Master Flower Arranger

Last week my friend Francis was in town on business and stopped by to hang out with us. Henry liked putting on a show for "Mommy's friend Francis" and was even wondering where she was the next day. So thanks for visiting Francis! Even if your trip did take you to Counciltucky. (For those of you unfamiliar with Council Bluffs' reputation, it is not the most glamourous place to visit).

Anyway, we also had Henry's parent-teacher conferences last week. Yes, you read that correctly, parent-teacher conferences for a 2-year-old. He even got a report card, which has a list of skills and whether they have been "mastered" or "presented." ("Presented" presumably means that he hasn't mastered the skill yet. Why don't they just say, "not mastered"?) Henry's list of mastered skills includes the following: sweeping, mopping, dish washing, pouring, and flower arranging. Yes, flower arranging. Every week someone in the class brings in a bunch of flowers and they break them up into small bud vases that sit on their little tables. Gotta love Montessori! Mike and I are always amused by the whole Montessori experience. Although I have to admit they do a great job and for all of our poking fun it really has been very good for Henry. So overall the report was good, we had originally been concerned about his speech when we started him there in September but that has come along very well and now we have a problem with him bossing others around. He's very "independent" and "self-guided." No kidding!

And one last funny thing - the other morning I was still sleeping when Henry came into our room at 6am and climbed up on the bed. I was still covered up with the blankets and he looked down at me with concern on his face. "Baby come out??" he asked. For a split second I was like, oh my god, am I like one of those people you read about in the paper that has a baby and doesn't realize it? Like the high schoolers that go to prom, have a baby in the bathroom, and return to the dance floor and are out there doing the macarena 5 minutes later? But no, Henry just couldn't see my belly with the covers over it. I laughed and pulled the covers back and showed him. "Nope, not yet Henry. See, it's still in there." "Yeah," Henry said, "Have to wait."