Happy Birthday Charlotte!

Today we had a fun time going to a live broadcast of an Wisconsin based NPR show -- thanks to the residency program. It was definitely a dorky thing to do this morning, but we enjoyed it and our friends Neal and Meghan even made it onto the show.

After Henry napped for awhile, we stopped into a favorite place for brunch and had a lazy afternoon being silly with Henry. He is just so goofy right now. Lots of fun.

I will be working at the hospital tomorrow when some other friends stop by for dinner - so here it is a day early - Happy Birthday!

Happy Spring!

We wish "ewe" a happy spring! We took Henry out to a farm to see the baby animals. There were LOTS of lambs. Henry was sort of in awe of all the noise. Lots of bleating back and forth between babies and mamas.

Additionally, we got to see chicks, pigs, calves, turkeys, rabbits, and a duck. Henry was brave and patted the lambs and chickens and the pig's nose. It was just the dose of spring we were looking for to wrap up a warm weather week!

Wearin' O' The Green

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Last weekend we had a family weekend just outside Chicago (a perfect middle meeting place between Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin). Our time was filled with silliness (what do you expect with a 5, 3, and 1 year old?) and adventure as we all rode the Metra in to downtown Chicago.

Our intention was to visit the Shedd Aquarium. Little did we know the whales, dolphins, and penguins were on vacation while their habitat underwent an upgrade. This changed our minds about spending time and money to see the "lesser" aquatic species. (Let's remember you're talking about the attention spans of a 5, 3, and 1 year old).

Instead, we ventured through the St. Patrick's day parade line up, saw the "giant bean" in Millennium park, and viewed the vibrantly green river. All in all still a successful trip, as we followed the golden rule of large group interaction, especially when children are involved: "always quit while it's still fun!" It certainly helped that the weather was gorgeous, too!

Another highlight to the weekend was swimming in the hotel pool and hot tub. It was Henry's first experience in a pool and he LOVED every minute of it. By the end of our session, Aunt Jennifer had convinced him to try dipping his face in the water to blow bubbles. To think next year he might be jumping in as bravely as Andrew and Julia do boggles my mind. You would think after all this expenditure of energy it was quiet and peaceful at night. And you'd be wrong. We struggled BIG TIME with sleeping soundly in the hotel room. Which made for one exhausted momma by the end of the weekend. Henry will have to turn over a new leaf before I think about taking him to another hotel in the future...oh wait, we have some long distance weddings to attend this year. More sleep training, here we come!

P.S. Thanks, Aunt Jessica, for providing the festive t-shirts!

Warm weather teaser

We had another warm weather teaser last week. It felt SO good to be outside, soaking in the sunshine. Henry loved roaming around the backyard. I know where we'll be spending a lot of time this summer!

It was a little muddy, and falls on sticks, stones, and other outdoor terrain (leftover snow) is not as forgiving as carpet, or even smooth hardwood flooring!

Henry and I fed the birdies, then we explored. He investigated leaves, rocks, sticks, a pine cone (which he ran through his hair as if it were a comb), and a corn cob left behind by Mr. Squirrel (which was hard to part with when we went in the house).

Despite having some birthday celebrations to disrupt the doldrums, February and March are hard times of the year for us. We feel sort of tired, gray, cold, muddy, and mopey. Spring and sun will be very welcomed in our house! Hopefully, just a few more weeks!

Wagon shuffle

Here is a video of Henry discovering a new way to play with his block wagon. He had some initial trouble with the dismount, but as you'll see in this video, he's mastered that "big" step down.

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! :)