff they put on top--Mummy calls it "whipped cream."

Mummy told me all about the Pilgrims and the Indians and when Thanksgiving first started. She also told me what the true purpose of Thanksgiving is: to show everyone we love how grateful we are for them and to thank Heavenly Father for all of our blessings.

I've thought about it and here are the things I am most grateful for:

Mummy and Daddy
My BYU mobile that Nana, Aunt Chels, and Aunt Sam made me
Daddy's belt (it's so fun to chew on!)
The drawstring on Mummy's hoodie (also fun to chew)
Gingersnaps
The whisk that Mummy sometimes uses to bake
Puff-its (my favorite snack)
My Hedgehog
Crackers
My little Elephant that plays music
Warm milk in the middle of the night (can't get any better than a snuggle with Mummy at 3am!)

I thought Thanksgiving was a great holiday. We got to eat lots of food, play, and we got to see Dr. Martland. Mummy says next Thanksgiving we will be with our family and it will be even more fun. I can't wait!

Me being silly with Daddy at the table. 

This is me and Dr. Martland!! He is so much fun! 

Picking Out Our Christmas Tree!

While we were at Scottsdale's, we picked out our Christmas Tree!!

We looked, and looked, and looked for the best tree. Mummy found it right away, but she wanted to make sure, so we looked at a few other trees before deciding on that one. I helped Daddy look at them all! After a while, I think all the trees started to look the same to Daddy--good thing Mummy was there to help us pick one out!

 Our Christmas tree is BEAUTIFUL! Mummy said it's pretty small, but it looks big to me! It's green and smells really nice. Daddy said we'd get to take it home and put beautiful, sparkly things on it. The nice man at Scottsdale's put it in a bag for us to take home. Mummy was going to have them deliver it to our house, but Daddy and I decided we didn't want to wait a week for it to come--we could take it on the bus! What a great idea!!

This is our tree!!!

At the bus stop. It was really dark outside!

We paid £29.99 for our tree. Mummy was worried that was kind of a lot, but Daddy said "Hey, it's Henry's first tree." That's right! It is!! After we paid, we walked down to the bus stop. I was relieved, because on the sign, it said just 6 more minutes till the bus came. 

But if didn't come. 

Then the next bus didn't come, which was 20 minutes after that. Mummy sat down on the grass with me and I got a bottle. I was so tired that I fell asleep! I got to take a 25 minute nap on her lap out there before the bus came. I was glad that it took a while, because that meant I got a nap and I still got to be awake for the bus ride home!

I'm so excited to take it home and get it all covered in pretty lights and the sparkly things Daddy called ornaments!

Here we are on our way to the bus stop and then on the bus. 

Father Christmas, Santa Claus--Same Guy.

This is me and Mummy in the winter wonderland!

Today, Mummy and Daddy took me to meet Father Christmas! We took a bus for a long time to get to a place called Scottsdales. They sell plants and flowers there. Daddy called it a nursery (thought that was where babies slept, but he says baby plants sleep in nurseries, too. Thank makes sense). When we got there, we got to walk through a winter wonderland! There were other kids with us, and they were really excited to see the polar bears and the penguins that were in the snow. Then, we took a fun sleigh ride, pulled by Rudolph, to go see Santa Claus! (oh, Mummy says here in England they usually call him Father Christmas. She likes Santa Claus better--so do I). We sat on a little bench for the sleigh ride and sang "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph" while we traveled to the North Pole.*

When we got to the North Pole, we went in Santa's house! He was there, waiting to see us!

This is my new truck!

I really liked watching all the kids go up and meet Santa. He also had a bunch of benches just my size that I enjoyed playing with while I waited for my turn.

When I met Santa, I wasn't really sure about him. But, I figured I'd be a good boy and let Mummy take a picture or two. I didn't even cry! Santa said I was so good, that I could choose a toy from his cupboard to take home! Mummy and Daddy helped me pick out a really awesome monster truck! When you push down on it, it goes all by itself!

I had such a fun time visiting Santa Claus. I cant' wait for him to come to my house!

*Mummy's Note: Just FYI, the "sleigh ride" was actually us sitting in a wooden box, with a fake reindeer at the front. On either side off the box, were large canvases with beautiful snow scenes hand painted on it. And don't worry--the canvases they scrolled through as we went. Seriously. Derek says they "tredmilled".  I was rather disappointed, as the advert we saw promised a real sleigh ride with Rudolph. Oh well---the little kids we were with, and Henry had a good time. A good story, right? :)

**Mother's Note 2: In England, you must pay to meet Santa. Scottsdale's was the cheapest we could find--we paid £8  for the 3 of us to see Santa. 

Remember, Remember...

Last night, Mummy and Daddy took me to see the fireworks! The 5th of November is Guy Fawkes Day, or Bonfire Night as most British people call it. Do you know who Guy Faweks is? Well, he tried to blow up Parliament in 1605. He and his friends got the gunpowder below the government buildings and everything, but they were discovered!

So to celebrate, people in Britain shoot off fireworks and have huge bonfires!

We went to Midsummer Commons, right by where Daddy rows on the river, to see the fireworks and watch them light the bonfire.

Mummy put me in the tummy pack so I would be warm. I got to go outside in my pajamas, which I hardly ever get to do! When the fireworks went off, I couldn't believe how pretty they were! I just stared up at them for twenty minutes while they exploded in the sky, sending ashes down on the river and the college boathouses that were on the other side from where we were. After a while, I started watching some of the other kids that were around us. There were so many! It was fun to see some other kids in their pajamas--one girl was sitting on her Daddy's shoulders in pink pajamas and red Wellies. She and her Dad laughed every time one of the fireworks made a really loud noise. I liked watching her the best.

When they lit the bonfire, I was getting pretty tired. We stayed to see all of the wood get covered in flames, and then we headed home.

By the time we got home, I had totally crashed. It's exhausting watching so many fireworks!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was yesterday. Mummy said that it was kind of a lame first Halloween for me, but I thought it was pretty fun: I got to play with pumpkins! We bought them at a store on the corner of Lensfield Road where farmers can bring their food and sell it. We paid £3 for Mummy and Daddy's and £1 for mine. 


We took them home and Daddy destroyed them! He took all the insides out and cut them up. I was not very happy about that.

But then I saw what he and Mummy had in mind for them and them I got really excited! Oh, and Daddy let me play with part of the pumpkin--that helped, too.

Mummy carved mine to look like me! With two teeth and everything! Hers looked like Mike from Monsters, Inc. and Daddy's said Happy Halloween. It was pretty amazing!

Whip-Whip-Whipple Museum!

Today we went to the Whipple Museum. It's all about the history of science! The Whipple Museum is in a set of buildings that were once the Cavendish Laboratories. Some pretty amazing things were discovered there, including the structure of DNA! I'm not really sure what DNA is, but Daddy says it's something to do with our genetics and blood.

My favorite thing was a model of a clock. It's small compared to what the real clock is like, but it was really cool. You can see how the seconds tick by on a clock! Daddy held me up so I could see it and we watching at least 96 seconds tick by.

Besides the clock, there were a bunch of old microscopes. Including one of the first microscopes that an important man named Charles Darwin bought. Daddy told me that Darwin was one of the first guys to talk about evolution and that he studied animals. I don't know anything about evolution, but I LOVE animals, so I'm sure we would have been friends. 

Upstairs, they have a whole collection of globes. That's when I knew this really was a museum designed for Daddy! Daddy loves science and he loves maps and globes. They had some really, really old globes there. One of Daddy's favorites was made out of slate--the continents were outlined, but you could fill in the countries with chalk!

Mummy likes this museum, too, because it's about the history of science, not just science. She found a cool display of horse jaws that showed each stage of a horse's life and how their teeth change. But I think her favorite part was the "Victorian Parlor." They had everything set up how a parlor would be during the Victorian times. She made me put on a silly hat--actually, I look pretty good, don't I?

Punting Today

We all went punting again today. The sun was shining and it wasn't very cold outside, so Mum and Daddy decided we'd better go before it rains again this weekend. Since we have an annual pass, I agreed it was a good idea.

Today, Mum brought some bread and we fed the ducks! They swam really close to the punt, which I really liked but it made Mummy nervous: sometimes I like to hold on to the side of the punt when we go down the river and she thought that was a bit close to the ducks beaks. I thought it was fine.

When we go punting, I usually get to play with toys or with the blue mat that Mum and I sit on. Mum likes to keep me in between her legs where I can't get in to too much trouble. Sometimes I get frustrated because she holds on to the back of my coat so I can't grab the wooden slats on the bottom of the boat.

Daddy, of course, stands up on the end of the punt and gets us up and down the river. Today, we went all the way from Scudamore's past Magdalene College! That's as far as you can go on the Backs.

Mummy said today was especially nice because of all the beautiful colors of leaves. She says it's called "Fall" in the United States, but everyone here says it's "Autumn."

New Blocks

Mum bought me some new blocks! They all  bright colors and different shapes. So far, I like the ones shaped like an arch the best.

I like to help Mummy hold the camera. :)

Siren

Sometimes when people walk in front of us on the footpaths they walk slow.

Yesterday, when Mummy and I were on our way to buy food at Sainsbury's, we had 3 slow people walking in front of us. They just wouldn't get out of the way! I could tell that Mum was getting frustrated, but that she didn't want to say anything to them.

So I did.

I remembered watching all of the cars get out of the way for Police when they have their loud sirens on, so I thought I'd do the same thing. I grabbed the tray on my buggy, pulled myself up straight, and gave my best imitation of a siren. "Blahh!!" I yelled as loud as I could.

They turned around, saw me, and got right out of the way.

I was pretty pleased with myself. I sat back against my buggy backrest and quietly congratulated myself (at least loud enough for Mum to hear as well).

Mum apologized to the people as we went by (that's the British thing to do, I guess), but I could tell she was really pleased with me.

This is how I sit up when I want to look around at things. Or yell at people. 

Digestives

Ok, I know the name makes it sound disgusting...but Digestives are DELICIOUS. They're a yummy biscuit and Mummy always gets the kind with chocolate on one side (of course).

Mum and Daddy let me have one for the first time today!

YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY!!!

Granchester Meadows

We walked out to Granchester Meadows today. There were a lot of people on the path--Daddy said a lot of colleges had an organized "walk to Granchester" for tea today since it's Sunday. We just wanted to go for a walk and be outside in the sunny weather.

I fell asleep just as we reached the actual meadows. Mum and Daddy found a nice spot of grass near the Cam to spread the blanket out on, and I slept in my buggy (Mum says that's what the British people call it).

On the way there, we saw some sheep!

Granchester Meadows is really pretty and green right now.

 I really like to pull pieces of grass up onto the blanket. Daddy was helping me.

On the way home, we went through a "kissing gate". Mum gave Daddy a kiss! Ew...

Sometimes I look really serious when I'm in my stroller.

We stopped at the Causewayside Park and played on the swing for a minute. It was so much fun!