First steps!

This afternoon Henry took his first two or three unsupported steps. After supper he did it again. This time, we had the camera ready:

Attempted haircut

This photo makes him look so placid about getting a haircut. Far from it. The upshot is that it's still long on top, uneven in back, but at least less sprouty on the sides.

Farmer Henry

A stalk of broccoli he helped harvest (it's almost as tall as he is)

Tiny video

Refinishing furniture

Someday this little desk may be for Henry.

Peek-a-boo!

More smoothie!

Ken made a fruit smoothie out of blueberries, melon, and stuff. Henry loved it. He kept signing for more.

Of course, if the sign doesn't work fast enough, there are other methods he can resort to.

Did it work?

At the park with grandma, mom, AND dad

Because it takes three adults to amuse one Henry!

On the spring-mounted tortoise. (We found these little car-and-truck shorts on the ground during reunion weekend... washed them, and they're perfectly Henry's size!)

He actually climbed down by himself.

Bathtub mohawk

A biped after all

June 11 (sorry it's taken a while to post, he's probably outgrown that pajama top by now.)

Photo with the bar mitzvah boy

In Lynn, Mass., for my cousin's bar mitzvah.

Mazel tov, Daniel!

A hike to Ward Hill

Water en route...

...and a panorama at the top.

Quick, while he's still portable!

One-year checkup

In the past three months (since March 8) Henry has grown an inch and three quarters and put on two pounds. The new stats:

• Height - 29 3/4 inches (right on the 5oth percentile line)
• Weight - 23 lbs 4 oz (also right on the 5oth percentile line)
• Cranial circumference - 47.25 cm (75th percentile, down from 82nd percent last time)

Henry was in a good mood, having taken a two-hour nap this morning, eaten a healthy lunch, etc. He laughed and played with the nurse and the doctor, walked (with help) all around the examining room, and for some reason laughed hysterically at the water dripping in the sink. "This is exactly what a one-year-old baby is supposed to look like," the doctor said.

Henry also got four vaccinations -- less than fun, but at least he'll never have to have the chicken pox! One day we can tell him horror stories about how in the bad old days his parents and all their friends used to break out in big itchy red pustules etc.

Visit from Jen R.

My friend Jen was in town from Princeton. We took Henry to the natural history museum (fun dioramas... and great puppets in the gift shop), went out for a jog in East Rock Park, and spent a little while just hanging out in the backyard. All our landlord's roses are in bloom right now. Henry briefly agreed to keep his hat on in the hot sun.

Have we mentioned that he likes to pour water out of his sippy cup?

Jen: "Yay! I get to be on the blog!"

Ah, summer.

Baby sign language

For the past six months we've been working with Henry on a little baby sign language, particularly the sign for "More!" This morning he finally did it (more Cheerios) and tonight we got it on camera (more black-eyed peas). Here it is!

The idea is that it reduces frustration because babies can sign before they can talk, obviating the need for screaming etc. Also we're hoping he'll be able to tell us when he DOESN'T want more... as it is, we tend to feed him until he obviously loses interest.
Next step: the signs for "all done," "poop," and "sleepy." It's almost too late to get him to do the sign for "milk" (squeezing the fist in a milking motion)... at one year old, he is ripe for weaning any time now.

Birthday cake

Cake and supper, in that order.

Henry was really into the sugary chocolate icing on the cake. Video coming soon (it's hilarious).

Everyone else opted to have the main course first.

After, of course, the requisite birthday toast and "photos for the blog."

Where's Grandma's nose?

Another new skill. Little interest in "Where's Henry's nose?" but he can point out mine, Ken's, everyone else's, and those of his stuffed doggie and duckie toys. (A duck bill counts as a nose. See what I mean about categories?)

Dipping in...

...to the Women's Table, an interesting sculpture by Maya Lin.

Actually Henry is a big fan of water in any form. He still loves bathtime. He enjoys drinking water, a tiny sip at a time, out of my Dasani bottle. And his favorite activity with his sippy cup these days, when not very thirsty, is to pour its contents out into his bowl or highchair tray and commence to splashing around. Hmmm. Is it mere coincidence that, 365 days ago, his mommy spent about four hours of labor in the shower?

Flowers and funny faces

First word?

Today I think I heard Henry's first clear word. Da! Which means not Daddy, but... Doggie. Our neighborhood is full of dogs and I've been sort of programmatically pointing them out. This morning we were looking at various doggies in his room (a stuffed animal, a character in a book my aunt gave him, a dog in a poster on his wall) and I was explaining to him that they were all doggies. He pointed at them and said Da! very emphatically. And this afternoon we saw this cute Jack Russell terrier puppy in front of the library. Da! said Henry. The puppy was pretty excited, too.

The beautiful thing (for our philosophy student friends anyway) is that he seems to be able to generalize that this creature and all those other different creatures are instances of a species called Doggie. Once we know for sure he has the concept, I can't wait to start testing what it does and doesn't include. Months of fun! (And Duckie? A bright yellow rubber duckie is presumably in. So's the illustration in Make Way For Ducklings. But a roast duck salad is presumably out....)

Birthday (more)

Waking up in a great mood, just in time for a mini-tour of the Yale campus. It's been under construction all year, finally just got cleaned up for Commencement last weekend.

On the plaza in front of the library.

Where did this Nordic-looking boy come from? But looking at the picture below, I could swear that Henry has the same eye shape (the same asymmetry, too) as my grandpa, my mom, and me.