1 Year, 3 Weeks, 1 Day

Quiet day on Henry's behalf but nosiy day on the homefront. We had a work crew here for the better part of the day shoring up the beam issues that we uncovered during our initial inspection of this place. They seem to have completed everything we discussed and things look good. We accepted a bid for our kitchen remodel and have an appointment with a designer to finalize the kitchen layout and order cabinets this weekend. How quickly the cabinets arrive will dictate how soon we can get moving on the kitchen, but hopefully it won't be longer than the mid-June we're hoping for.

Henry had one of his first tastes of our backyard this evening. He and JT came out and sat a spell while i worked on the yard. Henry sat on my sweatshirt because he's not crazy about how grass feels on his skin. In general it seems like he is pretty restrained about putting things in his mouth but it was like he couldn't resist with all the seedlings, sticks and other fun stuff falling from the trees.

Tonight's picture isn't wonderful but it showcases one of Henry's new skills-- clapping and gives you a peak at our "Master Suite."

1 Year, 3 Weeks

Just a quick post to show you the photo documentation of the bookshelf destruction Henry managed to bring yesterday.

Today he had an uneventful day with a nice long nap at Brenda's. We seem to have gotten back on a more satisfactory sleep schedule. Instead of waking at 5:30 and being fully ready to get out his crib by 6, Henry is now grumbling a little at 6:30 or so and then not really waking up until 7:15 or so. The best part is that he wakes up really happy and instead of cries, you hear him talking to himself through the baby monitor.

1 Year, 2 Weeks, 6 Days

For those that pop-in infrequently, a few weeks ago i conducted a short poll of site viewers to get some feedback on how often people visit, their favorite part of Good Intent, and what they might want to see changed. The poll is still open by the way, and will remain so for the meantime, so feel free to take the survey if you're interested in letting me know about your
Good Intent feedback.

Although the sample size was small, the results were encouraging. The majority of readers check the site once a day, would like to see more pictures in posts, and appreciate the view into Henry's day the blog provides. Although those responses carried the majority, there were viewers that liked every part of the site and wanted more pictures, fewer pictures, more posts, fewer posts. So, i feel confident in just doing what i've been doing, feeling confident that someone will like it.

We had a busy but wonderful weekend in our new house. We successfully pressed the new lawnmower into service and actually have a decent lawn under all of that tall growth. We bought some "Patchmaster" to fill in a few of the bare spots. We also ripped out all of the existing weeds/day lilies that had taken over the flower beds so that when all of our new plants arrive we'll be ready to sow.

Friends came over on Friday afternoon and helped us purchase and transport a brand-new grill back to our house. Remarkably they managed to set up the grill and cook a meal on it all before 8 pm. Entertaining in our new house was wonderful although things will only be that much better when the kitchen is more workable.

Henry is on a mobility-streak. Over the weekend he started army-crawling from room to room. This was exciting and then meant that we *really* started to understand what baby proofing means. While i was working on Saturday's dinner, Henry hauled himself from the kitchen to the dining room and began pulling the books off the bookshelf. Unfortunately he managed to tear a page out of a book before I got him back into the kitchen.

This morning Henry pushed himself up to sitting from laying on his stomach. This is a very long-overdue skill that we've been working on with him in PT and daily so it was a very exciting accomplishment.

1 Year, 2 Weeks, 2 Days

I know Friday is normally one of my days off, but JT is attending a birthday party for a friend and i thought i would make use of some of my time home alone to post some additional pictures of Henry and the house. Tonights' pictures are from Henry's room.

Also wanted to say that Henry seems to be finally getting the hang of this mobility thing. This morning he army crawled from the sunroom into the kitchen where i was getting his lunch ready. This evening he crawled across the living room to an outlet at which point, i promptly located the outlet plugs we bought ages ago, but hadn't gotten around to installing. I even saw him get up on his knees a few times and rock forward and back-- just once or twice but that is a completely new development.

Also today Henry came home from daycare clapping. I saw him doing it in the car while i was getting gas and thought it was a fluke but he did it this evening and when we started getting excited and clapping back, he got to where he couldn't stop clapping.

We're looking forward to our swimming class tomorrow and hope we didn't miss too much at our real first class.

1 Year, 2 Weeks, 1 Day

Henry has been pretty cranky lately. It's no wonder, with the move, three new teeth to cut, and a presumed growth spurt. Still, it makes getting all the settling in a little more challenging when you can't put him down for longer than a few moments at a time.

We've been playing on the front porch the last two nights while we wait for JT to get home. We've met a few neighbors this way and the evening air seems to help Henry stay a little calmer.

With all of his teeth coming in he's really starting to look a little older. I think all the cream cheese and whole cream is starting to have an effect because he's never looked as chubby which helps preserve some of his "babyness."

His hair is really filling in and starting to curl around his ears. We'll be putting off a haircut for as long as possible-- i certainly don't want to force him to grow up any faster than necessary.

Our photo theme for the next bit involves Henry in each space of our house. Tonight's entries feature Henry playing in the living room. You can see things aren't perfect, but they're established enough to feel like home.

1 Year, 2 Weeks

Although i learned in the poll that i conducted recently that people like pictures hands-down the best, i have nothing new to show you. We've just been so busy in the evenings (tonight's exploits included getting a new lawnmower in the front seat of our Tercel,) that we keep forgetting to take new pictures. I do have an idea for pictures of both Henry and the house and hope to implement that next week.

Henry had PT today and it was not his most successful session. He supposedly slept quite a while this afternoon but was CRANKY for the entire hour. He seems to be getting at least 2 and possibly 3 teeth on the top though, and you can tell that it is just not feeling very good. He practically leaps towards the teething gel although when he tries to lick it off my fingers i'm not sure it's doing what it's intended.

We had a few contractors in today to give us estimates for the kitchen and some other work we're entertaining. Right now we're in dreamland, when the estimates actually come in in a few days, we'll have to start really prioritizing.

I promise, pictures tomorrow...

1 Year, 1 Week, 6 Days

Henry enjoyed being back at Brenda's and supposedly had quite a day of pulling up all by himself. JT said he did the most extensive army crawling yet this evening while i was grocery shopping. Army, or commando, crawling involves dragging your body across the floor without lifting your belly. It's called army crawling because the position looks like the little army figures.

We have contractors coming out to look at our kitchen tomorrow and give us an estimate on the work. I talked to two people today and both were optimistic about getting the work started within 4-6 weeks once we accept a bid. I was pleasantly surprised, but know it obviously takes some time to finish once they start.

We'll see what we find out tomorrow.