Fever=Hair Growth?

See this boy? Well, he's got something to show you all, aside from every tooth in his ever lovin' mouth. Hair! He's got hair, at least a lot more of it.
Hank's been pretty ill since we got back from Sea-town. First it was gastrointestinal (you probably don't want the details on that one, lets just say it lasted 10+ days). Then he got a nasty cough/fever combo. One night his fever got pretty high (102, I know, not that high, but it seemed bad at the time). The next morning he had hair, lots of hair, combable hair with even more curls, curls curls! I'm all, "squee!" over the curls and daddy's all "do we even have a comb for him?" and, "How do you brush a baby's hair, anyway?"

Fun in the (Seattle!) Sun

Hank and I went to Seattle for a quick visit with the cousins etc. He had a great time with his only cousin on his dad's side who hugged him so bracingly, he didn' t know how to respond. Nana and Papa came over to Auntie's house and we all got to play outside in the gorgeous weather. Hank's favorite part? Eating watermelon with cottage cheese on the grass. He ran around making a mess of himself and anyone willing to let him touch them. He stayed on the swing for several seconds before getting freaked out and his cousin even played ball with him. We're all looking forward to more scenes like this one this summer. Hank let off some steam at the airport, waiting for our flight to Las Vegas. He pushed the stroller all over terminal B. Lots of, "Isn't he cute!" comments from the peanut gallery, he ate it up.

\m/

Hank loves rocks, he likes looking at them, touching them, picking them up, hell, he'll eat them if we don't catch him in time. Here he's taken one from a meticulously landscaped spot at the park and he's running with it. Sorry bud, you still can't keep it.
His love affair with inanimate objects expands to include the telephone. Talking on the phone is one of his favorite games. Confidential to the baby in the picture: your ear is a little to the left.

We had some time to kill at UNLV a few weeks ago, so we stalked one of our librarian friends. Where, you may well ask? In his natural habitat the library of course! I didn't let the baby eat any of the books in the reference section. Pinkie swear.
This looks like a boy who knows how to party. Come on in babes, it's five o'clock somewhere.

As far as I understand, calling his father by his first name and people watching from our little balcony is pretty much what he does all afternoon while I'm at work. He looks like he's having a pretty good time of it.We put a hat on the baby to protect his translucent pale skin from the harsh desert sun whenever he goes outside. Now when he wants to go out, he hands his daddy his hat like the dog bringing his leash sweet, intelligent child that we all know him to be.Hank and I will be up in the PNW this weekend. Give us a holler if you want to hang out.

Vanilla Peppermint is the finest of the flavors

We hoped that Hank could save up some height in a Swiss bank and then grow all at once on the trip to Washington, thus saving us a second-round baby proofing. Too bad the cunning plan didn't work out.

We are so screwed.

Hank has hit another milestone. He's tall enough to reach the following (formerly safe from baby) locations:

Kitchen drawers
Kitchen table
Top of the filing cabinet
TV power button

I'm sure this list will grow in the coming days. He has also figured out how to open the screen door to the balcony. Our world is forever altered.

Pop Quiz

What happens when Hank suddenly changes his sleep schedule from a short nap in the morning and a long one in the afternoon to a long nap in the late morning followed by a short one in the late afternoon and Daddy doesn't figure it out for a few days? This:

 

Victory!

Hank's sleeping has been off for the last month or so. He's either been sick or cutting teeth the whole time. Add to that a transition from two naps every day to just one and you have one cranky little boy who has forgotten how to fall asleep on his own. Daddy and I (OK, mostly Daddy) have been up with him most nights for several minutes to a couple of hours getting him back to sleep. Hank is a hard one to sleep train, he vomits when he gets really mad or sad or just too upset. I'm talking crying for two or three minutes then "cough, blurgh." It's no good. Earlier this week, I told Asa, no more of this crap, we're doing it tonight. (no, not that) Of course Hank cried, then vomited. We cleaned him and his bed and gave it another go. Wash, rinse, repeat. He did fall asleep on his own eventually and the next night, no vomit! w00t! Victory Dance! Hank's been going to sleep and staying that way on his own all week and we are all better rested for it.

Here's another picture from the park the other day, just 'cause he's cute.