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We found another photo booth today! So my dad and his girlfriend went to Alaska a few months ago and brought back a book called "When Grandma and Grampa Went to Alaska They...." and it describes their whole trip, basically. There is a page with a drawing of people salmon fishing in a stream, and when Henry saw it today, he got up and left. I figured he was bored, but then I saw him toddling back over with his toy fishing pole. Oh man!
At IT, after Henry's birthday ice cream pop. Thanks Uncle Bill! So Henry now knows belly, feet, head, hair, eyes, nose, mouth, and hands. He also knows Up and Down. It's really neat to see just how much he understands. He's still not saying too much, but that will come soon. Four teeth, and thank you acetaminophen. We are back from Henry and Bill's Birthday Bash at Loring Air Force Base in Limestone, ME; otherwise known as the IT festival. What a great time. I love my friends, I love that band, I love Maine and most of all I love that small boy and my best friend who is also my husband. Pictures from the Bangor Daily News and Phish's From the Road. Henry is walking more than crawling; I'd say it's about 60% walking and 40% crawling. Duane taught him to lift up his shirt and show his belly when asked "Where's your belly?" Mr. Hen is finally getting some teeth, one bottom tooth is poking out and the two front top ones should cut through any second. He's kind of cranky without tylenol or the homeopathic teething tablets. When he's got his painkillers and he is distracted, he is being ridiculously cute. I've been trying to teach him the parts of the body and he knows "belly" (obviously), "head" and "feet." I got a new baby carrier this week: the Ergo Baby Carrier, and it is so cool. It's really great to just have the baby on my back, hanging out. I love it. Henry seems a bit ambivalent about it - hopefully he'll grow to like it more. The Gathering of the Vibes 2 weeks ago was GREAT. I hope every live-music-loving friend or family member can come next year. We got into Quieter Camping, which was true, and we met some awesome people and lots of families with little playmates for the Hen. The crowd was the perfect size, about 15,000 or so, and I went right up to the front row for Keller Williams and he's my new boyfriend, after Page. The Allmans were great, Derek Trucks was incredible, Particle sounded fantastic through my dreams (they only play after 1am it seems) as did Karl Denson. Spearhead was good although I think they're more powerful at night - they played at around 3pm. James Brown was himself of course, can't deny him. Then Henry and I abandoned Duane and went down to visit Aunt Wendy and Uncle Russ, and of course Gramma and Grampa. Wen took some cute pictures:
Thanks Auntie! So this weekend is IT, the Phish phest up all the way up in Limestone-might-as-well-be-Canada, Maine. We are gonna see a whole mess of Tollners! Hopefully the kids will meet Uncle Trey and sit on his lap and ask him to play the Meatstick. We have been without phone service at home for a week now and, even though my friend Anthony works for them, Verizon sucks and I am going to kick their asses. They've stood us up twice now and they say they're coming over tomorrow. They can sit and spin, only after they fix our dang phone. Henry took 25 consecutive steps tonight. He's turning into a toddler! We're doomed. For my upcoming birthday, Wendy sent me a six-pack of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. That oatmeal cookie flavor is so good, I guess I can wave bye-bye to that weight loss achievement I was so proud of. Congrats to Doc and Libby who gave birth to Phineas Sage last week! We went and saw them last night. He's a little guy, with a ton of hair, and bright eyes. Libby's doing fine, and I hope Doc calms down sometime. This weekend we're going to the Gathering of the Vibes outside of Albany. It's Henry's first festival! We're excited to see Keller, the Allmans, James Brown and Spearhead. We'll take some pictures. Sorry for the lack of pictures lately. I've been fooling around with Duane's camera with less than desirable results. I'll post some soon, I promise. So much is happening all at once these days. I'll just make a list of Henry's latest tricks:
--he's taking steps on his own, usually towards a desired toy or food or remote control There's more but it's late and I'm tired. I will post again soon. Henry understands a few words now, mostly relating to his toys: ball, cup, turtle, umbrella, blocks, truck, Grover, bear, bunny. He's standing unsupported for longer periods of time - meaning about 5 seconds. It's really exciting. Take a look at this insanity: CatPrin. (Thanks Wendy!) Henry has a new cousin! Take a look at Moira Winter Roche!! Holy big baby! 10 pounds 2 ounces! Yowza! We are thrilled for Rennie, Matthew, and Gareth. Next weekend we'll go and meet little Miss June. Henry's said his first word: "ball." Well, it's kind of "mmbaw" but he knows the object that goes with it. We're so happy we have a genius son. Pictures from Memorial Day at Cranberry Lake, courtesy of Nuno. Thanks Uncle Nuno!
On a different note, this article about baby formula is very interesting and depressing. Moms, please nurse your babies and boycott Nestle. Henry had his first outdoor adventure last weekend: camping at Cranberry Lake in the Adirondacks during the rainy holiday weekend. We really only had one afternoon of sun, but it was great anyway, despite the wet. Henry and Fiona played nicely together in the playpen, and we had Mallard visitors with fuzzy ducklings in tow. We hiked up Bear Mountain with the kids in their backpack carriers. The activity we did the most, though, was eating. It seemed like we were continuously preparing and ingesting food and drink all weekend. Fiona loves Rey! She was calling to him all the time. Jen and Duane went kayaking out to a small island in the middle of the lake. All in all it was fantastic to see our friends and hang out in such a beautiful place. I didn't take a single picture; maybe others will post theirs and I can repost them here. Henry is crawling on hands and knees now, and he is fast. He's also getting more vocal when he wants something or when he's hungry. He can shake his little maraca (leftover from Lena's costume a few Halloweens ago)and make noises with the kazoo. He's learned that giggling for no reason will get my attention and that I'll laugh at him. So we spend a lot of time laughing at each other. He's ridiculous. Still no teeth. Wendy took this cute photo of Henry playing with Russ' toy truck -
The only drawback to breastfeeding is that I am constantly hungry. It's getting a little annoying to have to always think about eating. I have two of every meal and snacks in between. I have to keep a Clif bar with me at all times, just in case. Jeez. I've gotten a request to post something non-Henry-related. It was tough, but I found a few things: Have fun! My mom sent me this cartoon - I love it.
A few recent pictures, including a few from Easter weekend. Take a look at Rennie's big belly!
Happy Birthday Hailey! Today at the supermarket, Henry was sitting in the cart, and he turned around to reach for something he saw. He promptly got his little arm stuck between the bars of the cart. A clerk came over and helped us out. Henry was fine, of course, but I was a little strung out after that. I just wrote an email to a friend, apologizing for not getting to a sewing project that I had promised him for his birthday which was in December. I didn't realize at the time that as a baby gets bigger, the time spent caring for the baby increases, not decreases. Any free time I get is spent on personal hygiene. Henry is still a little sick, but I think the worst is over. After his bath tonight he was laughing and playing like any other day. What's he doing? He's doing his crab-crawl at top speed. He's cruising around, and he actually stood up unsupported for a few seconds today. He's yodeling. He's banging his toys and turning the pages of his books. He's turning the lights off and waving bye-bye. He's flirting a lot. He's more interested in the world, laughing at things around him. He's making stinky poops! He's just the best. Henry's been sick with a cold this week. Even with the sneezing and the coughing and the running of the nose, he's still pretty happy. Do you think he looks sick? Maybe a little.
Holy guacamole! Henry had a banner day today:
Whatta guy. More pictures soon.
Henry seems like he's going to start crawling any second now. He's rarin to go, he just has to figure out how to keep his belly off the floor. Last night, Henry went to sleep at around 10pm, and I told Duane I was going to take a shower. About halfway through my shower, Duane came in to tell me to take my time since Henry was still sleeping. This little act made me realize how special my husband is - first of all, that he would know that I was probably rushing in order to get ready before the baby woke up, and second, to take the time to remind me to spend a few more minutes alone. I'm a lucky gal. This makes me nuts. What's wrong with people?? This country has some serious food issues. I enjoyed this essay: "Mothering ... used to be a rather private affair ... requiring, principally, a playpen, a back yard, a television set, and a coffeepot..." Henry's 7 months old now, which is really hard for me to believe. He's sitting up on his own now, as you can see.
I almost forgot to say Congratulations to the Tollners on the arrival of Alder William! So many babies are sprouting up these days! Henry and I went to a photobooth last week:
I hate Harry Chapin for ever recording "The Cat's in the Cradle." If he were alive, I'd have to kill him. Congratulations to Carla and Ken on the birth of their son, Kevin Mark!!! Kevin was born on Feb 5th, weighing in at a hefty 3 lbs 10 oz. He's about a month and a half preemie. It was a very difficult pregnancy for Carla, but now my oldest friend and her wonderful husband have a little miracle of modern science. I am so thrilled for them! More pictures!
Okay, here we go! Henry in all his 5-and-a-half month glory! Click on the thumbnails for a larger picture.
Thank you Duane! What a great husband/dad he is. Stay tuned for more of this little blond cockatoo.
The Rest of 2002
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