Henry rode the train

Today Mom did something with Henry I'd been promising for over a year: she took him on the train to Philadelphia for the day.  They rode in, took the subway down to the historic old downtown, walked to the riverfront, went to the ship museum, and then did the whole thing in reverse and came back home.  She said he did great, although he did get tired and was ready to come home a little earlier than she expected.  She suggested that they return to the station and eat lunch there while they waited for their train and he said, "That would be lovely!"  

When he got home he went right upstairs and went back to building.  For the last few days he's been absolutely obsessed with his new lego set.  It came with a book that shows you how to build about 10 different pirate things-- rafts, a harbor, a ship-- and at first Michael or I had to do it with him, but now he can do the whole thing himself, carefully following the instructions step by step.  Yesterday he worked on it all afternoon until I finally convinced him to take a break.  

And, here's a photo of a nightly ritual: tooth-brushing in bed.  This looks worse than it is: Henry now willingly opens wide so that we can brush (just with ACT, though, not toothpaste)-- a big improvement over the first three years of his life, when we had to physically restrain him to do the job.  Tonight he was just covering his eyes for fun and asking us if the light was still on.

Finally, here's a picture of Agatha playing on Henry's new rug.  She has learned how to go stiff as a board when you are carrying her and passing Henry's room, so that she can slip down out of your grasp and scurry into his room.  She loves it because it is full of forbidden delights, like Playmobil knights with all their tiny swords.  Henry hates for her to come in and mess up his stuff, but he does like us to be with him, so it's a conundrum for him.