Happy New Year 2009!!!

Henry and Jeff spent New Year's Eve day together, while I worked. Jeff put together Henry's Christmas present from Grandma and Grandpa...a red wagon! They played outside a good part of the day. Jeff reported happily that Henry was swinging his golf club quite well at times and got in some great hits. They also did a lot of reading. Jeff said that it has been a strange adjustment having Henry go from being very daddy-centric to being mommy-centric. Henry would cry if I passed by and he couldn't come with me. I'm actually not convinced that it's me that he really wants. I'm convinced that he sees me as a conduit to his beloved "pics" and "mic."

We went on a walk with the dogs in the early evening. Henry road in his red wagon, which worked out well. In our neighborhood, especially on our street, the norm is to have dogs off leash. In cold weather, Roger becomes "Off Road Rog" and decides to go deaf and ignore our commands, meaning that we end up calling out his name every few minutes in an attempt to keep him in check. Henry is now helping us in our efforts to call for the dogs. If he can't see them, he shouts "Mar-Dee!" and "Podgie!" (Podge is our nick-name for Roger).

Henry went over to the grandparents' house for dinner, while Jeff and I tried out a new Thai place and saw "Valkyrie" (which exceeded our expectations). When we returned to my parents' house, Jeff was the first to enter the family room. I was 10 steps behind him and heard an "Oh my!" as he entered the room, which was a disaster. Henry had an active evening. He ate a lot too: 2 servings of spaghetti, yogurt, turkey, pea crisps. He learned the word "noodle." Grandma reported that his enunciation was excellent. He was wide awake but ready to come home with us. He saw us, turned to the Grandparents, and said "Bye!"

2008 has been an eventful year. Looking back at our blog entries, it is amazing how far Henry has come. His physical abilities have flourished throughout the year. He has amazed his therapists on many occasions. In spring, we were seeing a PT and OT once a week. Today, he only sees the PT every other week (for monitoring more than anything else) and the OT every three months (which reminds me, we need to make an appointment). He graduated from the NICU developmental follow-up clinic in November. Dr. Thai said that she had absolutely no advice to give; he looked great. Dr. Bianchi, his pediatrician, has said on a couple occasions that if he hadn't read the file, he wouldn't believe that Henry was a preemie and had such a rough start.

Over the last couple months, Henry's verbal abilities have taken off. I assumed (incorrectly) that he'd be a late talker...between being a boy and being a preemie, I figured it was a given. But Henry has surprised me. We stopped diligently tracking words at 15 months adjusted, but I'm guessing that he knows somewhere between 80-90 words. Grandma has taught him the word "Normandy" for when they are looking at pictures of my trip with my mom to France in 2006. Carolyn was teaching him the word "Aunt." Jeff taught him the word "patootie" today (because knowing the word "butt" just isn't enough). He is starting to put objects and verbs together (e.g., "Bye Bye, doggie"). In addition to the seven body parts he knew at 15 months adjusted, we can add at least 5 more to the list. In addition to the six animal sounds he would make if you asked "What sound does the _____ make?" at 15 months adjusted, we can add tiger, bird, snake, goat, and horse to that list. He has more than "caught up" to his adjusted age (16.5 months); he exceeds expectations on many skills.

Henry has learned how to use language to persuade. His "pease, pease, pease, pics" accompanied by sign language and pleading eyes just melts my heart "almost" every time. He is working on his acting skills for when he doesn't get what he wants. His floor flops look a tad staged at the moment, but I suspect that he'll work on them to improve their authenticity in the near future.

Henry's comprehension exceeds his verbal abilities by far. He understands a lot of commands (not that he always or often follows them). He is a bit selective when it comes to commands. He has a knack for walking in the opposite direction that we want him too. Planning to attempt some reverse psychology this year...but I suspect he'll figure it out.

Amidst all of these physical, cognitive, and verbal changes, Henry's core has remained the same. He has remained a very sweet, delightful, and determined boy. We look forward to what 2009 will bring.

Happpy New Year!!!

Nee-uck Ise

On Sunday evening, Jeff and I had planned to go out to dinner and a movie with Carolyn. Things started off as planned. We had a lovely dinner at Saffron. At the end of dinner as we were gathering our things up to head to the movie theater, we got a call from my parents. They had received a call from one of Carolyn's neighbors. There was water streaming out the front door of her old house, which my parents still own. We ended up meeting them at Carolyn's old house. There was an inch of water in every room of the house. Everyone's shoes and pant cuffs were soaked. Henry was mad that we wouldn't put him down to play in the water. He went from person to person trying to get down, and when his holder didn't acquiesce, he'd call out for someone else to hold him...and the process would begin again. Jeff and I decided to call it a night while my parents and Carolyn waited for the restoration crew.

On Monday, I took care of the Doodle Bug in the morning but then dropped him off at my parents' house. He spent some quality time with Aunt Carolyn, who was swayed by his pleading eyes and dramatic "pease...pics." She said that she couldn't say no, so they looked at lots of pictures on the computer together. Carolyn reported that Henry was using the word "me" to refer to himself. He's been doing that for a couple weeks now, but I usually have to prompt him. I was pleased that he is doing it without prompting.









In the evening, we went for our walk. We stopped by Dakota and Outlaw's corral. Janice was in the corral cleaning up. She has been trying to get Henry to say "Janice is my favorite neighbor." Henry almost said her name.

At dinner, Henry wasn't that interested in the food, although he did have some of my onion soup, which he rejected a couple weeks ago. He decided to throw spaghetti on top of Roger's head. Roger didn't seem to mind. Henry also held out his hands for the dogs to lick them. I wasn't thrilled with that (after all, they eat horse poop off the road when we aren't looking) and told Henry to stop as it was "nasty." I guess I'd never used the word before and Henry found it hilarious. So he repeated the word "nasty" about 20 times. After dinner, Henry played on his slide and watched the Wildcats play Weber St. Henry learned Nic Wise's name (guard) and repeatedly said Nee-uck Ise throughout the game.

Henry turned 20 months actual on Tuesday. In the morning, Henry played on his slide and with the dogs. He was in a mischievous mood. He spent time with Carolyn again and gave her a good run for her money. In the evening, we went to Swenson's with my parents. Henry liked the french fries and even had some hamburger. I left before dessert as I had decided to rejoin WW to get rid of my post-baby fat.

Henry and I slept in this morning until 9AM. Jeff is off-work today, so he's on Henry Patrol.

The Experiment

On Saturday, it was very cold. Frost was all over the cacti when we woke up in the morning. Jeff bundled up Henry well for the morning dog walk. Henry even wore a hat...a Yoda hat that Jamie made him. So cute!

In the morning, my mom picked up Henry and dropped off Carolyn, Aunt Carol, and Uncle Joe. Jeff and I went with them to the Kitt Peak National Observatory, which is about an hour's drive SW of Tucson. It resides at 7,000 feet. Very cold but very interesting.









While we were at Kitt Peak, Henry helped Grandpa around the yard at the grandparents' house. Another freezing night was expected, so outdoor plants had to be covered. Grandpa reported that Henry followed commands and picked up rocks upon request.

The big "oops" of the evening was the discovery that we haven't had the gas tank refilled for a couple months. When we arrived home yesterday, I thought I smelled a trace of gas, but Jeff didn't smell anything. Then it hit him. We had been checking every two months, but our last check suggested things were A-OK. That was before we turned on the heat. Current status: No heat and no hot water during the coldest point of the year. We have a few fire logs from last season and a couple space heaters. We'll have to call on Monday to make sure that we get a gas delivery (usually on Tuesdays).

We had a quiet evening at home with the Doodle Bug. Jeff wanted to try an experiment. Henry doesn't eat as well for us as he does Grandpa. Jeff's explanation: the TV is almost always on at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Jeff carted the booster seat out to the living room. Turned on some football. Result: Henry ate a half tub of peas and several hummus crackers for Jeff.

I decided to try the TV experiment this morning. There was no football on yet, so I flipped on "Varsity Blues." Henry, however, wanted the real thing. He was, however, briefly entertained by the Dog Whisperer and ate a whole tub of orange medley with rice cereal, a whole sausage patty, and a whole hash brown patty. There might be something to this whole eat in front of the TV and zone out explanation. But is it a good thing or a bad thing?

We played around the living room in the morning. He did a nice kick with his Elmo ball at one point.









Jeff was wondering last night whether we have over Boyified him with Boy Toys. He has balls of every shape and size (soccer, basketball, football, golf). Jeff wondered if we should be getting him a doll or something. He understands the concept of the baby doll. Dr. Tsai used one during his last and final developmental clinic visit in November. Henry clearly identified "the baby." It has been much easier getting him sports toys than other toys in part because we had been working on motor skills initially. He has Backyardigan "action" figures. Because we don't watch TV (except sports...ugh), we've never seen the show. So I call the figures Pete the Penguin and Sam the Snail. He plays with them in the bath tub. He's gotten the idea of imaginative play for well over a month. Pete and Sam "walk" on the edge of the tub and do high dives off the side. That's sort of doll-like. Now that he is getting older and will be doing more imaginative play, we'll work on getting him less stereotypical boy toys.

Christmas and the Day After

On Christmas Eve/Christmas morning, I switched places on Henry snuggling duty with Jeff a little after 1:30AM. I had cleaned up the kitchen from our Christmas Eve celebration and knew that Jeff would want to set up Henry's present before Henry got up in the morning. I gather that it took Jeff longer than expected. I don't think that he slept at all.

Henry arose some time after 7AM, called for Dada, and then headed out of the bedroom to look for "pics." He was a little annoyed at being called into the living room when he had his heart set on pics. But in the end, he was quite satisfied with his big gift: The Ball Pit and Slide!




We had a nice breakfast of French toast (or Freedom toast depending on how you feel about France) in the morning. Henry had three pieces of French toast minus the crusts. It's amazing how much he can cram in his mouth when he's hungry and likes what's in front of him. Afterward, we opened some gifts.



We went to my parents' house for Christmas dinner. Aunt Gloria (my dad's sister) and Uncle Joe and Aunt Carol (Joe is my mom's brother) came out from D.C. Uncle Jim also came for dinner. Carolyn arrived from Pullman, WA. Erin (E-gew) and Brian (Baggie or dude) were also there, along with their pups Winston and Wembly. It was a full house.

This morning (Friday), I was hoping that we'd get a chance to sleep in, but Henry got up around 7:30AM, his usual wake up time. We still had some present to unwrap that we didn't get to the day before. In fact, Henry is still only half-way through his stocking. I'm tempted to switch to a Hanukkah gift schedule next year.



At one point, Henry grabbed the camera from me and started shooting photographs. Here are a few of Henry the Photographer's first photos, which Jeff calls "A Henry's Eye View of the World"...


We went over to my parents' house this evening to spend some time with them, Uncle Joe, and Aunt Carol. Henry had a good time with Uncle Joe who read the story about Maisey the cow with him. Incidentally, Jeff and I learned tonight that Henry can identify "geese" and "donkey" from pictures.



Carolyn commented on how tall Henry is. When she left for Pullman at the end of the summer, he wasn't walking yet. And now he's walkin' and talkin'.

I'm still stunned at his vocabulary. He picks up things quickly. His enunciation is great, especially for a 16 month old. He started fussing near his toy bucket at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I told him that he needed to say "please" in order to get some assistance from Uncle Joe. He said "peas," Uncle Joe helped him, and then I asked Henry to say "thank you," which he did (in words and sign). He has been doing a lot of backwards walking the past couple weeks. Today, he also jumped off the ground partially (one foots got it, the other one is working on it). This evening, he was doing arms circles. Every day, he does something new.

The Night Before Christmas

On Tuesday, Jeff worked while I took care of the Doodle Bug. It was a cloudy day. It had rained during the night and the outside was a mess. Henry was irked that we didn't get to go outside in the mud. We played. I took him into the bedroom for his nap around 10:30AM. He didn't settle down until 11:30AM. I took a nap with him. We didn't wake up until 3PM. It was nice. Grandma was waiting for us in the living room when we arose. She took Henry back to her place for a couple hours.

Jeff and I got the house ready for Christmas Eve. Jeff did an outstanding job on the lights. He also went to the grocery store. I worked on chores around the house.

Jeff picked up Henry in the evening, while I did some last minute shopping. Henry was still up when I got back at 10:30PM. Jeff was giving him a bath in our tub. Henry didn't go down easy.



This morning, Henry and Jeff went for a walk with the dogs. Henry gave Jeff a hard time with breakfast. I managed to get a little bit into him by doing a crazy dance in-between bites. Henry liked the dance and gave me applause for my efforts. Jeff made cookies, while Henry and I spent a long time outside. We spread bird seed around the backyard and fur-minated the dogs. Grandpa picked up Henry in the afternoon so that Jeff and I finishing straightening up the house before Christmas Eve dinner. Jeff made lasagna, which everyone said was fantastic. It had meat in it, so I passed. We had a lovely dinner with Erin (E-gew), Brian (Baggie), and the grandparents. Henry seemed quite taken with Baggie, but Baggie seemed unwilling to part with his much coveted set of car keys. Erin commented on how our house had changed quite a bit over the past two years. Our beautiful teak bar has been pushed against a wall, and the liquor bottles have been replaced with toys. Carolyn's (Caro) plane was late leaving Washington, so she missed her flight to Tucson. She was going to take a shuttle from Phoenix, which meant that she missed the dinner completely. But we'll hopefully she her tomorrow.

Jeff and Henry are sleeping now. I'm off to wake up Santa Jeff to see if he wants to set up the Playland or wait until morning.

Approved!

On Sunday morning, I received a call from Lora from "A Place To Call Home." She said that we are one of the couples that they are inviting to take their foster-adoption course. This is one of the major steps to getting approved to take care of foster children and/or adopt. We will be starting classes twice a week in the evenings Monday and Wednesday from 6-9PM on January 5. This is the class where we meet with our assigned case worker. We are excited about the prospect, but we also still trying to figure out how this would work in reality. Henry is a lot to handle as is. We are both in agreement that it would be much easier if only one of us worked and the other took care of the home (but which one, and how could we afford it?). My mom asked how we'd handle it. I said, "With the help of wonderful grandparents, I suppose." ;)

Henry took his nap a little later than usual. Jeff took Henry over to the grandparents' house around 3:30PM. Then, we went over there for dinner. Came back home. Snuggled with the Doodle Bug for awhile before getting up to do some work.

On Monday, Jeff took a vacation day and played with Henry in the morning and early afternoon. Then, Henry went over to the grandparents' house. They fed him dinner and then met up with us at the Tucson Zoo for the Zoo Lights extravaganza. The zoo was covered with Christmas lights, which Henry enjoyed. His favorite part was running around a large grassy area where other kids were running around. He said hello to two young gals (about 9), who liked him. He enjoyed dancing to Christmas music. When we came back, Henry was wide awake and wanted to look at "pics" and listen to "mic"..."peas." When he says please, I have a hard time saying no. Well, even when he doesn't say please, I guess also have a hard time saying no. I think that Henry's pegged me as the weakest link on the "no" front. Jeff doesn't disagree.

Naughty

Henry has been joining me on my conference calls with my co-authors in the afternoons. He's giving his opinions on the 2008 presidential campaign. Luckily, my co-authors find him cute.

On Thursday, my Dad came over in the afternoon. I was pretty much buried in my office grading exams. Jeff went out to the toy store again to get another round of toys for Toys for Tots and the Salvation Army. I think that we are feeling really blessed this holiday season and realize that we have a lot for which to be thankful. When we went out with Steve and Jamie the other night to a basketball game, Jamie and I pretty much spent the whole game talking. Anyway, at one point, Jamie mentioned how lucky we were at how things turned out, which is absolutely right. We are incredibly fortunate. That doesn't mean that Henry is completely out of the woods on preemie issues. As I've mentioned before, some of the effects of prematurity don't show up until school. But at this point, Henry is certainly ahead of the game for a 25-weeker. In our eyes, he's perfect. That's not to say he doesn't throw a tantrum now and then or give us the run-around when it comes to going to sleep at night, but he is so very loving, smart, sweet, curious...a delight.

On Friday, Henry exchanged gifts with Karina. Karina got Henry a cute Christmas outfit. Henry got Karina a Fisher Price telephone from their collectors series. It was a toy designed in 1963. I had one. Loved it. Shirley canceled her PT appointment with Henry. She was feeling sick. So Jeff called Elsa and canceled that appointment as well. Elsa (developmental coordinator) was going to visit at the same time as Shirley. We went on a walk about an hour earlier than usual. Good thing because we let Henry walk on his own, so things took quite a bit longer than usual. In the evening, we of course looked at "pics." At one point, Henry wanted "mic," which is what he calls music. I was trying to teach him how to use the remote.











Today (Saturday), we got to Joel's a little later than usual (probably about 10:30-11AM). Henry ate pancake, potatoes, ham, french bread with butter, waffles with syrup, and a half a grape. He wasn't interested in the fruit apparently. I stayed at school and graded while Jeff took Henry to the zoo, which was fairly empty. It was a little cooler today than last weekend, but I'm surprised at how the "cold" weather has affected people's visiting habits already. "Cold" of course is a relative term. I suspect that the average Philadelphian would be breaking out the short sleeves if it was as "cold" there as it is here. Not that we are complaining. Less people, fewer germs. We still think that it is important to keep him away from crowded areas. Jeff decided not to take the stroller and let Henry go where he wanted. Henry enjoyed watching kids play on the grass with their families. He learned how to say "baboon" and "polar bear." The big hit of the day was the Cayman Cave. The Cayman is a little crocodile creature that really doesnt' do much. I've never actually seen him move. But the cave has a good view of the fish, which Henry liked. Plus, he enjoys going up and down the ramp into the cave. Afterward, he went to Grandma and Grandpa's house. No nap. He ate a lot of food. Not so good on his milk intake today though.

Grandma reported that Henry tried to climb onto the glass coffee table in the family room. When she asked him if he was being naughty, he repeated the word "naughty" and looked very proud and pointed to himself. She was pretty sure that he thought it was a compliment. After Grandma and Grandpa dropped him back at our place, I felt obligated to ask Henry if he'd been naughty. Here's his reply...



We looked at "pics" when he got home. He said "peas" (that's please) and gave the appropriate sign with his hands, so I was obliged to go through with his request. Alicia has been teaching him and Karina "please" and "thank you." Jeff read a book with him (which has been increasingly rare ever since he discovered my computer). We gave him a bath. He's now in bed.

Alfalfa! Yicky! Bye Bye Doggie!

On Tuesday, Henry woke up in the morning with a funky hairdo. He had an Alfalfa thing going on, but it was really cute. Fun that he has hair that can be messed up. Grandpa picked me up in the morning to take me to Senator McCain's office. I felt bad leaving Henry b/c he wanted me to hold him on my way out the door. The interview with Senator McCain went really well. He graciously gave me 35 minutes of his time and said some things that confirm what my co-authors and I are arguing in a book that we are writing about the 2008 presidential campaign (details to be released when the book is published hopefully at the end of next year).

Grandma picked him up in the afternoon and took him to her place. Jeff and I went toy shopping. We ended up buying lots of toys, but not for Henry. We got a stash for Toys for Tots, which we contributed to a lot when we were in Philly. Jeff and I had a weakness for going to Dave & Buster's. We used our points from the arcade to buy lots of toys every year and would drop them off at a collection site at Jeff's work. We felt that it was important to get a lot of toys for them this year b/c Toys for Tots is hurting as is the Salvation Army, which we have given to as well. They have drop offs at Walgreen's, so it is very easy to pick up a few toys and donate.

I'm sure everyone will be surprised to hear that Henry has a lot of toys. Between generous gifts from family and friends and our penchant for picking things up at Children's Orchard, we give him new and used toys throughout the year. I'm of the opinion that toys are really important for good development. Even "non-educational" toys have their place because they contribute to a child's creativity. Dolls can teach children nurturing skills, for example, through role play. Anyway, we had some specific ideas about what we wanted to get Henry for Christmas, and we couldn't find them at K.B. Toys or Toys R Us, so Jeff ended up doing some online purchasing. I've been pushing for us to get Henry a drum set. I want it to be acoustic not electronic. There was one that would have been perfect for him at K. B. that I saw before Thanksgiving, but it doesn't look like they have it anymore. The ones at Toys R Us are just a little "too big" for him. Jeff hasn't been keen on the drum set idea, but he has negotiated a deal whereby we wait on the drum set until next year. I've also negotiated the idea of getting a jumping castle, but that will wait until next year as well.

Jeff ended up ordering what I hope Henry will find a very cool gift. We'll wait until Christmas to say what it is. My one hint is that our dining room area is soon to be converted into Henry's Playland Zone II (Zone I being the living room). Frankly, we have only used the dining room twice since we've moved here. We'll use it for Christmas Eve dinner with the family. After that, our dining room table will be taking a vacation to the garage for the next several months. Jeff has been contemplating getting a train set for the inset in the dining room ceiling. I'm all for the idea (provided that Jeff gets the Hogwarts Express train that blows steam as the train moves).

Henry was busy at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We met up with them at Swenson's for dinner. Henry pretty much stuck to eating french fries with a couple bites of hamburger. He liked the frozen yogurt for dessert. When we got home, Henry was exhausted, so I took him to bed and snuggled for a couple hours before getting up to do data analysis. I love my Henry snuggle time.

On Wednesday, Grandma came over in the afternoon. They played in her truck. Jeff went out for Toys for Tots and Salvation Army purchases Round II. While he was gone, I took Henry for a walk with the dogs. Normally, when we go for a walk, Jeff is the one who holds Henry in the backpack. But as of late, Henry has been trying to climb out of the backpack on the walks. He gets indignant b/c he can walk himself. Of course, he often goes in the opposite direction. I figured that the backpack would turn into a disaster, so I let him walk. He felt down a couple times, but dusted off his hands and kept going. He called the cacti "cac," which I think he knows not to touch (not that I'd leave him to his own devices). We only went about half the normal distance on today's walk. Our new word today was "yicky!" I was afraid that he'd try to pick up the dog poop that is on the dirt road. In our area, the norm is to not pick up one's dog droppings (or horse droppings for that matter). It's a dirt road. It's dry. The stools disintegrate fairly quickly. There are so many coyotes who often leave their belongings behind that there doesn't seem a whole lot of point to running around trying to pick up the dog poop. We live in an area where each house is on 3.3 acres minimum. But when one has a 16 month old who likes to pick up "rocks," it is something to watch. So, I identified the "poop" and then repeatedly said "Eeeeeew! That's icky! Yuck! Yicky!" On the way back, Henry would point out the various droppings and say "Yicky!" As we passed Hal and Swanee's house, Annie (the boxer mix) came barreling down the drive way. She runs Roger around, which is great. Henry had fun watching the dogs play. He repeated Annie's name. Then, I pointed out Luke, who is a huge Ridgeback. Henry said "Luke!" Luke was a little nervous around Henry for about 2 minutes but then realized that he was a human. Swanee had never seen Henry walk before. She was surprised and impressed. Henry pointed out some "Yicky!" on her driveway for her. Henry squealed with delight as Annie and Roger ran around and chased each other. As we parted ways with Swanee, Luck, and Annie, Henry yelled out "Bye Bye Doggies!"

It was almost dark when we got back home. I downloaded some pictures that I took on the walk. Henry wanted to look at pics. He was doing a great job of identifying people in the pictures. At one point, I went through a series of pictures, and Henry identified the "baby," which doesn't always happen. Sometimes, he is willing to identify everyone but himself. The funny part was that I went through a couple Henry pictures. Henry identified the baby. Then, I came across a picture of Henry in the buff. Jeff had snapped a shot when Henry was running around before his bath. Anyway, the picture is of Henry from the back. We come across this picture, and I say to Henry "Who's that?" Henry replies "butt." I laughed. What a smart boy.

Jeff returned home shortly thereafter. Jeff at first didn't believe me on the buttocks identification, but I pulled up the picture and asked Henry what it was. He knew exactly what it was. We had dinner. Henry practically fell asleep at the table, so I took him to the back for another evening snuggle. I'm now going to get some grading done, so I'd better sign off.

Go Eagles!

On Monday morning, Henry woke up at 5AM just as I was coming to bed. Stayed up doing data analysis for a meeting. Lucky for me, Jeff got him a bottle and then played with him. Turned out that he was very hungry, having not eaten much over the weekend.

Henry ate a Gerber toddler meal for lunch. Grandpa visited in the afternoon. They walked around the property together. We of course looked at pics on several occasions. Henry often chants "Aucky! Aucky! Aucky!" or "Izzy! Izzy! Izzy!" until I submit. I, however, got him to give me a few kisses today in exchange for pic viewing. I also am teaching him the word "pretty" in reference to Izzy. He said it a couple times. When looking at pictures of himself, he often refuses to identify himself but will identify everyone else in the picture. Or, he refers to himself as the "baby" but he seems to know that there are other "babies" in the world too. When I asked him "Who's that?" when looking at a picture of himself, I got him to say "me" and he pointed to himself when he said (not prompted by me).

Henry ate a large dinner. In fact, he ate about a third of my lentil soup, but he wouldn't eat Jeff's (completely different of course). Jeff took him out in the evening to the store (not crowded). They went to OfficeMax (practically vacant) instead of BestBuy (which tends to be quite crowded) to get a digital recorder for me for my interview with Senator McCain tomorrow.

Looked at pictures when they came home. Surprise, surprise.

Jeff turned on the last few minutes of the Eagles vs. Cleveland game. The occasional Eagles game (or couple minutes of an Eagles game) is one of the rare times that the TV is on these days. Henry learned the word "Eagles." That's a useful word in our household.

Winter Haven

It was a gray and cloudy day in Tucson. Woke up to a gloomy sky around 7:30AM. I took the dogs for a walk while the boys snoozed. Henry was snuggled into Jeff's side. It was nippy and sprinkling. The dogs liked the cold weather. I got some things done around the house as the boys slept. They woke up around 9:45AM. Jeff gave Henry half a pancake. We decided to keep it bland and simply today. We played in the living room. Looked at lots of pics in my office. Henry made requests to see Aucky (Austin) and Izzy, so I went back and forth between my friends' blogs. Henry took about a three and a half hour nap sometime after 12PM. He got up around 3:30PM. We had planned to have him visit Grandma and Grandpa, but instead, we just stopped by for dinner before taking Henry to visit Steve and Jamie's house.













Steve and Jamie hosted a winter holiday get-together with some of our friends in my department. Jamie made biscotti and cookies (she should open a bistro; she is an excellent cook/baker). Henry was shy for about 5 minutes and then walked around their house without hesitation. He liked their dog Rey and had fun watching Roxy, one of their cats. Steve gave Henry his old cell phone, which Henry loved. It wasn't active, but it still turned on so that he could punch in numbers. He tried to figure out how to work the TV. In a cute mix up, he grabbed onto Kevin's leg and called him "Mommy." We had hot chocolate and then headed to Winter Haven for the Festival of Lights. Winter Haven is a neighborhood that has long put on a holiday light show. Tonight was their second night of the season. There were people, but it wasn't crowded. We could walk up and down the wide streets with ease. Henry was in his stroller, which he wasn't used for awhile. He prefers to walk himself, but he always wants to set his own course and isn't interested in hanging with the group. He very much wanted to touch the light exhibits on people's lawns. We figured that wasn't a great idea. All in all, he did well, but it was a lot of stimulation and he did get a little fussy at times when he didn't want to be carried. At one point, he fell, caught himself, but then cried. I don't think that the fall was very hard, but he was frustrated that it happened. We felt a little awkward holding up our group on several occasions but they were very understanding. Henry got a second wind on the way back to Steve and Jamie's house. He decided that he would push his stroller himself. Couldn't quite reach the handle bars, but he managed with a little help from Daddy.

When we got back to Steve and Jamie's house, Henry headed straight for Rey's water bowl and decided to play in it. Almost drank out of the dog's water but Jeff stopped him. He gave Rey a hug and pet him, checked out Steve and Jamie's cabinets, and then gave Jamie a big hug. We showed off Henry's skills by asking Henry to touch his toes, which he did much to Jeff's surprise, and to stand on his head, which he also did (this weekend's new trick). It was about 9:50PM by this time, so we said bye bye and headed home. He fell fast asleep in the car.

Here's Henry sacked out on "his" bed...