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Henry is 17 months old today...it's just hard to believe how quickly this time is going by. He seems to be growing up so fast and is changing daily right before our eyes. His love for us seems to be very strong, but his expectation that things go his way from time to time is strong, too!





Two days ago he said his first "i" (hi) in the sweetest voice I've ever heard. Other words that we now recognize right away are: milk, uh-oh, water, down, dog, book, ball and balloon. He makes the "vroom vroom" sound when he sees a picture of a car and is beginning to associate a cow's picture with "moo" and a duck's with "quack". When he looks at his abc picture book, which by the way has become one of his top 2 favorite books that must be in his crib at night this week, and sees the pizza he says, "mmmmm". He has only seen one real pizza and only had a small taste...apparently it made an impact. His other favorite book is Elmo's Valentine. When we read this I pause after "Elmo loves..." and Henry giggles, points to himself and waits for me to say "you". Then he laughs.

Henry has become interested in Thomas the Train shows...talk about a focused child. One of the trains on the show is called Henry...maybe he likes that! We know for sure that he doesn't like it when the eyeballs on the trains roll in circles... sometimes it scares him, yet he wants to watch the rest of the show anyhow. He also likes to watch the Baby Einstein Van Gogh shape and color video while he sits in his chair and has his snack. When the dogs come near him to get some of his food he tells them "down" and "eh" (a noise we use). In the park yesterday, some squirrels were coming very close to us and Henry tried to command it to go away.

Henry is still dancing up a storm when he hears music he likes. He's trying to snap his fingers and sings to himself and with me when we're driving in the car. He's brave in the pool and likes to venture out beyond where he can stand, as long as I'm there to hold on to. He has also jumped (actually leaned) in from the edge of the pool into my arms. Going underwater doesn't seem to bother him for more than a few seconds after the water stops running down his face. Henry is changing his routine throughout the day. He's beginning to move into one nap vs. two usually late morning through early afternoon. There are still those days where he won't fall asleep at all.

We're fairly busy during the week. We try to swim twice, go to music class once, and have a play date once. Last week he played with 4 new friends. It's so much fun to watch him interact and share. I would say that he shares fairly easily, especially food, unless someone comes up to him and just tries to grab what he is holding. In this case, he holds on tight and pulls back on the object in a determined way. I'm glad that he doesn't give in and let it go.

Henry now likes to eat goldfish crackers, the occasional sugar cookie, yogurt, garlic mashed potatoes, spaghetti, raisin bran without raisins, and toast with blueberry jam. Our bedtime routine now includes reading for about 20 minutes and then reading some more after he is put in the crib. I put a mesh bumper in the crib to help prevent more leg incidents. I highly recommend it for all cribs because it fits tightly and it's breathable so I won't worry that he'll fall asleep with his face toward it.

He sure continues to light up our world.
We love you, Henry!