Is that a syllable I hear?

Henry started moving his jaw up and down over the weekend (think of a very cute baby version of Frankenstein from the nose down). We thought that was pretty cool, but then Henry upped the ante and figured out if he talked while attempting this new jaw movement, out came .... NEW SOUNDS! He now is saying "ra ra ra", "wa wa wa" and things such as that. It is very cool, if I do say so myself.

He is also going absolutely nutso on the Exersaucer (thank you to our benefactors Chris and Kim for that gem). He is bouncing, spinning, and is enthralled with all of the toys thoughtfully placed in arms reach around the saucer. This is by far the toy of choice right now, keeping him quite content for quite a while.

Christmas tree and pictures


We went out to get Henry's first Christmas tree, and it was a blast! Here is a pic of Sarah and Henry getting into the action. We went to our normal place, and cut down a winner! Bryan has deemed it an ecologically and environmentally sound practice, informing us that we were taking part in "selective logging".

We celebrated Asia's first birthday party that night, got up the next morning, and did our traditional Christmas picture. This time we did it at our house, because Dad's living room was a train wreck because he hadn't finished his delicate surgery on the monstrosity of a tree that they had picked out. Here's a pic of Asia and Henry.

Unfortunately, the family picture turned out with Bryan being all fuzzy. Sarah was a bit fuzzy too. Damn camera. Maybe a bit of Photoshop, or Dad's pictures, will fix it.

Hello, Great-Grandpa Henry!


Henry finally met his namesake, Henry Louis Schmidt, Jr. , and the Artist Formerly known as Little Henry. We went down to Florida to visit my Mom and Papa Schmidt. The whole family (all of Mom's sibs) took the opportunity to get together, see the baby, and put together an impromptu Schmidt reunion.

I have some more pictures here.

It was really great to see everyone. The Schmidt family has literally flung themselves to the four corners of the country, and we don't get to see each other as often as we might like. And we sure don't get to see everyone together. Some of my cousins couldn't make it, which was sad, but the stalwart combatants that made the trip had a grand time.