Mama and H-Bomb share a laugh - probably about how awesome he is as eating graham crackers all on his own...
They have lots of deer, fowl and what not. I felt kinda bad for the grizzly bear and a few of the other wild animals that were seriously contained. But let's face it, if several dozen animal's lives must be ruined and wasted in confinement strictly for the entertainment of my child -- so be it. I think our favorite was the baby pigs. Did you know a baby llama is called a cria?
The picture below is of my wife feeding a deer trail mix off of gentle baby Henry's stroller. I was utterly shocked that she would do this for reasons sanitary and otherwise. I told her that it reminded me of something that I would do and she would starting hitting me and swearing at me for it. Anyone for some Chronic Wasting Disease or possibly a smidge of Hoof and Mouth Disease? 
This is basically the Rod Stewart of poultry.
Henry continues to be excellent without walking or any real words. Although, ma said he was saying "hhhhiiiiiiiieeeeeee" to everyone at the grocery store the other day. He pretty much always hates having his diaper changed now. It makes him angry.
Henry has become very attached to his little "lovie" thing that he sleeps with. One of his favorite toys is the "Mr. T in Your Pocket". It's a little hand held device that repeats several of T's favorite phrases. Fun, fun stuff.
Also, Henry won a sloppy joe eating contest at daycare last week! One daycare lady commented, "We couldn't beleive it. He just kept eating and eating..."
The excavation is complete, the footings are poured, and the foundation walls are formed up and are supposed to be poured today. I decided to go with nine foot basement walls to overcompensate for having seven foot basement walls in our last house. I think poured wall foundations are the way to go. I took bids on several types of foundations and the poured concrete type are competive in price and a better product. Now, I have to pretend I know how to lay drain tile. I also have to put down the rigid foam insulation and tubing for the in-floor heat in the basement and garage.
We took Henry in to the doctor because he has been feverish and had a raspy Keith Richards-esque cough that we had mistakenly attributed to teething - WRONG! Our little achiever was diagnosed with bronchitis. He's been on the meds for a few days now and is doing lots better and sleeping much better. He's doing ok in the daycare center. It seems like we don't get to see him much lately -- kinda depressing. Ma has been very busy getting up to speed with her new teaching gig (new district, new grade and what have you) and I am trying to do the stuff with the new house and work full-time, all while juggling my reign as father and husband of the year. My two-in-one shampoo and conditioner continues to be a time saver and a blessing. However, I have switched from Pert Plus to Suave as a cost saving measure as we continue with the construction of our new house.
I am not sure if I mentioned this before but I was able to purchase a cow skull from a flea market vendor at the Almelund Threshing Show for twelve bucks. I intend to make one of those thingies at our driveway entrance and hang the skull over the top of the driveway. Kinda like this, only with a cow skull for added elgance and sophistication.
We may also have to come up with a cool name for our "ranch".
I found a camera at Pawn America just like my old one for $60. It doesn't work. So I have to go back to pawn shop and do some dickering. Maybe I will see if they would be willing to throw in the huge unicorn mirror for my troubles.
So... Henry can take about a step or two if properly encouraged. The general concensus is that he will be walking in no time.
Henry has been running a fever the past few days and hasn't been sleeping through the night so good.
He was at his new daycare for the first full week. This place charges only slightly less per month than our old house payment. I get about three hours tops of face time per day with the little dude if I am lucky. I don't like it.
We have given Henry a new nickname. We call him Applesauce. It is like his street hustler name. He likes applesauce and that's what we call him.
We break ground on the house on Monday and get the footings started on Tuesday. I think this house stuff is another decent reason to have a camera.
I can relate to this picture because I have, only recently, conquered my addiction to the cruel and seductive mistress known as Eddy's Grand Cookie Dough Ice Cream. I still might do it on the weekends from time to time -- but never during the week...
I promise to get a camera soon.
We received our building permit in the mail the yesterday. Kinda exciting. We were assigned an address, too. Things should be happening soon. Excavating and footings and septic systems and what have you... All the good stuff.
We had settled on a new daycare lady. However, it was recently discovered that our interpretation of her as "fun and new-agey" turned out to be more like "flakey and possibly mentally unstable". So, we had to scramble and put him in a center for now starting on Monday. Ma had to go sign a permission slip for buggy rides today. Sweet.
A few days back, Henry pulled off one of the heat registers and threw Ma's cell phone down it. Luckily, my dad was able to fish it out. He loves cell phones, maybe he hates 'em -- I don't know. He rendered one of my cell phones useless after sucking on it for about three minutes. He also managed to break my financial calculator ($79), Chuck Norris-style.
He has also developed the habit of pulling out wipes as his diaper is getting changed. This works well when he has a super poopy diaper as I can just grab 'em and wipe as quick as he can dish 'em out -- but it is not-so-great the rest of the time.
That's all I got for now. Seacrest, out!
We had steak and corn on the cob at Grammy Judy's place last nite. For whatever reason, his teeth are coming in in a very random pattern, his upper gumline goes gum, tooth, gum, tooth, gum. Despite having a less than ideal bite for the task, Henry liked the cob corn very much.
Henry had his one year check up last week. He is hovering at just over 20 pounds. He has dropped to the tenth percentile for weight. His height is at the sixtieth percentile. His new pediatrician has diagnosed him with acute and persistent awesomeness.
His hair is filling in rather nicely and has been described as both thick and luxurious. He is also developing a killer set of six pack abs.
Henry is a total freak for mandarin oranges. Grapes, too. And hummus toast.
As the party progressed, and after consuming copious amounts of watermelon, Henry's cousin Jada bore a striking resemblence to Sissy Spacek's character in the movie Carrie (or is it just me?).
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.
