henry houdini

You know, here at Circus Forticus HQ, we are totally in favor of the boys getting more independent. But this weekend, we found our limit.

Saturday was a pretty nice day, weather-wise. One of the few we've had so far this "spring." So while Henry was taking his nap, Liam and Max decided to get their bikes down for the first ride of the season. They have a pretty clearly defined area for where they are allowed to go, and we reminded them of the boundaries and told them when to come home, and off they rode. It's a system that worked well for us ... until Henry woke up from his nap and decided to go looking for them. We told him they were out riding bikes, and that he could go next time, but that answer wasn't good enough. So Henry informed us that he was going to go out in the yard and look for them. We reminded him of his boundaries, telling him to say inside the fenced part of the yard and come back inside in a few minutes (another system that up until now has worked well for us), and off he went. Mike was grilling a turkey breast, so he was running in and out of the house, checking on Henry each time, and I was working on something inside, so it's not like we just totally neglected him or anything. So it came as a surprise when Mike came inside and reported that Henry was gone. Gone? Yes, GONE. He climbed over the fence, went into the garage, got his bike (with training wheels), and rode off in search of his brothers, eventually finding them at a playground about three blocks from home. Luckily, Liam and Max understood that the appearance of Henry sans parents was a serious deal, so Liam stayed with Henry while Max started riding home to tell us what was going on (Mike met him halfway when he went out looking for Henry). Eventually, we got everyone home, but Henry spent a loooooong time up in his room before dinner.

During his confinement, Henry had plenty of time to think, though we didn't anticipate that he would just use the time to think up his next plot. Which is of course what happened. We ate dinner (delicious spicy turkey and avocado enchiladas!) and cleaned up afterward, then Mike headed to the living room to hang out and watch tv with the boys, and I went back to the bedroom to fold laundry. Henry stayed in the living room long enough to lull Mike into relaxing, then oh-so-casually strolled out of the room and decided to take out the trash. By himself. He somehow managed to lift the trash bin out of the sliding cabinet where it lives, pull out the trash bag, close it up, get out the door, open the (notoriously difficult) gate off the back deck -- letting the dog out in the process -- and make it all the way to the garage door before we noticed. The only reason I even saw him was that some passersby were yelling in alarm at the dog racing around the neighborhood, so I glanced out the window just as he was turning the knob on the garage door. Sheesh, this kid.

And to put a cap on the whole thing, Sunday morning I got a text message from my mom: "Dad wants to know if Henry drove to McDonald's for breakfast this morning."

At this rate, I'm not sure that would surprise anybody.