Thursday, May 17, 2012

Catalogs!!!

Kinloch Anderson by mdelagrange
Kinloch Anderson, a photo by mdelagrange on Flickr.

I finally received Henri's catalogs from his agent this week. I've posted some of the highlights. Looking at these it's amazing how much he has grown!

Playing to his strengths

Playing to his strengths by mdelagrange
Playing to his strengths, a photo by mdelagrange on Flickr.

Roberta di Camerino

Roberta D.C. 2 by mdelagrange
Roberta D.C. 2, a photo by mdelagrange on Flickr.

Henri the underwear model

Henri the underware model by mdelagrange
Henri the underware model, a photo by mdelagrange on Flickr.

Roberta di Camerino

Roberta D. C. by mdelagrange
Roberta D. C., a photo by mdelagrange on Flickr.

Hens cover shots

Hens cover shots by mdelagrange
Hens cover shots, a photo by mdelagrange on Flickr.

Such discipline

Such discipline by mdelagrange
Such discipline, a photo by mdelagrange on Flickr.

Here at takashimaya the people behind the pink table are all standing up, hands clasped, ready to wrap a mothers day gift free of charge. It's such a small thing and I'm not sure why it stood out to me enough to take a picture, but the fact that these workers aren't sitting around, chit chatting, checking their phones, etc, seems odd to me. Such displays of discipline...

Friday, May 11, 2012

11 teeth!

11 teeth! by mdelagrange
11 teeth!, a photo by mdelagrange on Flickr.

Still a big fan of his shoes

Henri's discerning taste buds

While we are making progress on the solid food front, Henri still won't eat solid fruits or veggies (he will eat anything pureed but we are trying to get past that). What he very calmly does to the banana here is what he does to anything I try to feed him that falls into that category.

Henri is 14 months!

Oh my, Henri is quite the handful. Though he took his first steps at 11 months he officially became a walker at 13. And at 14 he is already trying to run. 

At the park there is an area where once every hour or so music plays and there is a fountain water show. They are very strict and don't let the kids play in the water until the show is over and then they can just splash around in what leftover water there is that hasn't yet drained. Henri goes nuts while the water is spraying and he has had the whistle blown on him a few times for making a break for it into the water. One day a little girl who was maybe three started to play with Henri in the fountain area after the show. Their game was simple. She would stand there and Henri would smack her face and then she would run and he would try to run after her and then she would stand there until he caught up, smacked her again, then she would run, etc. I was a bit surprised that the little girl didn't seem to mind being smacked but I was even more surprised to see Hen trying to run, and on a wet, slick surface no less. Her parents didn't mind the smacking either as they were happily video taping the entire thing. 

Henri is definitely making more word-like sounds, but beyond mama and papa he hasn't really said any other words. Sometimes I think I hear "hello" or "hi" but it's not totally clear. He likes to gargle and make noises in the back of his throat - last week he said what sounded like the Spanish "jota" at least a thousand times.

Henri loves dogs. Because of this we bought him a large stuffed dog from IKEA for his birthday. When I played with it with him I'd try to animate the dog by bouncing it around and making panting and barking noises. Henri oddly enough picked up on the panting. So now when he sees a real dog or even one in a book he smiles, squeals, and starts to loudly pant. We were at a cafe a few weeks ago and the lady at the next table had what looked like a mink purse. Henri noticed it and started his puppy routine, trying to engage with this lady's purse through his panting and squeals. She let him hold it.

Overall he is just so cute right now. If only he would sleep past 530 all would be right in the world...

Sleeping hen

Sleeping hen by mdelagrange
Sleeping hen, a photo by mdelagrange on Flickr.

He's still beautiful when he sleeps.

Doggy bling

IMAG0697.jpg by mdelagrange
IMAG0697.jpg, a photo by mdelagrange on Flickr.

Here in Taipei people spoil their dogs. It is not uncommon to see dogs pushed around in strollers (or on motor scooters for that matter) and especially in the winter they wear the latest doggy fashions (they even have rain coats for them and shoes). This one just had a little bling.

That pool time of year

Though we still have an occasional cool day off it's mostly hot and humid now in Taipei. The good news is that with the hot weather comes clear(er) skies so no more daily rain showers (now just every other day ;-) so last weekend we tore open our new pool toys and enjoyed the sun.

Henri at the doc

Henri at the doc by mdelagrange
Henri at the doc, a photo by mdelagrange on Flickr.

After half a dozen visits to the doctor Henri was finally given the all clear early this week here at Adventist hospital. His stubborn ear infection is finally gone, though the pressure in one of his ears is still off. Not sure why there is a dental set up in the pediatricians office but we went with it.