Today was Henry’s fifth birthday – one that he has been excited about for a long time. I think the planning for his birthday party started last summer! He is really developing his own personality, which is completely different to Owen! Henry loves princesses and Barbie, but also bikes and cars. He likes dressing to impress, be that dresses or dungarees. Since he started school in September, his reading and writing has come on leaps and bounds. That first year of school is amazing!

We actually had his party at the weekend, and I think it lived up to Henry’s expectations! There was a bouncy castle, dressing up, a soft play pirate ship and Henry’s choice of music, which is surprisingly good for a five-year-old! He seems to have chosen a really nice group of friends, and it was a good opportunity to meet them, and their parents. Henry’s cousin Sienna, who is eighteen months old, also came to the party and loved it. After the party, we had a small “after party” at home with Jen’s family.

Unfortunately for Henry, he had to go to school today, but we had a small family gathering at home after school, with one of Jen’s homemade chocolate cakes. I had the day off work, so I managed to sneak off for a bike ride. Henry was a very lucky boy and got some great presents from his friends and family, although by far his favourite was the Princess Belle dress, that he is wearing in the photo at the top of this post. He saw it in the supermarket just before Christmas and has asked about it pretty much every day since. He also got the Orbea mountain bike that Owen has recently grown out of – Owen also got it for his fifth birthday, but it looks way too big for Henry at the moment. There is no rush for him to move on from his current bike, so we will see how he gets on.

The baby of the family is no longer a baby – Henry is a proper little boy now. Although he will insist that he is a “big boy”! We had a pretty quiet day today, with a trip to the zoo whilst Owen was at school. The main celebrations happened yesterday, with visits from grandparents and extended family. Henry loved seeing everyone and getting presents. Henry is an independent and resourceful little boy, so after the celebrations had stopped he snuck off upstairs to where he had already identified his main present to be hidden, then came downstairs with a big smile on his face and his new toy in his hands. Luckily for Henry, he manages to be incredibly cute when doing this sort of thing, so usually gets away with it.

Two has been a great age for Henry. Since his last birthday his speech has really come on, and he has become a right little chatterbox! He also has a great memory – remembering things that have been said to him weeks ago, or where things have been left. He is also great at recognising cars, especially Renaults (like Nanny’s). We seemed to mostly avoid the “terrible twos” with Henry – of course, there were a few tantrums, especially when he was tired, but he is generally good-natured and likes to be helpful. As I wrote in my recent post after our visit to Adrenaline Alley, Henry’s confidence has improved in the last few weeks – he is getting much more confident around other children. With all of the lockdowns over the last two years, he has missed a lot of the opportunities to socialise that Owen had, so it is good to see his social skills improving.

Henry showed some signs of turning into a “threenager”, but a lot of it was probably down to tiredness after a busy day, and me not understanding Henry’s vision for his outfit. Hopefully, he will continue to be his good-natured and loving self as he navigates being three. It should be an exciting year – moving to the pre-school at Owen’s school, potty training, holidays and hopefully learning to ride a pedal bike.