There Will Be Cake

On Sunday, January 20 we had a party to celebrate Henry's first birthday. Lots of family and friends came to sing Happy Birthday and eat cake and ice cream...

The morning of his party, Henry ate breakfast with his Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa wore a shirt with Henry's picture on it. Looks like he recognizes the familiar face.

Stephen Moutoux and Ava Little came over to share in the fun.

This picture would be best described as the "before" shot...

...before Henry dove face-first into his cake, that is.

Nothing like a little milk to wash that sugar down.

An impressive group of cousins.

Heavy is the crown.

That night, Lexie helps Henry cheer on Eli and the Giants. Lucky for all of us, the wind-chill factor inside was well above -23.

Happy First Birthday!

Tonight, we celebrated Henry's first birthday!

Of course, that involved opening some presents, all of which he loved.

He was so excited to get this lego-holding wagon from Jonathan and Carmen, he did a somersault into the box. But here, he's decided there's not enough room in one box for a lego-holding wagon and a one-year old boy.

Blowing out (actually, staring at) the candle...

Henry doesn't get much sugar in his normal diet. None, basically. So he really enjoyed this huge slice of his mom's homemade birthday cake. The icing alone called for one pound of confectioners' sugar.

Mmmmm. Sticky.


And the sugar kicks in right about....here.

Children of the Corn

So that's what those front teeth are for! Henry tried corn on the cob for the first time last night...and loved it, natch.

Almost, but not quite...

That's more like it. It's too early to tell whether Henry is going to eat his corn by employing the "typewriter" method or the "rotary" method, but one way or the other he likes the challenge of eating it off the cob. We had to pry it out of his hands when he was finished.

Nightlife

Here is a group of pictures that shows Henry's typical night time routine. First, dinner. As you can see, Henry's menu has expanded far beyond strained carrots. Chicken, broccoli and cheese are now a typical dinner, but recently he's also enjoyed things like chicken pot pie, meatloaf, mashed potatoes and spaghetti. In fact, about the only thing he's tried that he didn't like was a Doe's hot tamale (which actually made him cry). I'm sure his Delta roots will kick in though and one day soon, he'll be scarfing down tamales with the best of them.

After dinner, a little play time while Alexis and I finish our meals.

For some reason, our cookbooks have always been an endless source of fascination for Henry. From the time he was nursing he has stared at the row of books on the shelf above our kitchen table. We think he may want to be the next Barefoot Contessa. And that's only partly because he's actually barefoot.

Before getting into his PJs, a nice warm bath. Bathtime has become more fun since Henry now has enough hair to do this with.

Southeast Regional Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

This winter, our friends Jonathan and Carmen invited us to spend the week at Jonathan's parents' house in Punta Gorda, Florida. We had a great time relaxing, swimming and piña colada-ing. What follows is a very small sampling of pictures from the trip, which included Henry's first boat ride and his first time to scramble for a touchdown in a Div. I football stadium. Suffice it to say, when you combine owning a new camera with taking a trip to a location that is 45 degrees warmer than the one you left, the result is an obnoxious number of photos. For those gluttons for punishment, the full story of our winter vacation can be seen here:

If images of sandy beaches induce feelings of frustration during winter months, do not click here.

Christmas Eve at (where else?) Canton Cooks in Atlanta. Henry learns to appreciate Hong Kong-style wonton soup. Not sure why he was trying to smoke the spoon in this picture, but from the look of his eyes, it seems to have worked.


Finally, the beach.


Cap'n Jonathan takes us to an uninhabited island off the coast of Florida. But don't worry, there were no signs of polar bears, hatches or the Others.

First boat ride!

Picnic on the beach.


Relaxing in his ducky towel.

One the way home, we stopped in Gainesville, Florida for lunch and to let Henry get some energy out. For those that have no experience breaking into football stadiums, it may be news that the University of Florida keeps its stadium open during the daytime so that joggers can run laps through its concourse. Long story, short: Henry crawled all over the field, rushing for about 35 yards on three carries. The happy result was that he slept in the car for three straight hours afterwards. (I assure you that the fact he is wearing orange is a total coincidence.)

At New Year's Day brunch, Henry is impressed with my Vito Corleone/orange slice impression