Henry checks out his horse cake, made with love from Mama... He didn't want to eat it at all -- he smeared the cake all over himself and Mama... Check out his little cowboy boots on the table.
More photos and what not from Henry's first birthday later...
Henry is one year old today. My little family has been through a very grueling week or so, mentally and physically. Last Sunday Henry's Great Grammy Pauline passed away peacefully. Very sad.
Henry is now an agricultural dynamo. Below, he practices the finer points of animal husbandry and crop management with his newly acquired Fisher Price Farmin' Starter Kit (thanks Irene & Chris).
I think he was Intramural Dungeons & Dragons champion at UW-Stout in 1998. His name is Wendall, if I remember correctly.
Henry has been doing fabulous. He is becoming more of a character by the minute. Momma started taking him to a reading club at the local library on Wednesdays. They have stories read to them by professional librarians and puppet shows -- apparently Henry is coo-coo for puppet shows. Momma said he really lit up and it brought tears to her eyes to see him having such a hoot. Aterwards, they got to play around in a refrigerator box fashioned into a barn. Hee haw.
Henry has started using this little rubber duckie as a nuk.
Hmmm, yogurt. Not bad.
Here he is checking out the goods in our fridge.
Don't mind if I do...
This is a picture of Crystal's swollen pregnancy feet which I was instructed to put on this blog dealie. Glad I am a dude.
*Lately, Henry wants to get his day started at about 5:30 am. We are tired.
*Momma's last day of teaching for the year is Thursday, so I am done working from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
*Henry is still getting over a wicked cold. He made it through cold season, but let his guard down when it was 90 degrees outside. Sweet. We have finally discovered that sick babies are not so fun.
*So, so tired...very tired.
As you can see, Henry is still just rocking the two teeth.
Tonite, after I stripped Henry down for his evening bath, I took nude Henry out into the living room to say hi to mama and said "Hey, Henry has something to say to you" -- just then Henry peed all over the living room floor. I laughed so hard that it startled the little feller and he stopped mid-stream. Good times...
We took Henry on a little overnight trip up north at a friends cabin last weekend. All things considered, things went pretty well and Henry was a well-behaved young man. He is a good little traveler. Here are a couple more pictures... 
The boys went fishing and the girls... ate bacon... and Cheetos.
Here's another good one. The other day Henry was digging around in his little toy box and really had his heart set on a peek-a-block way in the corner on the bottom. He kept a-reachin' and a- stretchin' and then his feet would leave the ground and he would teeter back and forth. He never quite got that peek-a-block but I could not help but admire his tenacity and zeal.
He is getting just plain dangerous with his constantly pulling himself up to a standing position. He hasn't figured out what to do after he is standing, which has resulted in many bumps and bruises.
This is the field. I have been tossing around the idea of getting some livestock. Possibly a chicken or two, maybe a turkey named Gobbles. We own clear back to the tree line, roughly 1,320 feet.
The house will feature timber framing enclosed with structural insulated panel walls. Timber framing is an age-old technique utilizing mortise and tenon joinery and really big timbers. It looks sweet. Below is a picture of a timber frame similar to the one we will have, except ours will have a two car garage and a little mud room attached so mama doesn't yell at me to take off my shoes. The structural insulated panels are sweet because they offer an R-value 40% to 60% higher than that of a conventionally wood framed house. Basically, that means I could produce enough gas to heat the house for a year if you gave me a case of Natural Ice Light and a jar of pickled fish. But seriously, really low heating bills.
This is kinda what it should look like looking up from the great room...
I hope Henry and mama like it and I really hope this whole deal doesn't drive me to the point of dementia or financial ruin.
In other recent developments, Henry boasts an astounding two word vocabulary. He says "dada" or "dad" quite a bit, although I still don't think he means it. He also says a word that sorta sounds like "fish sticks". This is strange since we don't recall ever saying fish sticks to him or within earshot of him. It could simply be a testament to his genius.
Also, on the traumatic side, mama was feeding him zwieback toast the other day and he started choking on a little piece for about ten seconds.
In conclusion, we sold our house, are building a new one, and are getting a turkey named Gobbles. Also, zwieback toast is a total menace and is being considered for banishment from our house.
Is it just me, or has his nose taken on a permanent orange tint from extreme consumption of squash, peaches, sweet potatoes, and all things orange?
In other recent developments, Henry has begun to show his mastery of the sippy cup. He also has been really keen on the thingie in the picture below. You cram-a-lam little fruit chunks and what not in it and he gnaws on it.
Henry has been a little bit crabby and snotty the past few days. All indications point to his first cold. Poor little dude. As a result, Henry and I have struck a gentlemen's agreement regarding alternative temperature taking practices. No can do, no can do.
Then we would take a little break and hang out for a while...
Then we would cruise a little bit more.
Henry had his nine month check-up today. I am happy to report that Henry is a doctor inspected and approved happy and healthy baby (pending the results of the blood tests to check his hemoglobin and make sure he hasn't been feasting on lead paint chips!). Henry is 18 pounds and 7 ounces of twisted steel and unbridled fury (this falls into the 25% level). His height is a staggering 30 inches, or two feet and six inches (90%). The doctor called him a string bean a couple times but said he is a totally healthy little guy. His head circumfrence is an amazing 47 centimeters.
Let me see here, looks like a 19 inch Sony Trinitron circa 1993.
I'm just going to test the tensile strength of this here coaxial cable.
Hmmm, and what is this tasty morsel??
Henry is nine months old now. He has his nine month check up later this week. He has been saying "Dad" quite a bit lately and has been repeating sounds that we make.
Henry is crawling around with the greatest of ease and continues to test our babyproofing skills. He is gradually expanding his palate with the baby food and it even seems like most of it makes it to his mouth now. He is growing so fast and really fills out his overalls like a corn-fed Iowa farm boy. It has been fun, as the weather has been getting nice, to take him outside and allow him to experience new things. We had a picnic out on the front lawn the other day. He would grab a dried leaf with his little fingers and look at it with great bewilderment for a few moments before attempting to eat it.
Dad, on a serious note, could you please get this creepy bunny off of my shoulder.
Uncle Sammy got him this shirt along with a matching pair of shorts as gift. It was handmade by villagers in a remote area of Mexico, accessible only by a guided donkey ride. It is reported to be made of local materials and fine organic dyes.
Notice Henry isn't smiling. I think it is because he is intensely focused on what type of shenanigans he can employ to wreak havoc on his Papa's daily life.
Also, Henry just started clicking his tongue. A while back, the doctor said that clicking the tongue is a sign that his speech is getting more advanced and that he should be starting to put some words together soon thereafter.
On a sad footnote, June Pointer, of The Pointer Sisters, passed away recently. I find solace as I imagine she and Don Knotts doing The Neutron Dance at the pearly gates.
Henry is seriously mobile. There is now a constant element of danger in our household. The little guy is gobbling dust bunnies, animal dander, dead leaves from our poisonous house plants, and other things both known and unknown. He is tumbling and flopping around. He has a minor bruise above his eye from a slight fall he took this afternoon on dad's watch. I feel like he should be fitted for a helmet or something. Do they make such a thing for babies? 'Cause this is the only helmet I have and he tips over if I put it on him.
Our world has been turned upside down--it's total and utter chaos. Everything in our house has to be tested and reconfigured. He loves to pull and suck on cords and cables, too. He's been throwing up more lately and I'm not sure if it's because of his increased activity or if it's from ingesting mysterious household substances. We performed a major cleaning of the house today out of fear. Lots of bleach was used.
If we turn our backs for one second, Henry will take off into a forbidden area of the house. Below, Henry inspects the area surrounding the toilet bowl. Not good.
He is one bad motor scooter.
