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.