Not a baby, not yet a boy.
I've been feeling like I don't have much to say lately, hence the downturn in the number of posts. It's been a tiring week. Dave's semester started and it was quite the kick in the pants. We had gotten pretty used to the routine we settled into over the Fall. Having the clock alarm go off at 7AM on Wednesday was not fun. It'll get easier as we get used to it again. In the meantime, it's just tiring.
Henry's been exceptionally cute lately. Ever since the tooth sprouted he's been sleeping much better at night, which probably explains his good mood. The other day I pulled out the broom to sweep up in the living room, kitchen, and dining room and he went absolutely nuts. Every day since, he's pulled the broom out of the back room and wandered around the house with it. Once in a while he'll pull it onto a rug and when he can't push it off (the bristles get caught in the loops of the fabric), he has a total meltdown. Other times he'll bring it to me with great purpose, hand it over, then wait for me to do something with it. I don't know what, but he waits with great expectation. I show him how to sweep and the reaction I get indicates that I'm not at all doing whatever it is he wants me to do.
He's still not saying anything other than "yes". It's a really great word to know because with it Henry can indicate everything he wants. He'll point to his cup and say "Yes" if he wants more milk. When we ask him if he's done with dinner, he says "Yes" then frantically tries to help us help him get out of his chair as quickly as possible. The other evening I asked him if he was ready to take a bath and go to bed and he tossed his toy aside, ran to the stairs, said "Yes!", then waited for me to come over and help him up the steps. He did the same thing this afternoon for his nap. I did a little happy dance and then tucked him in. A couple of weeks ago my mom described a dream my dad had. My dad was sleeping (in his dream) and Henry toddled into their bedroom, poked my dad to wake him up and said "What's up?". My dad said "So you *can* talk?" and Henry said "Yes." Seems probable.
Although he's the strong, silent type so far, Henry does understand a lot of what we say to him. He'll get out the bag of dog food if we ask him to. He closes doors. If we tell him to hold onto the banister as we go up or down the stairs he will. He can operate our dvd player. When I ask him if he wants a snack, he'll go tearing into the kitchen, wait by the cabinet that has his snacks, then run back into the living room to stand impatiently by the coffee table until I bring him his plate. He's also learning new words all the time. I noticed this week that I spent a lot of time labeling things for him as we walked around the house. He's soaking it all up at an alarming rate. He can point to the floor, the ceiling, a blanket, a lamp, a kitten, and yet when you ask him where his nose is, he tugs on his ears, even though he knows what ears are. Strange.
I can't believe how much he's changed over the last few months. He looks so much like a little boy and so much not like a baby anymore. When did that happen?