Merry, Merry!

Henry celebrated his first Christmas this year!  It was the first time since my brother and I were little that my family got to experience Christmas through a child's eyes.  I loved watching Henry tear into his gifts.

We began the celebration on Christmas Eve at my grandmother's house.

First up: Stocking time!  My grandmother got Henry this cute teddy bear stocking.

Ooh, for me?!

Henry eating his boy baby doll.

Next, we looked to see what Santa brought Henry.  A musical walker!  To brag on Santa for a bit, let's just say Santa knew what he was doing.  The walker is by far Henry's favorite toy.  He loves sitting and pressing its lower buttons, as well as standing and hitting the buttons on the top.  He's not quite able to walk behind it, but give him a couple of months and I think he'll be up to the challenge.

Hello--Hiller residence!

Then, we opened all of the gifts from generous family members.  Henry was able to tear the wrapping paper if you got him started.  As you can see from the pictures, he thought the gifts (and their wrappers) were all very tasty!

Dachshund shoes from Grandma!

Just openin' my presents, Mom, no biggie!

A snowman hat and gloves from Great-Aunt Lois and Great-Uncle Tom!

Mama's baby rattle.  Meets Henry's stringent standards.

A dog book from Uncle Michael and Aunt Laura!

Laura made him this onesie!

Later that day, Henry wore several more of his holiday ensembles.

I hope he enjoyed this smocked outfit, because it was nearly too small and he won't be able to wear it again.  Maybe he'll have a brother or cousin he can share it with?

Mama bought this outfit for "Beansprout" before we knew Beansprout was to be a boy named Henry.

Love me some Rowan.

Finally, what's a great first Christmas without a little snow??  We were lucky enough to have a white Christmas for the first time in years.

Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day.

Admiring the snowman Daddy and Aunt Laura made!

Feed Me, Seymour!

This will be the first of a series of catch-up posts.  On December 23, Henry began his foray into the exciting world of solid foods!

I want to make Henry's baby food, to the extent that I can.  Mark's mom gifted us the Beaba babycook to facilitate this process.  The Beaba is a steamer and food processor in one nifty contraption.  Because we don't have much in the way of storage space, a two-in-one device is perfect!

 First in the line-up were sweet potatoes!  I skipped past rice cereal and oatmeal, since Henry is six months old and can handle pureed vegetables and fruits.  Henry's been eying us eagerly while we eat for months, so I was fairly certain he would take right to having some "real" food of his own.  As you can see from the photos, I was right!

Mmm, if nothing else, this bib is pretty tasty!

Gimme, gimme!

He ate them without hesitation, as if he'd been doing it all his life.

Mama, thanks for the yummy food!

Daddy's turn at the spoon.

What, that's it?!

Henry's been eating 1-2 solid food meals a day since the first day.  Other than sweet potatoes, he's had:

• Applesauce (Delicious!)
• Prunes (Not homemade, but we were in a dire "situation," if you will, and needed them for their non-nutritional powers.  In any event, Henry loved them!)
• Squash (Hated it!  Gagged and choked like he was dying.  Mama and Daddy wimped out and gave him applesauce instead.  I may try again later, but since I hate squash and don't eat it myself, I don't think it's fair to force it on Henry)
• Carrots (So-so.  A little gagging at first, but they grew on him.  He eats them more readily now).

Next up are peaches.  I'm sure Henry will love them.  Not sure what I'll try after that.  It's very fun to feed Henry solids and to see his reactions!