First steps!

Henry is standing on his own (and is very proud of himself). He is now looking around, and can take 3-4 steps on his own before lunging at the closest parent or piece of furniture. It is truly incredible to watch him, and see his progress day-to-day. I think this parent thing is just about to shift into high gear ... literally. I've seen other baby's first steps, and they're generally tentative, slow steps to get things going. Henry measures his actions, then literally tries to run his three or four steps. There's no fear or hesitation. He sees what he wants, and he is off to go get it. It's thrilling and terrifying all at once!

First bike ride! First picnic! First time to campus!

Holy lots of firsts! We packed up the bikes and ate a picnic dinner on the campus of The Ohio State University, on Mirror Lake. Henry rode in his new trailer (which is a pretty slick ride in its own right). When we got there, Henry acted like he was an old pro. He ate his dinner while grinning at Mom and Dad, took a couple sips of water, and was generally very enjoyable company at our family picnic.

Birthday Bash (for Henry and the country)!

Better late than never, eh? For those of you in the know, Henry's first birthday was July 2nd. We had a big bash to celebrate the day, and Henry seemed to have a great time. He entertained guests with his rendition of Da-Da-Noing, held them in breathless anticipation as he studied and mauled his birthday cake (although he never really ate any), jumped in his above ground pool (relax ... it's one of those plastic baby pools!) and got antsy as we opened all of his presents. A great time was had by all. Enjoy the pictures ... the second one is Henry in his red wagon, a birthday present from Mommy and Daddy!

Two days later, our nation celebrated its birthday. The weather wasn't nearly as good. Actually, it rained. It rained a lot. It was really heartening, though, to see all the folks around us that showed up for the Fourth of July parade. We all got wet, we all had umbrellas or slickers or windbreakers (or all of the above), but many of the folks in the parade did not. It was great to show our support for our neighborhood and our country (I know, all we did was stand in the rain ... but it was still nice).