Be Still My Beating Heart

Hank took his first ever steps tonight after dinner. Just two of them before falling on his butt, but two steps nonetheless. He tried a few steps here and there later on in the evening. He's far from proficient at this whole walking business, but hopes are high here at Casa de Allen that he'll be tearing the place up soon. (These hopes reside mostly in his father, I'd be happy to see him stay a baby a little longer, but that's just me).

Hank Update

This is Hank's favorite book du jour. He loves pointing to all the pictures, especially spot's spot.

Other favorite games right now are "This Little Piggy," "Itsy Bitsy Spider," Airplane/Super Baby and Telephone or Computer (or anything mama and daddy do, really). If you give him a rag, he "helps" clean himself off after meals and in the bath, he'll even wipe the couch off when he has the chance. We may have our own little Monk on our hands (I kid, I kid).

Right now Hank is teething and it looks like he's cutting his first molar. He's been quite sensitive the last few days, always wanting daddy or mama close by.

Hank the Consumer

Hank loves going out on the town, even if that just means a trip to the grocery store.

It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To

We celebrated Hank's birthday with the Krachs the other day and a good time was had by all, really. Hank was a little upset at cake time. I don't think he liked his hat, or maybe it was the singing. C'mon Hank, It's not that bad!
A few minutes and a bit of cake make all the difference for the birthday boy. Yes, he did eat his cake with a fork.

Hank had his one year appointment with the pediatrician on Monday. It was an unmitigated disaster. They were having some kind of emergency and we were there for more than three hours. Hank missed his am nap and howled half the time. He hasn't developed that kind of stamina just yet. Hank is still very small for his age, but with a normal sized head. The Dr. told us to give him Pediasure to help fatten him up a bit. We'll see if that helps.

I work while Asa's in class a couple of times a month and Hank has a new babysitter for those nights. He played and went to bed for her just fine this week, so I think it'll work out pretty well.

He's one!

It's been a while since we updated, and we're well and truly sorry. Here's a picture we took just last night. Hank's thinking of joining a boy band. He turned one year old on Wednesday, but we're waiting for some friends to get back in town to have a little party, cake pictures forthcoming.

Hank isn't walking yet, still cruisin'. But he does hang on to my pants leg thinking about letting go. Asa got him to stand on his own the other day with the help of one of the neighborhood toughs, but he didn't take any steps. He has a handful and a half of words he uses in context: Mama, Dada, Yeah, Pretty, Tree, Kitty and now See. We think he may have started calling Asa by his first name when he's really excited. I don't know that we want to encourage this. We're trying to teach him some signs for more and all done to help with feeding time here at the zoo. Hank can feed himself with a spoon, though he has more success with yogurt than with peas. We're going to his 1 year doctors appointment in the morning and we'll find out if he is heavy enough to turn around in the car seat. Crossing our fingers!

Christmas in the NW

We drove up to Seattle for Christmas and New Years. We made it up in just two days (one 13 hour and one 10 hour) and Hank tolerated the car ride fairly well. We took turns sitting in the back seat with him so he didn't get too bored, but he slept for most of the trip. I think his favorite part was getting out of the carseat and "walking" around the convenience stores during our pit stops. We also enjoyed a nice stay with our friend in Northern CA who provided a wonderful sanctuary, food and company for us all. Thanks P!

Hank got to hang out with ALL of his cousins this Christmas. We even got a picture of all the cousins on mama's side of the family, not an easy feat as there are 8 of them living in three different states.

He was a little confused by the business of unwrapping presents, but he figured it out after a little bit of trial and error. He started using two new words over the holidays, kitty and tree (for christmas tree). He was a hit with our friends on New Years Eve, playing the part of baby new year at two parties (granted he was sleeping through the second one).
We stayed up in Seattle for an extra week to attend the wedding of some close friends and Hank was a total champ! He was quiet (though wiggly) through the whole ceremony (a long Catholic one!) even though it was duing his nap time and he managed to get a little shut0eye at the reception, at least until the Mariachi band got going.

By the time we got back to Vegas, Hank was thoroughly sick of his carseat and now he fusses any time we have to put him in it. Hopefully he'll get over that once he's had a few days of freedom.