Ah, We Meet Again, Old Friend

We had some of our friends over for dinner last Saturday: Jessica and Chuck and Amy, Carlos, and Jerard. You may remember Jerard from some of my early posts during my maternity leave. Back then Amy and I had our weekly get togethers with the boys. Jerard and Henry seemed to enjoy their reunion. Jerard is quite the crawler, and he really wanted to grab hold of the "sprout" on Henry's head! The babies provided all the entertainment for the evening.

Eight Months

This handsome little fellow is 8 months old today! Henry can sit like a pro and is starting to do the combat crawl in addition to his usual rolling. (I'm so mean inching things farther and farther away from him). He has two bottom teeth and is working on some on top. He approximates the sign "more" for cereal puffs and then feeds himself. He can hold his own sippy cup. He eats and sleeps like a champ. He seems to be very social, and he is babbling, which warms the hearts of most, but especially his SLP mommy and Nonni. He still loves to play with all his toys and books and watch his trusty dog, Cooper. He started bouncing away in the Jumperoo I borrowed from a friend at work. We should have a delightful little video of that soon. He wakes up with a smile and is just a cuddly, lovable baby boy.

Is this the droid you were looking for?

A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away...

Henry with The Great Pumpkins

Jack O' Lanterns...

one of our favorite things to do this time of year! Chad did the pirate ship, I did the spooky face with the hand in the background, and we both worked on Henry's baby one.

Did I Mention I Have Two Teeth?

Look close (you might have to click on the picture and make it really big)!

The Cutest Aplasia Cutis Around

You may remember a post regarding Henry's "sprout," that little tuft of hair on the top of his head. Well, I left something out of that post. You see the sprout, or "collar of hair" as the doctors call it, actually accompanies a rare congenital anomaly called an aplasia cutis. This is the absence of a portion of skin in a localized or widespread area at birth occasionally involving the dura or the meninges. Usually they heal before delivery and appear as an atrophic, membranous, or parchmentlike scar with associated alopecia. Henry will be having an MRI to see how deep his goes. He will then have surgery to remove it, but a neurosurgeon will be involved if it affects deeper areas. We feel very fortunate to live so close to some of the best children's hospitals in the country. This picture was taken 3 months ago, but it's one of the best shots I have. The sprout is longer now, and all of his hair is getting blonder. I think we'll miss his little curl. It's become a part of him.

Family Fun Weekend

Chad and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary on Saturday. At lunch time we met Brooke, Bob, Eva, and Eli at the St. Louis Zoo. That evening they baby-sat for Henry so Chad and I could go on a date. Then on Sunday, after some of Chad's famous doughnuts, we went to church and to Eckert's Farm for lunch and more fun activities. Good thing we have a day off to recover! Oh, and Henry is 7 months old today!

Two monkeys in the primate house!
Henry's little helper, Eva, looks on as he takes a snooze by the zebras.
Posing at Eckert's. Henry looks so big!

Happy at lunch! (By the way, he doesn't use a pacifier any more he just likes to play with it on a ribbon, odd, but true).

Saturday Morning with Daddy

Last Saturday, while I was getting ready, Chad decided to make a little video. Here's what they were up to. This game actually went on for over 10 minutes... I think Henry has a pretty good attention span! Although when it comes to Cooper, I have a feeling he'd watch him all day!