March

We were so lucky to have beautiful, even hot, weather most of March. Of course, it got cold again. The photo with Henry in shorts in his stroller is from the beginning of March; the photo of Henry wrapped in a blanket in his stroller is from a couple days ago!

Henry is now almost 16 months old. He's learning new words--I believe "milk" is the latest. He is also learning to walk down the stairs holding a railing and a hand. It's so cute, especially since one stair is the height of his entire leg. The gorgeous tulips around Chicago have bloomed and they are Henry's newest interest. He has to stop and stare and he wants to touch them too. We're trying to use them to teach colors. He will repeat "red" and "blue" but has no clue what either means.

Henry and I are headed back to Florida on Tuesday. He will finally get to meet Uncle Greg! Cousins Sean and Josh will be there too, and they'll all have fun playing together.

15 + months

Over the past couple weeks Henry has become more "boy" and less"baby".  The weather has really warmed up, and that means he ONLY wants to play outside.  He loves to run down the sidewalk, but he hasn't exactly mastered the art of looking where he's going so he's taken a few spills.  His cut lip and scabbed knees are only a small glimpse into a future of injuries I'm sure.  He's pretty tough and rarely cries when he falls.  Now, if we take away a doggy treat before he crams it into his mouth, that is another story--major tears there!  Gracie's treats must be absolutely delicious.  Henry has so much fun at the park; his favorite activities are the slides, sandbox, and chasing the big kids.  He doesn't like being in the swing as much as other babies seam to.

We are also in the midst of transitioning from 2 naps a day to 1 nap a day.  It's been a loooong transition and we never really know what kind of day it will be until he wakes up (5 am or 7:30 am??)   It's not a big deal, but sometimes makes scheduling play dates, etc. tricky.

His vocabulary is ever expanding, too.  I won't run through the whole list here because those details are probably only interesting to parents and grandparents ;)  But, he's saying "me", "help please", "more please", "mommy" (no more "mama"!)  And not that it's new, but his favorite phrase is "no no".  It's pretty darn cute.

This weekend was St. Patrick's Day--always a crazy, crowded adventure here in Chicago.  I'm proud to say that we did not take him to a bar.  We did go to the park TWICE and to a party that had quite a few other babies.  He avoided the green beer, but was quite impressed by the corned beef.

On Friday I'm headed to Charleston with Grandma for a 3 day weekend.  Mark and Henry will be enjoying some quality time during their "guys weekend".  I wish them both good luck!!

Florida!

Henry, Mark, and I are nearing the end our trip to Naples. We've enjoyed excellent weather and have taken advantage by going to the pool every day. Henry loves running around naked, going for walks, and eating ice cream. We saw two dolphins at the beach yesterday. Next month Henry and I will be back for another week of sun!

Growing every day

Henry is closing in on 14 months and every day is a new adventure for him (and me... And Mark!). We are transitioning from two naps to one so I never know exactly what the day will bring.

Henry still loved reading and he'll bring me every single book on his shelf. He loves to turn the pages and point to things. If he sees a dog he says "ruff ruff". Mark and I have been taking him to the library on the weekends and thats very entertaining for all of us He's also started saying a few new words: cheese, baby, bye bye, yum yum (that usually means yogurt), moe (more).

He's enjoying his weekly music class although it seems like he's more shy than the other children. His teacher commented that he seems to love the percussion instruments. I have to agree with her.

Henry's First Hair Cut

Henry was growing quite the little mullet, so after convincing his father, we headed to Snippet's today for a hair cut.  Henry did not like getting his hair sprayed with water and that lead to some tears, but our stylist was very quick so it was over before he got too distraught.  Here are some before and after photos.

A couple days ago we had another little "milestone"; Henry touched his nose on command!  It's the cutest thing ever.

Right now Henry is really into saying "no".  We have a book where he looks for a dog named Spot and he learned the word from that book.  If I ask him a question, he'll say no.  It's not annoying yet.  I would really love for him to learn how to say "yes" too.

Snowy Day

Look at those teeth!!

SNOW DAY!!!!!  Finally we're getting some gorgeous, white, fluffy snow!  I know snow is a big pain in the butt for travel but since we have no place to go, we're happy to have it.  Henry (and Gracie!) are enjoying looking out the window.  These photos were taken around 12:30--it's still coming down hard.  We decided to go outside for a little while to see what Henry would think.  He definitely enjoyed it, but of course it's cold out so he didn't last long.  He also took a minor spill but his large, puffy coat saved him from any serious injuries.

And here is a sweet picture of Henry sleeping..... 

It's been a while

Hello everybody!  I haven't written in a long time because we were having some major computer problems that prevented me from posting blogs to this site.  But, since it's been so long, there is more to share!  Now that Henry is nearly 13 months old, he is an expert walker... in fact, he's basically running everywhere he goes.  He still loves to climb and will get up on the ottoman and couch all by himself.  His talking kind of comes and goes. Some days he's babbling all over the place and will say "dog", "dada", and even imitate a dog sound, "ruff ruff". Other days it's like he's focusing on everything around him and he's pretty silent.

Henry loves to read books now.  It's such a nice change.  He has a few favorites, but overall he likes books about dogs and most nonfiction books.  He also likes his books that have little puppets and textures for him to feel while he looks at the pictures.  A new favorite game is pulling all the books off the shelves in his room.   I can't wait for him to clean up after himself.  When does that happen?  Hopefully he'll inherit his cleaning skills from his father.

Henry had such a wonderful birthday!  He had two parties and we felt really lucky to have Grandma travel here from Florida and Stu, Tutu, Ryan, Shannon, B, and Quinn travel here from Cleveland.  Lots of friends came too.  Henry is having a blast with his new toys and books and I'm enjoying dressing him up in his new outfits.

Christmas was a lot of fun too.  We made a trip to Michigan where we hung out with some of my friends and family.  Henry got to meet cousin Kathy who was visiting from South Africa and my cousin Andrea, too.  He got to try ham for the first time too!  For the weekend of Christmas, we headed to Cleveland and had a great time visiting with Mark's side of the family.  Henry got to go swimming with Stu, Tutu, and his cousins.  He also had a great time chasing the dogs, running around, helping Stu mix drinks in the kitchen, and attempt to eat tissue paper.  It was a wild time.

Henry has been trying lots of new foods too.  Recently he's shown a great interest in strawberries, tomatoes, and peaches.  Today he even tried peanut butter and he loved it.  And... it's even easier for him to eat now that he has FOUR teeth.  His bottom central incisors came in first right before Christmas and his top lateral incisors are just starting to poke through.

At our 1 year doctor appointment, Henry was 20 lbs 1 oz (25th percentile) and 29.75 inches (50th percentile).  We were very excited that he had a growth spurt!  Now that we're able to post again to this site, I'll write more again very soon!