These things come in spurts, and right now Henry is pulling new tricks out of his hat almost daily.  Once he started walking well, he began running everywhere he could. Now he runs, occasionally stumbles into a face plant, quickly rises, and heads off on the next run. He won’t be denied by any rugburn. He has places to go, and he will be running to those places.

I caved into the inevitable and removed my crates of vinyl lp’s from the first floor.  They fit well enough on the third floor and Henry undeniable needs the extra space in the living room. Most importantly, he now has perfect access to the window via the baseboard heater.

Fall is rushing into our lives with wind, rain, and swirling leaves. Henry loves standing out the window, following the shaking tree limbs with his eyes, and enjoying the birds that pass through. Thanks to the windstorm the insects in Anchorage are all out of sorts and everywhere they normally are not, namely our deck. The birds love this and feast on the deck buffet on a daily basis. While observing the feast with Becky, Henry promptly turned and headed for the bookshelf. Becky quietly watched as he scanned the shelves with his eyes before plucking a single book out and smilingly bringing it back to mom. It was Are You My Mother?, which is the only book we have with a small bird as the main character. Color us impressed parents.

When we carry Henry up to the second floor and pass a photo of 8 month old Henry we always remark, “There’s baby Henry.” Out of the blue last week we passed by without that remark and Henry quickly pointed and blurted, “ Bayyy – Bee.” He’s thrown down that word a few other places as well lately, and we always follow it with an atta’ boy.

He’s simply progressing along like the healthy, normal dude he’s becoming, but it’s happening in such a quick spurt lately that it is hard to hide the excitement.  He’s a happy guy and seems to delight in expressing words, sounds, and pointed fingers with the interconnected world around him. We’re delighted as well.