Uncle Joe and Aunt A-Ni-Ta

Joe's computer has a built-in camera. Endless fun as Henry models his uncle's snazzy Richland Center hat.

Henry has learned his first three-syllable word: Anita. He says it with such emphasis and joy. A-Ni-Ta! One night in Richland Center he ran around and around the living room saying it.

Wagon ride

We're in Wisconsin for the holidays... first in Richland Center, now in Madison. Lots of snow everywhere. We drove back from RC through lots of wind and blowing snow; quite an adventure. Henry seems to be teething but is enjoying all the company and holding up pretty well with all the travel. Here, a wagon ride around the neighborhood with Grandma Ann. Fortunately we got our luggage back yesterday (it had been held up in Chicago when we flew in on Friday) so he had his snow suit and boots. Yay!

Coloring

Suddenly, he's old enough for coloring to be fun. (At last, wily Mommy and sneaky Daddy get some time to wash dishes and cook supper.)

Old issues of the American Academy of Religions newsletter are about the right size. And glad to see those atlases coming in handy!

No, don't eat the crayons! (Guess we were wrong to hope that this development meant hours of unsupervised quiet play...)

First pun (we'll drink to that)

Last night we were having dinner with Anya and Nick, and drinking wine. We toasted to something. Henry, who was sitting at the table (on a grownup chair topped by two atlases, no highchair for him any more, thank you very much) happened to be eating a piece of toasted bread. When he heard us say "cheers," he raised it in the air! We have no way of knowing how much he intended or understood, but it was hilarious.

Bedtime stories

Henry can identify books by title now; he can make sense of book illustrations; and he can remember certain words from a particular page. He can't yet pretend he is reading the book, but getting there.

A quick visit

The semester is crashing to its inevitable end, none too soon. Last weekend I spent eight hours (!) sitting in a plane on the runway in Chicago waiting to take off to fly to Vancouver for a job interview. The talk went fine, I thought; no news yet. Today, meanwhile, my folks came down to hang out with Henry. He walked on his own feet all the way -- three blocks -- to the Peabody Museum (aka Dinosaur Museum). He learned or practiced new words: "almost," "turtle."

Today was also the sixth night of Hanukkah. We lit candles (in an egg carton, since I couldn't find our menorah) and ate potato pancakes. Henry seemed kind of interested in the proceedings.

(Today was also the fifth anniversary of Ken's and my relationship. Hurray for us!)

Snowy day

A slightly snowy Saturday gives Henry a pretext to use his snow pants. Here's the first layer of our preparation to go outside: sweater, snow pants, mittens, boots.

Then a jacket and hat get layered over all that. Miraculously, he was still in a pretty good mood when we were done. He climbed the slippery turtles at the park...

...attempted to climb up the playground equipment (for some reason, we were the only ones there)...

...and demanded to eat a banana that I had stashed in the bottom carrier of his stroller. "Sitting!" he said, pointing to the park bench (he has gerunds now).

Action shot

Back in Andover over Thanksgiving. Henry shovels sand at the playground. "Truck!" "Shovel!" He really gets into it.

Attempt at a lexicon

Henry's words (the ones I can think of right now, in no particular order):

hi, hello, bye-bye, thank you, bless you, sorry, no, yeah, yes, this, that, what's that?, there is, who's this?, I want, all done, all gone, beep-beep, uh-oh, good night, oh my!

Henry, Hannah, Aditi, Amma (Grandma), Asna (Archana, the babysitter), Anya, Nick, Mommy, Daddy, Masha, Gary, Teen (my grandpa Valentin), Aaron, Ana, Paul

blue, green, red, white, purple, slippery, yucky, yummy, sleepy, on, off, hot, wet, good, mine

girl, boy, baby, ball, light, noise, diaper, shirt, pants, sock, shoes, boots, hat, truck/s (I think he knows how to use the plural!), car/s, train, boat, airplane, water, owl, cat, doggie, woof, cow, moo, monkey, ook-ook (the sound made by a monkey), duckie, quack-quack, pig, snake, bus-sigh (butterfly), hair, teeth, ear, nose, chin, eye, foot, head, toes, milk, meat, bread, chicken, egg, soup, pasta, cracker, an-na (onion), beans, juice, peas, apple, kiwi, berry, buckle, bottle, plate, bowl, foon (spoon), fork, cup, chair, bed, bath, bubbles, towel, puddle, rain, snow, sun, moon, slide, food, potty, poop, pee-pee, door, outside, park, rock, stick, tree, up, down

walk-walk, go, move ("Train! Move!"), cook, sleep, eat, sit

These are just the things Henry can consistently and intentionally say. He also has a huge passive vocabulary, and he can repeat anything you say (to your occasional chagrin). He will be 18 months old on Dec 3 and obviously enjoys using language, loves knowing the names of things. He seems way more verbal than the other three kids at his babysitter's -- then again, they are all bilingual. Henry, for the moment, is a little monoglot. Archana sometimes speaks to him in Hindi, and I've seen him look like he understands and do what she says, but I've never seen him answer in Hindi. As for Russian, I am totally dropping the ball.

Snow!

Henry probably has about 100 words now . Three of the latest are "snow," "snowing," and "white." Here he's watching the first snowfall in Andover, which happened on Tuesday (just before Mommy had to go pick up Daddy at the airport)...

...and helping make his first snowperson.

It's nearly as tall as he is!

More from Gary and Masha

At the mall, shopping for a digital camera for Grandpa Gary (the better to photograph you with, my dear).

Why don't Mom and Dad ever put me into the Mall Patrol carts?

Okay, that was fun. Can we go back to the playground now?

Weekend with G&G Masha and Gary

While Mommy and Daddy spent the weekend at conferences in Montreal and San Diego respectively, Henry got to play with his grandma and grandpa, whom he calls Masha and Gary. They took him to the playground (wearing socks on his hands because a previous walk had soaked his mittens)...

...down the slide...

...and into the school library, which has an unexpectedly large collection of children's books (and lots of passing grownups to say "Hi" to).

We have no idea where we'll be next year. It would be so nice to get a job close to one set of parents or the other. Wait and see. I have my first job talk next week. Hopefully the whole issue will be resolved by the end of January or so.

Helping out at home

Taking a call on the cell phone...

...editing Dad's conference paper (Henry's contribution, no joke, was to add a string of twelve z's at the end of the file)...

...in short, multitasking.

Amherst (3)

A walk on the nature trail near Ken's house.

Note Henry's new hat. We're very proud of finding one that he will actually keep on.

Mirror games in the basement window.

More from Amherst

A bit of "naked time" (and breakfast) in Dad's apartment. (It's good for him to run around diaperless, and here there aren't a lot of objects he could pee on.)

Hi!

A mommyback ride through Northampton. (He's getting really heavy for this.)

The Hungry Ghost Bakery's wood-fired oven. Yummy. "Hot!" said Henry. "Cook!"

Amherst

Two weeks ago (it already feels like about a millennium) we took a little family weekend up in Amherst. It was Parents' Weekend on the campus. The weather was gorgeous. We played a lot.

Henry got to sit on Robert Frost's lap...

..but refused to pose for the requisite photo with panoramic view at the veterans' memorial circle.

Up!

He's not ours, but...

...isn't our friends' son Paul (6 months) a cutie? And he stays where you put him!
 
Henry was so intrigued he kept saying "Paul" and "baby" for two days.

A seat at the table

At times, Henry feels he is too mature to sit in his high chair...

Hear Henry laugh!

Getting naughtier

Put up something climbable...

...and expect Henry to resist?

Finally mitten season

Henry, en route to the babysitter's house, says "Ba-bye!" He's become very good at saying this. If you hand him the cellphone with Daddy or Grandma on the other end, he's likely to say "Hi!" and then a moment later "Bye!" -- and close the phone!

Note the vintage stripy mittens. Actually joined together by a string -- I don't think they make them that way anymore. (And Mommy's hat. What happened to the box with most of Henry's winter clothes?)

At Manda Farm

Animals! While visiting the farm up the road from David and Lina, Henry saw guinea hens,

chickens, turkeys, goats, llamas, a horse, several cows, and a group of pigs. (Due for butchering on Nov 1.) Contrary to the nice storybook pigs he had met before (who always said "oink") these made quite a screeching racket!

Fall fun

Playing in the crunchy leaves (still Plainfield)

Getting a little leaf shower from Nick

Taking a nice, peaceful nap in the guest room under Daddy's fisherman sweater. (Isn't he an angel?)