Henry's Happy Noise

This is Henry's happy noise. It's been compared to purring like a kitten, gargling, and the call of the wookiee. See what you think!

12 Month Milestones

I took Henry to the doctor this week for his 12 month well child visit (I find that title a little ironic, since Mr. H has had a runny nose for about a month now). The doctor was impressed not only with his walking ability, but when he left the room Henry waved bye-bye and gave him a high five. The doctor replied, "not only might he be an athlete, but a student athlete!"

Anyway, here are his latest stats.

• Height: 31 inches (84%)
  
• Weight: 23 lbs 14 oz. (66%)
  
• Head circumference: 47.3 cm (76%)

As you can see, there was a little dip in his weight. This is not surprising given the fact that Henry is in constant motion when he's awake. Even with his little drive-by meals at times, it's hard to imagine he is taking in more calories than he expends!

Henry has finally figured out how to rock back and forth on this "rock, roll n' ride"

His first taste of a strawberry - yum!

Birthday Boy

Henry is one and so much fun!
It is hard to believe how much Henry has grown and changed over the course of the last year. It has been an amazing journey and we look forward to many more birthdays!

We are having a good time with Meme this week playing with Henry and enjoying some downtime during George's week of vacation.

Henry is picking up many new gestures. He has learned to wave bye-bye, blow kisses, and finally signs "all done" at the end of a meal!

Date Nights

George and I have recently had a chance to enjoy a few nights out on the town, courtesy of the residency program. The tropical themed party was a "fizzle dinner" for the interns. In addition to having the chance to socialize over a nice meal with the other residents in his program, there were some funny gag gifts and awards handed out.

The other picture is from the formal event put on by the hospital. It was at the Monona Terrace, which overlooks the lake (the view would have been appreciated with a little daylight) but it did snow a little that evening, big fluffy flakes that added a little romance!

We both enjoyed the opportunity to get out of the house and spend some time together as a couple. Henry was a good boy for his babysitters, which is also a relief!

A spring in our step

Spring is in the air, and there is a spring in our step. We are feeling good here with a few days of warm weather. After four days of temps above freezing, I can finally see the pavement on our street. The ice was extra thick (4+ inches!) in front of our house due to a water break in the midst of a horrible cold spell which created a quickly frozen river. So we are happy to have traction once again.

Henry seems slightly confused about being outdoors more frequently. We took him for a walk through the neighborhood and down to a nearby park. Since it has been several months since we've been able to use the stroller, we had to loosen the harness on his stroller quite a bit. My how he's grown, his feet actually rest on the footrest! He's not too sure about walking on the uneven terrain (just the incline of the driveway was enough to throw off his balance and he kept falling over). I wonder how well he'll do in the grass?!

Here he is in the swing just a couple blocks from our house. Sorry for the photo quality. I took it with my phone as I left the camera at the house, but wanted to be sure I captured the memory of a 50 degree afternoon in February!!

Henry's latest tricks include:
*giving high five (thanks Aunt Jennifer & Uncle Steve!)
*giving kisses (it is sooo sweet, but be ready for the open mouth approach!)
*he sings the la-la-la part of La Bamba
*if you're lying on the floor, you are the perfect target for a Henry belly flop! :)

A cousin weekend

Henry and I have been trying to keep ourselves busy while George has been on some time consuming (on call every 4 days) rotations. This means we are trying to meet new friends, go to the library, and go for walks (when its not below zero, or single digits - my, our standards are pretty low for what is good walking weather in Wisconsin!). When the weekend rolls around, however, my strategy is to just get out of town. Especially when the weekend is non-existent for George.

Amazingly, Henry handled a 6 hour car ride to Michigan beautifully, despite staying awake for most of the ride. His cousin time was full of energy, silliness, general monkey business, and tom-foolery. Julia and Andrew move at high speeds, so it was out of necessity that Henry learned to pick up the pace or get out of the way. I think he had a good time checking out their toys and being in the midst of a Sanford whirlwind.

Another bonus is that he is so enchanted with dogs that Kendall was an easy and welcomed distraction from toy battles.

Mom requested a "group photo of the cousins." Little did she know she was asking for a miracle. At least, if she wanted a good one. Meaning its easy to capture three bodies, but not with all eyes at the camera and some sort of smile or contented expression on all faces. See below.

Take 1: Started out well, but we're just getting warmed up.

Take 2: Oops, side tracked with some silliness already.

Take 2: Andrew's blanket is a little distracting for him. Actually, make that all of us.

Take 3: Potentially the best we capture, though Andrew still looks like he's up to something.

Take 4: Henry's had enough. We never really recovered at this point. All other proofs involve Henry trying to escape and Julia and Andrew appearing confused or disinterested.