River goes to school!

HI Friends and Family,

We enrolled River into a Toddler program at the St Helena Co Op Nursery School. The class runs 9-11 on Saturdays. River just made the cut off, as you have to be turning 2 by December to get into the class. There were also only 2 spots left, so we feel extremely lucky that they had room for us. Adam or I will go to class with him every Saturday 9-11 until June. We are excited to see him learn and meet new friends. We are also excited to participate in the class. They were able to extend a scholarship to us which made it extremely affordable. River starts class on 9/12. We have our orientation on 9/8. I'll post pictures when he starts school. When Rain arrives, I can wear Rain in a carrier while I participate in the class. Great news for our little man River Hemingway. He is really growing up!

Lots of Love
The Henkels

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River also enjoyed dancing for the crowd at Karly's Burger Night - he is such a ham! He loved flirting with cute girls on the beach and sitting on other people's chairs on the beach. He loved to go through other peoples bags and explore other kids toys on the beach :) thankfully - the people around us were very understanding of River's curiosity :) At this point it is very hard to tell a 19 month old "no" He wants want he wants and wants it NOW! :) We enjoyed a trip to Rock Island Sandy Beach. We thought it was somewhat entertaining to get caught in a big rain storm on Rock Island. Adam and I enjoyed a quiet evening out at the Washington Hotel.

even more vacation photos

more vacation pictures

Washington Island Vacation

HI Friends and Family,

We recently returned from a super 2 week vacation on Washington Island. River did great on the plane! We were thankful to have borrowed a friends DVD player which River really enjoyed on the plane ride. We were also fortunate enough to get good seats with extra leg room. River enjoyed seeing his Grandpa Terry! He loved running around on his large farm property, jumping on his trampoline and seeing his grandpa be really goofy. River enjoyed swimming in the water with Adam and I at School House Beach. The water was a little chilly, but felt good when the sun was shining. River seemed to go through a language growth spurt during our vacation. We are not sure if it was just the 19 month stage of learning new vocabulary or if it was because he had so much language stimulation from Adam and I. Here is a list of words he learned:
verbal words: roar (he says "waaee" in a whispery low voice because he can't say the /r/ sounds, yes, eyes, boat, birdie, eat, juice (du) - although he doesn't like to drink juice, hippo, apple,
signs: fish, mama, tree, bird, cookie (his new favorite for any sweet food)
receptive identification: eyes, nose, mouth, feet, belly button/ tummy, ears, get your shoes

I am sure there are more words he learned that I can not remember at the moment. As a Speech Language Pathologist, I couldn't be happier with his language development. I am really proud of him and how quickly he learns new words. He is even starting to put words/ signs together like: more book, more cookie. His favorite book and song is "old macdonald." He continues to love to sing "ee iii ee iii oooo."

When he took a walk with Adam down the driveway of the cabin, I loved how he kept turning around and waving to me and blowing me kisses...melted my heart!

He did not seem happy to return to Rosa's for daycare today. He cried at first and had a very serious look on his face. He seemed to have fun when I came to pick him up.

I am now nearly 32 weeks pregnant. Baby #2 is due October 1st. All is well with the baby. I have my next appointment this Thursday August 6th. I'm thinking this next baby will be a big one, maybe even bigger than River who was 9 pounds; 9 ounces.

I am doing a little work for Saint Helena School District for the next 2 weeks and trying to line up more work for mid-August to late September.

Enjoy the Photos :)
Love
Henkel Family