Henry's 5th Birthday

Betsy has already posted a report on all the "birthday doings" in honor of Henry's 5th birthday this past Saturday, but allow me to add some "grandfather perspective" to the report. I begin with a sidebar story.

Without prompt, Henry recently concocted a very interesting computational device. For a long time, he has had an old keyboard to play with. He evidently decided that hooking it up to a toy abacus was the right thing to do. Naturally, I would find this especially interesting and fascinating. I want to believe that he has some innate understanding of the significance of what he has done. Why wouldn't I think him, along with all my other grandkids, one of the smartest little people around? His parents better keep pushing his math, science, and engineering skills. They are very evident to me!

I'm sorry, but this just blows my mind.

Anyway, back to the birthday. Since we were there a couple days in advance of Henry's birthday, we let him open his gifts from us early.

First, the box...

...which included this very special T-shirt. Well, I think it is special, being the Yankee fan that I am. Evidently, his father or mother have swayed him in the direction of other teams, though. He wasn't too sure about this gift.

Next came this very special case, which Grandma made for one of his gifts...

He seemed to like this one. I had fun making it. I bought the ash blank several years ago and have been waiting for Henry to reach an age where I thought he could handle it. Also, to complete the picture, we got him an official leather glove and a new ball. Later, he and I had fun giving that new glove its first oiling. We also discussed the fine points of wrapping it around a ball and breaking it in in various ways.

My wood-burning skill leaves something to be desired, but Henry didn't complain.

The next morning, as Betsy has reported, Henry had a skunk-themed pancake breakfast birthday. (Henry is very fascinated with skunks right now.) I guess the thing that most impressed me was Betsy's teacher-ability, including a special "teacher voice" and distraction skills, to handle a group of young, energetic boys. I have long forgotten the noise and activity levels that a group of more than two can generate.

I wish everyone could be this happy always!