Henry Almost Turns One (let's party!)

What a weekend! We threw Henry a family party to celebrate his upcoming first birthday. All the major Fairchild/Graves/DeBolt players were in attendance (although we SURE did miss Grandma and Grandpa Seward) and Henry had a great time.

He got all the things a one-year old should have: lots of books, some great clothes, and toys that talk.

On Thursday, Henry will celebrate his first birthday (again) with all the friends that make mom and dad happy - Sara and Todd and Tyler, Matt and Michele (and baby Brown-Ruegg), Marc and Felicia, John and Beth, MaryAnn, and Brian and Stephanie and Theo. That's a fantastic group - it will be beer and pizza all the way around (except for Henry and Michele, of course).

However, this will mark the official end of party season at the Seward's.

I'll close with a masterpiece by Dave and Jennette. It's possible that we'll quit our day jobs and become professional cake makers...

Is it Friday yet?

Is it Friday yet? Because oatmeal and eggs just don't taste as good on Thursday.

Well, Grandma and Grandpa Seward just sent Henry a walking, talking Pooh Bear. It looks like Pooh is running after a bee and, when we first turned it on, Henry just looked at Dave, looked at Pooh, looked at me – and then started to laugh like a madman. Now he spends a great deal of time chasing after Pooh and the bee - although he has a hard time distinguishing between “Love Pooh” and “Bang Pooh on the ground really hard” once he catches him.

Here is Henry and Dave on a recent walk. Henry really digs the backpack and the outdoors - athough Dave often has a snotty neck by the time the hikes are finished from Henry's very active cold nose.
We were at Golden Gardens on the Seattle waterfront- on a day we had originally earmarked for housecleaning and grocery shopping. It's a fantastic walk, just about 20 minutes or so - but the weather had just turned into the kind of thing that makes Seattleites come out in droves. Lots of sun, about 55 degrees, a clear view of the mountains and many, many birds for Henry to see...

Before we had Henry, we talked a great deal about how we didn’t want him to watch TV until he was around two or so. And, we’ve tried. We often have the TV on the background and he doesn’t pay too much attention to it – and when he does start to zone in, we usually distract him with something else. Until recently. :) About a month or so ago, Dave was flipping through the channels in the morning and ended up where many people have been before - on Sesame Street. Henry truly about fell off the bed trying to flip around to see where those voices were coming from. Apparently those jokers at PBS know what they’re doing because that little fool immediately fell in love with Elmo and Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch and Bert and Ernie. Now we have a ritual – most every morning at 6:30 or so, Henry sits on the bed and watches Elmo and Oscar the Grouch and the rest of the gang on Sesame Street. It’s what he’s doing in the picture below. With blue dog, of course.

So - we're joining the ranks of 30 and 40-somethings who currently spend too much time telling cyber space about themselves. We've started a blog. You can come back to this Web address (http://sewardsecond.blogspot.com/)(if we don't end up boring you to death after the first read-through) and we'll update it on a regular basis with photos and stories of merriment . The goal is to let the world (and by "world" we mean Grandma and Grandpas Seward and Graves, Uncle Jeff, the DeBolts, Great-Grandpa Bill and Great-Grandma Joan, Aunt Theresa and Mary, The Gills, etc.) know how Henry is doing. We sincerely hope that it doesn't turn out to be a place where we rant and rave about political happenings, the Seattle Yard Waste and Garbage Department, or the best time to sauce ribs on the BBQ (obviously a few minutes on each side right before you take them off the pit). Maybe it will be a little of both.

In any event, I'm going to test out uploading a picture that you may have seen. Henry teaching us where his overall snaps are. It's a very important lesson for us to learn.
















We're very excited to say that he's becoming quite mobile.
In the days before he turns one, he has this sudden urge to touch and see everything. Like toothpicks on the floor and Sam the cat's tail. And cheerios, wherever they may be.

More to come as we approach the big day - March 16th. :) Much love, D, J and H.