I had to stop and think for a minute about the title for this one. If you asked me how old Henry is, I'd quickly answer five and half. Almost seven? What?
Kindergarten was a big success. We were so worried about transitioning him to a new school with a new format in the middle of the year, but Henry did great. His teacher said he was a positive addition for the class and one of the most advanced in math and reading (yay, two years of Montessori!). I don't think he learned much this year but don't really care. He made a bunch of friends and is excited about first grade. That's all we wanted for this year.
We marked the end of the year by giving him a mohawk. It was hilarious.
Last day of K!
Henry, Ingrid and Alden went to camp two mornings a week in June and July. It was awesome to send the three of them off together. They loved telling everyone that they were cousins and delighted in getting special dispensation to share snacks when no one else was allowed to share.
Short-lived pet frog, courtesy of nature camp.
Reitzling Cousin Squad also did swim lessons every day in July. They all made huge progress. Henry was already super comfortable in the water -- he could dive to the bottom of the deep end and jump off the high dive -- but can now do competition-legal freestyle and backstroke! His instructors basically had him swimming laps on the last day of lessons. Edina Gators 2018 here we come! I may be a teensy bit over-excited about summer league swimming.
Having the family, especially Alden and Grandpa Dave, around for Henry has pretty much justified the entire cross-country move. Alden perfectly bridges the age/gender gap between Henry and Ingrid, and the three of them together have an awesome dynamic that's better than any two of them. And when Henry gets bored with the five other people who live here, he just calls Dave, who magically appears five minutes later to entertain Mr. Extrovert.
He also made fast friends with two boys who live around the corner. Henry and Luke and Colin run back and forth between the houses and generally engage in shenanigans all day. They're having a super awesome Phineas & Ferb style summer. Luke is a budding Elon Musk who likes Karl's power tools, elaborate projects, and learning about the world by deconstructing all of our stuff, so it's an awesome friendship that requires intensive parental supervision.
Henry learned how to ride his bike with no training wheels in April. We hadn't worked on it much since he got the bike last Christmas -- either he wasn't interested, or the weather was bad, or we didn't have time to get him somewhere on the Hill where he could practice. One day while the littles were napping, he said he wanted to try it, so I took him out to the street and started running. He worked out the basics in 15 minutes. The next day I asked if he told all his friends at school. He rather abashedly said he couldn't tell them because they thought he already knew how to ride. Poor little guy didn't want to hurt his pride. Luke has really patient about teaching Henry some of the finer points of riding like starting uphill, going over curbs, and making tight turns.
We went to the cabin for a long weekend in June and Henry alllllmost got up on the water skis. He got the hang of popping up but couldn't figure out how to actually ski. He was SO PROUD of himself and loves showing everyone this picture. We were back last week but Henry refused to try again. I think he was anxious to try again but fail to make progress.
Now Henry is gearing up for a serious winter as a full-fledged Minnesotan: hockey and skiing! He took hockey skills class this spring and summer and can now play on the Mites, our 6U team. So. Much. Gear. I'm not sure I'm ready for it.
Hockey teeth.
By his own account, he loves playing with Fritz, climbing like a ninja warrior, Pokemon cards, fidget spinners, riding his bike, playing Monopoly, playing cards, and playing with Luke. When he gets focused, he's also great at helping Karl with projects and inventing activities for himself and Ingrid. He loves getting money (and is sometimes willing to actually work to get it) and making deals. Still loves a good costume or themed outfit. Will eat anything -- the more sophisticated, the better. He loves the idea of being a sports fan and will pick up a fun fact here and there but has no actual interest in watching a game.
I don't even know how he got up there.
Making "science potions"
Life-size whack-a-mole
Eating octopus at happy hour
DIY Ghostbusters outfit
Boss Baby outfit
When he's trying to be funny, he talks like a redneck. It's one of those phases that is moderately annoying until it goes away and then we'll get all nostalgic about it two years from now.
Grandma Carol recently described him as having an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. That's darn accurate. We're never sure which one is going to be louder on a given day, but it's either one or the other. He can be the sweetest, most considerate helper, devoted to his little siblings, sensitive to our moods....or a melodromatic, whiny, disrespectful tiny teenager. It's like his crazy threenager days except physical manucaption is no longer an option (bummer).
He's just on the precipice between little kid and big kid -- still carries SoftEar (puppyhead) around the house but doesn't want his friends to see it, gets super excited about getting his face painted at the zoo with Ingrid and Heidi but won't let me photograph it. I know these transition phases are the toughest, behaviorally and emotionally, so we're trying to be zen about it. I'm enjoying the cuddles of a little boy and the capabilities of a big kid.
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