Birthday Zero

We were ready.

First things First:

Henry arrived late in the evening on December 16, 2004.

He weighed 4 pounds, 12 ounces, making him a pretty small kiddo.

He was healthy, whole, and very cute.

We were pretty taken with him.

The next morning, Dr. Wallace White poked him a few times and pronounced him

Neurologically Vigorous.

..Though he seemed pretty groggy as far as we could tell.

Over the next few days he started showing some interest

in the world around him

so we took him home.

We thought he was about the best Christmas present ever.

Bonkers had a few questions at first, but before long she got on board with the whole Henry idea too.

2005-Jan-April

Other parents will be shocked to learn that we didn't sleep much that first year.

Perhaps that explains why it took us two years to set him up a blog.

He somehow seemed to sleep plenty. Except when we wanted him to.















Recently (December 06), we went back through a lot of photos from his earliest days and found some that look to us like they had the seeds of his
little personality hiding in there somewhere.

We weren't disappointed.

By February 2005, he was looking around at stuff most of the time.

He also started getting playful - if you count lying and his back and swiping at the toys overhead playing


(It was playing as far as Henry was concerned).

His pensive nature was already becoming evident.

And there is no denying that he had some adorable little feet.

(If you don't love baby feet,
there has got to be something wrong with you)

---

By March, Henry's view of the world was on its way to being well established.

Life, in general, seems to be both amusing....

And concerning.


More or less in equal measure.



Amused, concerned, or just generally losing our minds... who needs sleep when you have such a little love in your life?

2005-May-Dec

Henry's first airplane ride was to San Diego, in May 2005 at 6 months of age.

He had a groovy time at the San Diego Zoo.

He dug on the fishies.

From then on, it was about all we could do to keep up with his skyrocketing aptitudes for life.

For example, his eating skills
were going nuts.

His playing ability had grown tremendously... from laying on his back and staring up, to sitting in his "play circle" and staring... somewhere.

And let's not forget that he was showing great potential as a
laundry basket driver:

Not to mention as some kind of scientific-observationy guy

And of course, he was learning the art of sleeping in late from a pro.

---

Over the summer and into the fall, he met some of his out-of-town relatives.

But enough about his cousins!

Childhood is about skills acquisition!

Henry continued to develop his talents as an eater,

A crawler,

and a driver.

Somehow, in spite of all the achievement pressure from his parents, Henry made it to his first birthday.

He even seemed

to be having

a pretty good time.

2006

Something about Henry's second year
seemed to go faster than the first.

Perhaps it was the amazing rate at which he was learning and growing.

He started doing the shopping and cooking.

Though we always wanted to raise Henry to respect the environment
and love the outdoors,

we said recycling and composting,

not cycling and composing.

Oh well!

(deep inspiration in progress - do not disturb)

---

Time also seemed to speed up because he just kept getting cuter and cuter.

Henry's Cuteness Affliction just got more serious over time.

He transformed before our eyes.

By the time we realized what was happening, he had passed beyond the realm of human cuteness.

---

That summer, Henry discovered the Layered Look.

He was pretty much your average sleepy toddler.

In lots of ways, a basically normal child.

with normal friends

A regular kid who knew which way was up.

He was also a born swinger

with the occasional rebel yell.



He was perfectly suited for the fine arts of...

Ticklebugging...









and chick magnetism (count the redheads).

By his second birthday, he sensibly gave up trying to escape his destiny as 1 adorable scrub.

He learned to listen to his agent and his fans, and to wear his celebrity with dignity and pride.

As the year wound down, he continued to wrestle with extremes of rest and motion.

Meanwhile, those of us around him just wondered what the colors were that seemed to always dance before his eyes.