Henry's 3rd Birthday

Betsy has reported on the series of birthday parties Henry had last weekend. Although it probably doesn't qualify as another party, I did make a trip to see Henry last Tuesday so that I could deliver birthday presents and spend a little time with him and his parents. When I arrived at the house, Betsy was just ready to drive to Poko Loko to pick him up, so I rode along. It was fun to see how excited he was at the opportunity to show off his day's activities and to hear him describe the observance of his birthday during the day (it was his day to bring birthday treats, to be sung to, and to receive a specially decorated birthday visor that he proudly wore).

Before we got back to the house, he announced that he wanted to play, so we spent the time prior to his Dad's return from work playing with new toys and games. Henry loves the Wiggles and decided to play one of their CDs while we played. When a song called "The Flap" came on, he immediately got up to demonstrate the dance that goes along with the music. This picture attempts to capture some of his moves, although his mother and I wondered if he had been watching a few too many Mick Jagger performances.


When his Dad arrived, and before we went out for a yummy sushi dinner, which Henry thought was a great choice, I gave Henry his gifts. This year, I chose to restore two old toys of mine for him. The first was my Flexible Flyer sled, and no, I didn't call it Rosebud. It had badly rusted and had several broken boards, all of which I repaired and restored as best I could.


I explained to Henry that you could lie down on the sled and steer it down hills, so he gave that position a try.


The second gift was a wooden puzzle of the U.S. that I must have received when I was about five or six. That was prior to 1959, of course, when Alaska and Hawaii entered the union, so this puzzle only shows 48 states. Two of the tiniest pieces had gotten lost over the years, so I made new ones with my scroll saw and painted them to match as best I could. Grandma made a nice slipcase to keep it in, so we hope the puzzle will stay intact now. Before we went out for sushi, Henry succeeded in putting the puzzle together for his first time. I hope he enjoys, as I did, learning all the names of the states, their geographic locations, where the Great Lakes are, and many other things that make maps so interesting.


I'm a very lucky grandfather!