17 Months, 1 Week, 4 Days

When i went to pick Henry up at Ms. Brenda's today Henry and the other kiddos were all sitting on the floor individually working on puzzles. Henry was right in the center and working on matching up farm animals with the spaces they came out of. He couldn't necessarily get them back in the puzzle, but he did great and putting the cow piece at least on top of the cow slot. Brenda and i cheered him on and he finished the whole puzzle. He wasn't very happy though when the other kids took it over as we were leaving. We really have to work on this sharing thing.

He took a bath without incident tonight, so now we're just waiting to see what normal daily occurrence becomes terrifying next. My bet is on brushing his teeth, but he already dislikes that so it will probably be something like his books.

Speaking of teeth. Henry has at least one new tooth on the bottom and maybe more that are farther back. He really won't let me look in there or even get my fingers in so i really can't tell.

17 Months, 1 Week, 3 Days

I accompanied Henry to therapy this morning and after a slow warm-up he did quite well. He's definitely more cooperative when i try to get him to do something than his therapist so we practiced walking up the stairs and down them like an adult (holding the railing and my hand to start). He was using the very tiny baby therapy steps, but did a great job after he got over his initial anxiety. Unfortunately our stairs are about 3 times as big and as steep, but we'll work with him on it.

He also practiced climbing from one item to another until he had climbed up onto a table about 4 feet off the floor. He did this very anxiously last week and this week couldn't wait to get up there, get back down and repeat the whole thing several times.

We're all still a little congested but i think we're starting to feel better. We're hosting a dinner party at our house this weekend so it's a good thing the health gods are smiling on us. I have some front steps to bleach this Saturday!

17 Months, 1 Week, 1 Day

A weekend of first for the season. I enjoyed my first bath in our new bathroom this beautiful fall weekend and Henry and I came down with our first colds. So, some good and bad.

I was able to entice Henry into the bath with me after a very multi-pronged strategy. He was happy and content as long as we sitting on my lap. We may have to take a few baths with him over the next few days and hopefully he'll be able to ease back into enjoying the bath on his own.

He's walking more than crawling now and if he falls down he gets back up and finishes walking to his destination rather than crawling. He's getting steadier and a bit quicker, and he clearly takes pride in standing on his own. He'll often be right next to something he could pull up on, but he'll stand up on his own and just beam.

All this mobility means that you're likely to find a pretend piece of toast under the couch and the top of a sippee cup next to his crib. We do our best to keep things picked up and when you ask Henry he's generally obliging about putting things back where they came from.

Jt stayed home with him today because he just seemed a little out of sorts this morning. He got better as the day was wearing on, and after his 4 hour nap this afternoon (!) he had a grand time playing tonight. Mostly his nose is runny and he has a cough. I think he'll be fine to go to Ms. Brenda's tomorrow.

Construction Complete!

Henry news is pretty light today. He had a good day at Brenda's and was ready to give me a big hug when i picked him up. We all went out for a quick bite to eat tonight before i headed out to quilting. JT said Henry enjoyed playing with all of his toys for awhile after they got home. We skipped the bath again tonight so we'll see if he fares any better in our new bathtub tomorrow night!

Here are all the pictures. It turns out i didn't have any before pictures so i'll have to convince you of the Wow! of the after shots. First picture cracked black and white floor tiles with all the grout flaking out, the toilet in the narrow entry-way, black rubber (!) moldings, an old (not so nice) cast iron claw foot with a scraggly shower-curtain surround, and a rusted large medicine cabinet with fluorescent non-working bulbs on each side of the mirror.

Ta-Da!

17 Months, 3 Days

Henry has us stumped. We skipped the bath last night but tonight he gave me a repeat performance of the torture screams during bathtime. I asked him if he wanted to go upstairs and take a bath. He signed bath back to me, said "yes" (or what sounds like yes) and started heading for the stairs. I figured this was a good sign.

I carried him upstairs and put him down in the bathroom while i started to turn the water on. He walked right up to the tub and was about to put his hand under the water like he normally does and he started getting whiny and then very clingy. I reassured him it was fine and started to take his clothes off and then the full-on crying and screaming started. He hadn't even touched the water, so i know it wasn't too hot or anything. I asked him if he wanted me to take a bath with him, and he just kept crying and pointing outside the bathroom.

I told him he had to take a bath and that i would take it with him. I was inconsolable so i just tried to make it as short as i could. The only time he wasn't freaking out was when i was brushing his teeth-- which he normally doesn't tolerate well. So go figure!

Tomorrow night JT's going to try giving him a bath and we'll try in the new tub downstairs to see if that makes a difference. In the meantime i'll ask Brenda if anything happened involving the bathtub that i don't know about...

17 Months, 2 Days

Sorry for the late-posting. Last night i had to make a trip to Home-Depot for (hopefully) some of the last supplies for our bathroom remodel. It's supposed to be completed tomorrow, and today they got the room painted, the toilet and sink installed and all shower stuff in as well. The color is a tad bright, but i'm hoping that with a big white shower curtain it will look cheery. If not we can always re-paint. I'll take some pictures when they're all done tomorrow.

Henry went with JT to physical therapy today and supposedly had a great session. He was walking all over, squatting all the way to the ground and coming back to standing, standing on his own, etc. JT said they were in the bigger room today and she was trying to work with him on new things like climbing and sliding. I think JT may take over PT for a little while now that his work schedule allows. He's going to ask about Henry's long-term timetable next week.

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I know i've fallen down on my photojournalist's job. Hopefully we'll build up a reserve soon.

17 Months, 2 Days

Sorry for the late-posting. Last night i had to make a trip to Home-Depot for (hopefully) some of the last supplies for our bathroom remodel. It's supposed to be completed tomorrow, and today they got the room painted, the toilet and sink installed and all shower stuff in as well. The color is a tad bright, but i'm hoping that with a big white shower curtain it will look cheery. If not we can always re-paint. I'll take some pictures when they're all done tomorrow.

Henry went with JT to physical therapy today and supposedly had a great session. He was walking all over, squatting all the way to the ground and coming back to standing, standing on his own, etc. JT said they were in the bigger room today and she was trying to work with him on new things like climbing and sliding. I think JT may take over PT for a little while now that his work schedule allows. He's going to ask about Henry's long-term timetable next week.

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I know i've fallen down on my photojournalist's job. Hopefully we'll build up a reserve soon.