On Sunday, Henry woke up around 7:30AM. He went for a walk with Jeff and the dogs, while I did a final round of edits on my book chapter and sent it into the editors. Around 10AM, Jeff took a shower while I played with Henry on the bed. We spent several minutes rolling around the bed and playing peak-a-book underneath the blankets. We had planned to take Henry the mall, but he looked very tired and fell asleep around 10:30AM. He and Jeff took a nap until just before 2PM. That's right, 2PM. Grandma and Grandpa came by around 2:30PM to pick up Henry. Jeff and I headed up to Phoenix to watch the Diamondbacks get trounced by the L.A. Dodgers (it wasn't pretty). Game started at 5PM and ended around 8PM. Got some dinner, got stuck on I-10, not moving an inch for about 35 minutes or so. Looked like boarder patrol was doing something as there were probably 12 or more police and boarder patrol vehicles doing something off the interstate.
In our absence, Grandma and Grandpa reported that Henry had a large second lunch and then a dinner. They noticed that Henry is being more communicative about his food preferences. If he doesn't want to eat something, he'll let you know. He likes having choices and exercising his power to communicate those choices. I've noticed it too. In fact, I was just mentioning it to Jeff during Henry's first lunch that took place after his nap. I got out some squash, but he didn't want squash; he wanted banana (even though he already had banana for breakfast). I acquiesced. It's not like he gets junk food. So if he really wants a piece of fruit, who am I to say "no"? I suspect that there will be many legitimate parent "no"s in the future, but they won't be over fruits and veggies.
Henry had a very busy afternoon exploring his grandparents' abode. Grandma said that they went swimming but that Henry was more hesitant about the water than usual. He took three or four steps twice (and made sure that Grandma and Grandpa knew that they were supposed to clap). He said "tea" when Grandma was drinking iced tea. He was quite vocal. Grandma said that he is doing a good job making hard "g" sounds.
When Jeff and I got Henry home after midnight, he was partially awake, but it didn't take much to get him to fall asleep. I skipped the crib tonight. He always ends up in our, I mean "his", bed anyway.
Not that he did it much today, but over the past couple weeks, Henry has developed a bit of a temper when he doesn't get his way. If we don't let him explore the closet while Jeff gets out the vacuum cleaner and he wants inside the closet, he flops onto the floor as though the world is coming to an end. He is developing quite the dramatic flair. Maybe he'll go into theater like his Aunt Erin and Uncle Brian. We don't want to encourage him to act out, so we don't usually go out of our way to acknowledge the tantrums, other than to say, "Henry, let's do X" or "Henry, it isn't a big deal. Come now." I have had to suppress a chuckle a couple of times, because it is kind of funny. I don't want him to feel like we are laughing at him, but wow, he is so cute even when he has these dramatic moments.
Tomorrow, we'll be spending the entire day with Henry as it is Labor Day. In the evening, we'll go to Grandma and Grandpa's house to celebrate Aunt Erin's 24th birthday, which took place on Wednesday. Hopefully, Jeff and I will see some of his walking skills in action. We've seen a step or two, but not three or four. Given Henry's birth profile and the odds associated with that profile, it wasn't a sure thing that we'd see this day come. Although we aren't in the clear on a host of issues (and won't be for many years to come), Henry's progress is remarkable, and I am optimistic that he has sidestepped some issues that probably would have appeared by now if they were going to appear at all. While dazzled and impressed by Henry's steps, Jeff is a bit sad to see the mark of Henry's babyhood come to an end. Not that Henry's going off to college soon or anything, but it does mark the passage of his infancy and opens the door to a new chapter of Henry's House.
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