A year and a half!

Oh Henry.

Hard to believe Henry is 18 months old today. It seemed like the first year and a half of Adele's life went a lot slower. And yet I look back at pictures of Henry's first year and a half and I see that we did a lot of great things...but why did it have to go so fast??

My kids are the best in the whole world. They love life, love each other, and are easy to love.

At 18 months, Henry continues to be a very active boy. He climbs on anything and everything. He won't sit still for long before trying to do a somersault off the couch, or jump off the chair, or sit on top of the kitchen table, or tackle his sister unexpectedly.

He appears to be completely fearless, but also doesn't react strongly when he gets hurt, thankfully. A simple frown and an "ow" will suffice, and then he'll move along to his next daring feat.

Henry is really into reading books, especially ones that have pictures of animals. He thinks every animal sounds like a cow, although he gets particularly excited when he actually sees a picture of a cow and won't stop mooing.

The boy also absolutely loves to be outside. He loves riding his little bike around the block and stops only for dogs barking, airplanes passing above us, and bugs he wants to stop and pick up. And as soon as I get a little away from him, he grins mischievously and turns his bike the other direction, picks his feet up, and rolls down the slope into the street.

Henry has proven to be as much of a talker as his big sister too. He will repeat everything, which Adele gets a big kick out of as she teaches him new words.

And although Henry is busy, crazy, active, adventurous, and mischievous, he is also a very sweet loving boy. His latest bedtime routine includes taking a baby doll with him into his crib, showering it with kisses, and snuggling up to it to go to sleep. He loves to give kisses to Adele, David and me, and one of his favorite phrases is "I ya yoo!" (I love you!).

Here are some pictures of Henry over the last couple of months. As you can see, he also loves saying "cheese". :)

This was when he was first learning how to
use utensils...he's much better now. :)

Probably more than anything else in life,
Henry loves his sister Adele.

Henry takes driving very seriously.

And he loves to dance...especially when
he gets to wear sister's dancing shoes.

This was how he ended up after he was
"helping" me fold laundry.

His new tricks on the swing.

Henry was thrilled when daddy brought a
frog inside...AND let him hold it!

His latest way to sleep. Precious!

Happy year and a half, Henry!