The Turkey on Turkey Day

I'm not quite sure how this is possible, but we have skated past October and November and are now on a fast-moving, one-way train bound for Christmas. We just got back from a five-day trip to Texas for the Thanksgiving holiday and have nearly recovered from traveling with an almost-two-year-old. Texas was lovely...80 degrees and breezy (a sharp change from the weather we had been having/and had the week we got back to Seattle... more on that later), with that fantastic bbq and Mexican food that makes hearing "We are making our descent into Houston Intercontinental Airport" such a joy. Henry got to spend lots of time with Grandma and Grandpa Seward and just loved it...he fed the ducks, rode the "horsey" downtown, and learned (kind of) how to catch a football.













Dave and I took a day and went into the city and stayed with his friends Nick and Greg. They own a salon in a fantastic neighborhood in Houston where women truly have their hair "done." It's an experience at this salon vs. any sort of chore to go in and get a cut and color. Cute men washing your hair, wine poured by the glass and a parking lot full of Land Rovers, BMWs, and Mercedes. Next time, I'm definitely making an appointment before we leave Seattle. Because, somehow Gene Jaurez at the Northgate Mall just doesn't seem the same.
We came back to Seattle just in time for the "Seattle Snowstorm 2006." It was 50 degrees colder when we stepped off the plane in Seattle than when we left Houston. Shocking is a relevant word for what it was like. The next day, we got a significant (for this city, anyway) amount of snow that then turned to ice. I don't want to be dramatic here, but we were officially snowed-in for a while. Henry's daycare was closed for 2 ½ days and Dave and I took turns with him while the other person trudged their way downtown to work. I'll say this - It's tough to take care of a child and try to work at home. In fact, I might even say this - Is it wrong to WANT to send your child to daycare sometimes? Hopefully it's not tooooo wrong. Henry went a little stir-crazy, but liked (not loved) the snow. Dave took him sledding and he got to wear his feet pajamas. Which, obviously, is extra cool and reason enough for another snow storm sometime soon.
He's such a funny kid these days. We can see that he's right on the cusp of being a two-year old. I'm not sure I want to call it the "terrible twos" though. Because, you know, his search for independence is really kind of remarkable to watch. He is VERY dramatic about so many things and gets upset over the type of give-and-take situations I take for granted everyday. Sometimes he can have milk, but not juice. Certain days we can listen to music, but not watch Elmo. Kind of like when I have to wait to save enough money before I can buy that favorite purse. Or when people don't act the way I'd like them to at work (or at home. or at the grocery store.). He's learning his way and it's simply fantastic (and, yes, sometimes very frustrating) to watch.
So, up next, Christmas. Before he was born, I wasn't sure that I wanted to pass the Santa myth to him. I wanted to take a more honest (but still festive) approach. Now I just can't wait to dress that kid up and get him on the fat man's lap. Should be a good holiday season!

Lord of the Rings

Well it’s been another good while since we’ve written a post…September has been one of the busiest months on record…
August ended in a flurry of toddler walking and talking, and September rang in with a fabulous wedding: my brother Jeff and his fiancé Deedee were married in Othello on September 9. I absolutely love when the whole family gets together, and what an occasion for it. The wedding was so lovely and Henry had a great time with his new cousins and Aunt (oh, and Uncle Jeff too). In fact, here’s a picture of the new family.

What a fantastic day… Henry performed his ring bearer duties like a champ, but kept up a steady chant of “Doggie, doggie, doggie” during the ceremony - which prompted Dave to actually take him over to see Uncle Jeff’s doggies (before the vows were even spoken). Henry sure knows how to get what he wants – even during the official joining of two souls. I went to Dallas for work that next week and, upon my return, Henry and I headed back over the mountains to go to the Adam’s County Fair and Rodeo. I hadn’t been to my hometown fair in 17 years and several of my friends and I thought it would be a good idea to head on back…turns out, it was a fabulous idea. Lots of fun with a truly sensational group of friends, and Henry got to go see all the fair animals with Grandma and Grandpa Graves. A definite win-win. Here's a small pic with Henry and the cows...

And last weekend, we went to a music class that Dave signed us up for. It’s called Kindermusic and the class consists of about 6 to 7, 18-month to three-year olds. I was taken aback by how great Henry was in a group setting (isn’t it weird when parents talk about how great their kids are? But, really, he was great). :) I think it made me realize how much time he spends away from us at daycare, learning to do all these things that make him into a fantastic little person. It was wonderful and odd at the same time. He wasn’t shy at all and, while the other kids were hanging on to their parents during circle time, Henry was dancing in the middle of the circle with bells (we may be in trouble). He knew what to do during blanket time (I didn’t even know – apparently blanket time is code for story time these days) and, by the end of the class, he was sitting in other mother’s laps, giving them kisses. He’s a lover, that one.
To finish this frenzied month, we’re off to Lake Wenatchee with Matt, Michele and Axel this weekend. It’ll be great to be outdoors for a while and perhaps take a nap or two!

P.S.: Here's Henry and friends at breakfast. They all still really like to eat together...

Hawaii 4-0

Well it turns out that Mai Tais do make things easier. We had quite a lovely vacation in Hawaii for Dave's 40th birthday. Lots of hiking, eating and laying on our favorite beach...
There were a few hiccups with flights on the way over to the Big Island, including a luggage car hitting our plane and rendering it useless (or, as the pilot so eloquently put it, “you know, it’s a toss up on whether this plane will make it out of here” – yeah, um, could I get off the plan now please? thanks), much confusion about inner-island air terminals and lost luggage (that stayed lost for two days). We got it together though, and picked up the essentials (toothbrush, swimsuit and flip flops) and spent the first two days exploring the beaches. It turns out you don’t need luggage for that. And it was indeed tough to leave Henry at first, but we called him every day and he had a really wonderful time with Grandma and Grandpa Graves. He saw the horses and got to go “outside, outside, outside, outside, outside” whenever he felt like it. In the end, it was a great vacation for all of us. (Here we are enjoying it...)















And now Henry is quite the orator. His vocabulary increases by the minute and, even more crazy than that for us, is the fact that he really can understand everything we say now. Which means we are now doing what we never thought we would do: spell things in front of him. Particularly key words like “c-r-a-c-k-e-r” and “o-u-t-s-i-d-e” (Henry only wants to be outside these days – being inside is obviously for babies). He’ll also tell us what all the animals say (or at least the cow, the dog, and the snake on a regular basis) and loves to copy whatever we do or say (therefore the use of any bad language has taken a sharp decline at the Seward household in the past month or so). It really is just a magnificent time for growth in everything he does (oh, and also in the frequency and intensity of tantrums – excellent).
And up next – a tricycle. Uncle Jeff gave him a tractor for Christmas this last year. It’s like a little car he can ride and, as of late, he uses it as his main source of transportation around the house. Which makes us think he could be ready for three wheels.

So stay tuned for more on this exciting, three-wheeled saga…

Cutie and the Beach

This weekend, we packed up the car and headed to the Oregon coast for a July 4th holiday vacation. Just a couple-day trip in total, but it was fantastic. Because, really, doesn’t it feel nice to get in the car and drive away sometimes? It sure did this weekend. And, on a more monumental note, Henry got his first look at the ocean. We think he liked it. Although playing in the sand, watching the bumper cars in Seaside, and playing with the dog bowls in the bathroom of our friend’s cabin also seemed to top the list of fun things to do in Oregon if you are Henry Seward.
We went on a great hike on the cliffs overlooking the ocean and beaches. AND (Henry’s grandfathers would have been so happy) we saw two deer, one of which we came within about six feet of us (well, maybe one elk and one deer – we are not as up on identifying four-legged fawn animals as we should be). Henry loved them. He pointed and squealed and, we believe, called them “doggie”. See, now that’s our burgeoning young zoologist. We are very proud.

One other terribly significant bit of news: Henry tried hot salsa at a beachside restaurant and is now officially a spicy-food-loving-kid. He started by dipping chips and then stuck his whole arm in the salsa container and ate it by the handful. It is his Texas roots, we just know it…

Let’s see…what else…oh, yes. It is only three and half short weeks until we say “aloha” and spend some time on the Big Island of Hawaii. Henry is staying with Grandma and Grandpa Graves and, you know, I only plan to call once or twice an hour to find out how things are going. They may decide to turn off their phone by the end of the trip, but – hey - it’s tough leaving those babies sometimes. Perhaps mai tais and beaches will make things easier. We’ll see.

Henry Gets a Haircut

Today was Henry’s first hair cut. He had these fantastic curls right above his ears but, unfortunately, that was really the only hair on his head that would grow. It was way past some sort of mullet-situation, so we decided to take him to a professional. He was such a doll during the whole thing. We took him to a place called Beachcomber Kids Cuts. An ideal situation for kids - a tropical theme, and he got to sit on a big, carved turtle, watch Elmo, and play with a cell phone. So things were a-okay for Henry. I love his new cut. He looks like a little boy. Who likes to get into everything. It’s a fitting cut, indeed.

He's doing some very entertaining things lately. He’ll throw toys through the cat door and watch them tumble down into the basement. It’s something that keeps him busy for hours – and he’ll squeal every time another lego, stuffed animal, cup, or even beloved blue dog takes a tumbling trip down the stairs. Because that sorta thing never gets old.



















We think he’s just a few weeks away from walking. There’s really nothing stopping him at this point. The desire to make it to the China cabinet before we get there to stop him from opening the doors is going to take over soon. And then he’ll be on his way…

Toddler Land

My question of the day is, “Where did this baby go?”
Yesterday was Henry’s first official day in the Toddler room at daycare. He’s not walking yet, but everyone felt it was time for him to move (including us), as he was getting quite bored and cranky in the baby room. Dave and I have been pushing for this move for a while, but I didn’t realize how significant it would be when it actually happened. He'll play on the playground everyday now at 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., (there are FIVE-YEAR-OLDS on the playground – how is it possible that Henry is out there with them?), he’s going to learn to eat at a little table with his friends, he has art-time in the morning, and is going to sleep on a mat instead of in his daycare crib. I mean, really. No one told me that he was actually going to grow up and become a CHILD. :) They should really put that in the manual somewhere. It breaks my heart in the best possible way to watch it.
Henry is also moving full steam ahead with the two T’s. Talking and Tantrums. He says – doggy, kitty, night-night, daddy, mommy (none of that ma-ma, da-da stuff anymore – that’s for babies apparently), nanna and baby. And he can turn a light on when you ask him, hand you a red ring when you ask for it (in a sea of rings of other colors), and wave bye-bye. Fabulous indeed. But evidently this new-found learning comes with a strong sense of independence. Independence in the form of a completely stiff body and a yell that can scare the neighborhood dogs. Most of the time, we love it. Because we want him to be independent and he’s actually kind of funny about WHAT he gets crazy about (like us touching his spoon when he’s eating). But there are other times when, really, we’d both just like a beer.

April Fool

Well, it's a been a while since the last post but, as you can see from the picture to the left, Henry still has NO PROBLEMS eating.

Much has happened in these last two weeks. Henry has officially turned one (at his second party in five days - he's already a party boy), I went to Chicago for a week for work and the boys were bachelors (drinking copious amounts of apple juice and watching early morning TV), Henry stood on his own, and he got one more new tooth (that's six total). In the spirit of using what you've been given, he's also become a biter. This sweet baby who we brought into the world, then into our home and have taken care of with love and affection this last year has now turned into a biting PERSON. :) It's a bit hilarious.

The monkey has also started to commando crawl all through the house. From the kitchen, to his bedroom, to the bathroom - in about a minute or so. He looks a little crazy, but he's having a fantastic time with his new found mobility. His favorite game is chasing Sam the cat. Sam will let Henry get JUST about to him and then take off. Then Henry shreiks with joy and the game begins again. I was really worried about Sam at first (any of you that know Sam, know this was a just concern), but it turns out that cat may like having a small, impressionable playmate.















I love these two pictures. They were taken before his first birthday party (his second, first birthday party - that is) and we were having a great time. He was very chatty and was playing this fantastic game with Dave in which Henry says, "Ma, Ma, Ma, Ma" and Dave says, "Da, Da, Da, Da" and then Henry scrunches up his face and says, "Ma, Ma, Ma, Ma."
Excellent.

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.