Having fun

Slide show of Henry trying to move forward

Henry has been suggesting that he is ready to inch worm leading us to entice him by placing his toys further and further away from him.  I took a series of photos yesterday of him going after a toy...
He sets his sights on the prize

Prepares to inch worm

Tries to scoot but doesn't make too much progress so he takes a swing

And knocks the toy a little closer

Now he's on a roll and asking if I'll just give it to him now that he made contact

Oh no, he falls back

But does not give up....

I think the champion had earned the prize at that point and I was willing to offer some assistance :)

Baby swim class

I'm so sad I didn't snap any photos today of Henry at his first swim class, but...
He had a great time.  The class is supposed to be limited to babies 6 months and older but the instructor allowed us in knowing that any source of social interaction is much needed around here.  So many babies were signed up that she split the group into two sections; we swam with the under 18 month kids.  Henry and I enjoyed signing and splashing and kicking.  I can't wait until he's just a little older can try jumping in!  Right after he was changed out of his swim gear he fell right to sleep and stayed zonked out until we were back home.It looks like Monday mornings will be a weekly highlight!  I'll be SURE to take a photo at next weeks class. 

Henry stands all by himself

I thought I'd lure you in with that title. Actually Henry stands all by himself while he's playing with a toy that is basically a table filled with all sorts of things that light up and sign songs and are placed at just the right height.  Just yesterday I noticed he was quite balanced when he was entranced by the amusement and leaning against the edge.  Of course, most of his weight is against the table but it's still super fun that he can stand there all alone and play. I was alone when I was trying to take these photos and I obviously had to stay right near him to catch him if he toppled, but I snagged a few.  He probably stood there for almost a minute!  Then he did it again when we were on a video skype with the grandparents :)

This next one is dark but it's fun because he's looking at the camera.  The fact that he is not supported by me doesn't shine through as well.

Walking the dog

I don't have any pictures yet from when we take the dog on a walk but there are a few fun tidbits we want to share.  Many of the houses and apartment buildings here have guards who "stand duty" 24 hours a day. Being that we live on a quiet street, you can imagine that foreigners walking a big dog on a leash with a plump little baby boy will draw some stares.  Add to that the excitement of letting Guinness off the leash so that he can play fetch with his frisbee and you have quite the show.

Although Guinness gets a bit overwhelmed on the slightly busier street with all the rickshaws and cars he loves the excitement offered by some other sightings.  He is completely intrigued by a black goat that roams around.  He can't seem to take his eyes off the creature as we pass. Today we had a bit more excitement as we passed another interesting group: a man walking 2 pretty big monkeys on leashes.  He walks them in hopes of getting some money to watch them dance*.  I had not seen them in this neighborhood before.  Guinness definitely wanted to play with them.

* For you Dann's out there I was signing "Lay-la lay-la ya my moona" the rest of the walk after I saw the monkey man :)   It basically means "dance monkey dance" and it's the song my grandma and her sisters and brother used to sing off their balcony when they were in Cairo as they threw coins down to the dancing monkeys.

Random pics

This next one is a little blurry

First day at the pool

This afternoon we had our first adventure to the baby pool.  It's nestled in a shady area of the American Club which, as I mentioned before, is about a 2 minute walk from our house. For some reason Scott and I didn't bring our swim suits but, regardless, Henry had a great time sporting his swim suit for the first time and kicking his feet around in the water. 

After a few minutes another little boy joined us in the pool.  He kept putting his hand on Henry's belly; so cute!  I zoomed out to take a photo of the boys playing so that you get a sense of the pool area at the Club.  It looks just like the US, doesn't it?  Respite from the madness of Dhaka streets.