Like Father, Like Son

We met friends at a local driving range the other weekend and Henry got to crawl around.  He was soon chasing after balls and grabbing clubs. In other words - he's making his father proud...

 

 

He loves dogs until they are right next to him...then he tends to get a little shy.  :)

Henry is 10 Months!

Henry turned 10 months last week and I just can't believe how much he's growing!  I know I say this every month, but my "baby" doesn't seem like a "baby" anymore.  :(  I LOVE the stage he's in, although he sure keeps me on my toes...

Please excuse these...he was very distracted by the mirror on the wall.  He kept looking at himself and making faces. 

 That's a lot of drool...think this one is better....

Compared to:

 at 2 months and 5 months...

 And of course he wanted to stand...

Things Henry is doing at TEN Months:

• Still walking around furniture and is JUST starting to take teeny tiny steps by himself.  He's still very cautious and unsure of himself when it comes to doing it on his own.  Should be soon though...
• He's slowing getting all 4 front, top teeth.  We've had a LOT of drooling and they are working hard to come on down.  
• He eats like a champ, although is still unsure of various textures.  Still prefers pureed food the best, but is slowly starting to branch out to new things.  He loves feeding himself and making a mess.  :)
• "Gah" is his favorite word.  At times we think that means "dog" since he is infatuated with dogs (keep in mind we don't OWN a dog), and every time he sees one he is "chirping" like crazy. He definitely recognizes words - dad, dog, book, eat, etc.  Just hasn't said any of them yet (atleast not that we can tell...)
• We've started a few sign-language signs, specifically during mealtimes - "eat," "milk," "water," "all done," etc.  We have a video that his cousins gave us (thank you Judah and Chloe!) and we're hoping he'll be able to pick up some of the signs the video is teaching.
• He's been able to climb down the stairs.  It took a lot of coaching, but he's now turning himself around and going down on his belly.  :)
• You know that I proudly declared that he was sleeping through the night?  Well we've had some relapses lately and it seems like he really likes 2:30 in the morning.  Come on, Henry!  He IS still taking pretty good naps throughout the day...just got to get the night sleeping down. 
• He has had quite a few bumps and bruises in the last month...poor buddy.  He's such a curious observer and has to try everything out.   And mom isn't always right by his side to catch him.  He's a tough kid and has some battle wounds to prove it.  :)  
• Can't stress how active this kid is...he is a squirmy worm in our arms and is all over our home.  He's into EVERYTHING - including my cabinets, drawers, trash, toilets...gone are the days where he's laying peacefully in his swing and I'm able to do whatever.  :)  He's tested my tendency to have everything perfectly organized...and it's hard to let it go!  
•  He LOVES his daddy and can't wait to see him walk through the door every evening.  His face just beams when he sees Peter and he can recognize him/us from far away.   
• He's starting to get a little separation anxiety...church nursery has been a little dicey the past couple of weeks and Peter declared to Henry last week that he wouldn't do that to him again (looks like I'll be dropping him off from now on).
• Honestly, he's been SO much fun...with all of his smiles and giggles.  He's starting to "play" with us and is starting understand more and more.  It's fun to see how his mind is processing things.  He's such a good little boy - I think we lucked out.  :)

We are so thankful for our little man...  :)

Another mini-photo shoot

Our good friend Jen graciously agreed to take some pictures of Henry with her fancy camera.  She recently got a new lens and wanted to try it out on an especially cute subject.  :)  It took two tries on two different nights to complete - Pete was being a little difficult (we threw him in front of the camera as soon as he got home from work...note to self...don't try that again without a little warning first!) and I wanted her to take some more of Henry wearing the tie I bought him for Easter.  They turned out great...Jen does such a good job, not only with taking the pictures, but also with all the editing.  Thanks Jen!  :)
**Warning there are quite a few in this post...It was SO hard to decide which ones NOT to put in!

oh my...is all I can say about this one.  :)

Visit with Grandpa and Grandma Von Tobel

I mentioned earlier that we got to spend time with Peter's parents when we celebrated our five-year anniversary.   They graciously watched Henry and let us have a little get-away for the evening.  Henry behaved himself and was a pretty good sleeper that night.  :)  It was so good to spend time with them and seeing Henry light up when they were around.  Henry loved playing with them and it was hard to say goodbye!  Here are a few pictures of our time together...

He loved going for rides in Grandpa and Grandma's wagon...  :)

And yes, Henry was cutting a few teeth at the time...geesh!  Can he have any more drool?

 Grandpa's giving Henry a taste of his whipped cream...He apparently takes after his mom when it comes to his sweet tooth.  :)

Apparently we didn't get any with GRANDMA!   :(   How did THAT happen?  Next time I'm going to be sure to get some grandma pictures!
Can't wait to see you guys again in June!  :)