Catching up...

Oops! I missed last week's update. So sorry...I'll spare you the details, but it was a long week of recovery for Henry. Fortunately, he's all healed and feeling better minus the new ear infection. :) Today was Henry's 18 month check up with the pediatrician. Our little man has leaned out - he's 25 pounds and 32 inches long, about the 30th percentile in both categories. He continues to learn new words (Choo Choo and Beep Beep recently) and understands everything. He's still not walking, but out of his cast and continuing to succeed in physical therapy. Because of his surgery, he wasn't able to go to school for two weeks. We had some great Mommy & Me time! Below is a recap....

I thought finger painting was a great idea. (Seriously, I did.) It ended up being face-painting.

We tried to go for a couple of walks, but that wasn't working either.

JACKPOT! A play date! It was beautiful last week. Henry and I went to the twins house to play one afternoon. From the left...Jack, Elisabeth, Henry and Thomas.

My friend, Lynsie, came to Atlanta to run in the Georgia Marathon. We had so much fun with her. This was Lynsie's ninth marathon and she's completed two Iron Man competitions!

Henry and Kyle hanging in the backyard. Notice the ever-present "Melmo" balloon. I had a balloon in the car, in the house and tied to his stroller.

Ah, the laundry basket! Henry helped me do laundry, which means that he emptied all of the clean clothes to the floor and spent 20 minutes climbing in and out of the basket. It gave me enough time to fold everything.

Another success! I bought toddler markers for Henry. He tried to eat them, but did enjoy drawing with them, too.

Mommy & Daddy Time - WOO HOO! On Saturday, Kyle and I went to the Capital City Grille to celebrate our good friend, Tiffany's, birthday. We had a nice evening out on the town. And we were home by 10 p.m. :)

The Luck of the Irish...

And the help of the Man Upstairs. Henry had has tonsils removed yesterday. Of course, we were worried, but the surgery went well and he couldn't have had better care. We were scheduled to spend the night in the hospital, but he did so well that we were able to come home last night. He's on some serious pain medicine and lots of pudding and ice cream, but his normal, happy personality returned quickly. It didn't hurt that Daddy made sure Henry had an Elmo balloon for him when he returned from surgery. Henry wouldn't let go of the balloon all day.

Daddy fed Henry some pudding. It was YUMMY!

Still enjoying the pudding....and the balloon.

Mmmmm.....mmmmmmm.....goood!

Henry wants YOU to have a Happy St. Patrick's Day! (Actually, he was pointing at the camera because he wanted to take the picture.)

The weather in Atlanta has turned to spring. It's awesome! Kyle and I took Henry to Zoo Atlanta on Saturday. Thanks Mom & Dad for the Zoo Pass. :) Henry and Kyle are checking out the gorillas in this picture.

Zoo Atlanta has a really cool petting zoo. It took Henry a while to warm up to the animals, but by the end of our time there, he was snuggling with the goats.

It's hard to tell from this picture, but this goat put his hoof on Henry's leg. Henry thought it was pretty cool.

He liked the sheep, but kept calling all of the animals "daw" (dog in Henry-speak).

Just warming up and getting used to the goats.

Kyle and I got Henry a Zoo Keeper's hat from the San Diego Zoo.

He still can't quite figure out how it works....


....but we know he loves hats. Especially when his buddy, Jack, wears them.

Kyle and I spent a long weekend together in San Diego. We had such a great time. Henry had a good time, too, because he spent the weekend with Kyle's parents, G-Daddy and Mimi.


Kyle and I at the beach last Friday. The weather was great! Sunny and just warm enough to go to the pool on Saturday afternoon.

We also got to see some good friends. From left: Ryan and Meghan Brown, Jamie Mills, Bob Beckstedt, me and Kyle. Ryan and Meghan live in San Diego and are expecting their first child in July. Jamie also lives in San Diego. Bob just happened to be visiting her the same time we were in town so we all met for dinner on Saturday night.


Kyle and I will the beautiful mom-to-be.


On Sunday, Kyle and I went to the San Diego Zoo. If you look closely, you can see the baby hippo sleeping on its mother. The baby was only six weeks old.

We got to see the polar bears eat lunch. The zoo gives them a diet of vegetables so that they don't have as much blubber and stay cool in the warmer climate.


This update would not be complete with a Henry update. Henry's growing more independent every day. This morning, he insisted on feeding himself with a spoon. No help from Mommy! Notice the oatmeal covering his chest. Big mess!

The most exciting news is that Henry took three steps all by himself yesterday morning. He hasn't taken any since, but it's start. Here's to hoping he keeps it up!

Nothing Holds This Little Man Back...

As I reported a couple of weeks ago, our sweet little man isn't walking yet and started physical therapy. Part of his therapy is to wear a series of casts to stretch his left heel tendon. It's a little short and tight, and the cast will help it to stretch so Henry can stand flat-footed. He was so brave getting the cast on, and has acclimated well. The first 48 hours were rough, and he gets frustrated from time to time. When he reaches his max level of frustration, Henry points at the cast and says, "dis" and then shakes his head back and forth while saying, "no, no, no". Pretty cute, and I'm impressed with his communication.

The number one rule with the cast is: Do not get it wet. We kept it dry for about an hour. Henry poured the dog's water bowl all over it. I panicked, but it dried just fine. Two hours later, he poured his sippy cup on it. I'm not sure this cast is going to make it for the next two weeks...


Notice the cast...and the "cheese" pose.


An up close shot of the cast. Mommy and Daddy signed it, and his therapist, Ms. Cheryl, drew an ice cream cone on it.


Over it. The first night wearing the cast.


The third day of the cast...Henry was starting to function normally again playing with my bakeware. This was a lot louder than it looks.


Today was Chick-Fil-A lunch day. YEA!


He was pouring the french fries into his mouth. Notice there is some broccoli on his tray, too, and he ate it.