Pay no attention to the man behind the baby

We went to the Krach's for an Easter egg hunt yesterday. Hank had some pretty serious competition in the form of Boo and her neighbor, another three-year-old. Hank held his own though. He collected 5 eggs with a little help from his daddy. Hank had fun shaking this egg and dropped it from a great height, at which point he discovered that it was full of peanut M&Ms. A thrill I'm sure. I put the M&Ms back in the egg so Hank could shake it some more. (Silly me!) He dropped it again, just to see its guts rattle to the ground. Note to self: gotta be smarter than the baby.

Playground Adventure

Hank likes playgrounds, as long as they don't have swings! Despite the chewing of fingers as a Hank signal of anxiety, he's actually pushing Mama to let him down the slide.


Hank in a Japanese RPG style 3rd person view. Just imagine a dragon instead of a play area. :)

Taking an infant down a slide, BTW, should go in the brochure advertising parenthood. (Along with a recording of excited baby laughter.)

Country Music Sensation

I've been playing Karaoke Revolution this weekend. Hank discovered the microphone I left out, and well, the rest is history.

It's so sweet that he still helps his folks out with the laundry, even now that he's made the Big Time.

He Likes to Put Things in Other Things

Last night after work, Hank and I went to our friend Kathleen's crib for a little celebration with the birthday girl. I needed to pick something up at home first, so we swung by the apartment, where I checked the machine and found a message from my sister. She sounded frantic, so I decided to call her back before heading out. Hank was a little testy on account of not being allowed to play with the phone, so I gave him my keys to entertain himself, which he did. 20 minutes later, my sisterly duties discharged, I picked up Hank and headed for the door only to discover, much to my dismay, no keys. I checked my pockets, purse etc. and took a cursory inventory of the horizontal surfaces in the living room before I remembered that I had given them to Hank. So I put him down and asked him, "Where are mama's keys?" he wandered off in no particular direction with a big smile on his face. I spent the next couple of minutes following the baby repeating, "key? key?" as he toddled around the apartment. If he didn't understand what I wanted, he did enjoy the little game we seemed to be playing. Feeling more than a little silly and getting frustrated, I stopped and flopped down on the floor, legs akimbo. Then it hit me like an anvil falling from the heavens, he likes to put things in other things! So I crawled around the living room looking for enticing cavities and this is what I found:

I'm just glad it wasn't the sub woofer again.

Awesome Hat

Just in time for the nice weather, we got Hank a new hat at Gymboree this weekend. The strap Velcros under his chin so he can't get it off. It's more adjustable than an elastic would be and easier than ties. Plus, it's cute and has a big fish on it. w00t! Here he is training for Festivus, I'm sure he'll make his father and me very proud this December 23rd.

Don't burst a vessel, baby.

Hank is starting to get the hang of the whole walking thing. He can carry toys across the room without falling down and has started trying to run. He falls a lot when he tries to run.

Grandma's Come to Town

Asa's mom is in town for a couple of days and Hank is loving all the extra attention!

You think this is good Hank, just wait until we move back to the PNW baby.

Hankasaur Transform!

As you know, Hank started walking at the end of February. What you may not know is that this is just one of the ways he has changed over the last two weeks. He's getting a whole lot smarter - he points at the things he wants, and can anticipate what will happen based on something I'm doing.

Sometimes he gets it wrong, however: He loudly frets at the mere suggestion of the blender's operation. In fact, I have to hide blender parts from his gaze as I'm emptying the dishwasher and stash them in cabinets to prevent an apopleptic baby from losing his mindz and boycotting breakfast.

Among his favorite things in the living room are the Xbox 360 controllers. I just watched him jam one of the battery packs against the back of the controller (which is never attached when he plays with one) so this is yet another time I realize he perceives more than I appreciate.

I should just be live-blogging: He just gave me a big smile and tottered around in a small circle and fell down. Okay, this is not fascinating reading! I, however, am entranced.

I'm a Model, You Know What I Mean

Our camera's anti-red-eye function produces an orange light before the flash goes off. Hank has figured out that when this happens, he gets his picture taken and can then see it on the camera. And he loves seeing pictures of himself (this reminds me of a certain cousin of his). Now, when he notices the light, he strikes a pose. Usually this is a huge grin, showing as many teeth as possible and closed eyes. You wouldn't believe how many pictures we get of him looking something like this: He eats his oatmeal with a spoon pretty much every morning now. He loves lcd soundsystem (especially the hit single, "Daft Punk is Playing at My House.") Other musical loves are, Daft Punk, Air, Led Zeppelin, and anything on Dance Dance Revolution. As you might have guessed, he spends a lot of time with his father.

Hank's new molar has been joined by a few friends in the last couple of days. He's working on three teeth and it's none too pleasant for the little guy. His, "Not to worry, it's just from the teething," clear runny nose has turned into a green stuffy one and that's not helping anything. The walking, however continues to develop unperturbed by his symptoms. He's making it seven steps before he falls now and he's standing while holding toys and bottles. Pretty slick. He's got a few new syllables in his babbling this week too. (Daddy promises to post more on this so I'll leave it alone for now). Basically, if you saw Hank last week, today you'd see a whole new baby, and if it's been a few months, you might not recognize him at all.