Henry VanDyke

Henry is learning to use a spoon and making a mess in the process. It is lots of fun to watch him make the mess though.

I’m sure one of the parenting books we never read mentions something about never letting your child taste your smoothie. However, Henry has come to thoroughly enjoy the strawberry smoothies from Starbucks. It can even tear him away from the foam tinged lid of Erin’s coffee.

Don't worry he only drank half of my smoothy, sometimes I'm not so lucky.

These days it’s getting harder and harder to catch a photo of Henry being still so here is a video of him eating one of his favorite snacks, Cheerios.

A few weeks ago I told Erin that she needed to take pictures if anything interesting happened while I was at work. When I came home she surprised me with an extensive pictorial highlight reel of the day.

Henry plays in his Bumbo seat while Erin purees green beans for him.

Next is playtime on the floor.

Henry eats his second breakfest

Getting ready to roll after his meal.

Erin and Henry buy a new sprinkler at Target.

Erin stops by Starbucks

Henry falls asleep in the car.

Erin takes the trash out.

Erin does some laundry while Henry sleeps

Henry wakes up and takes a spin in the jump-a-roo

Erin took Henry to Baby Bounce and the library in Northpark Mall.

Erin and Henry met up with Angela and Rylin at Baby Bounce.

A quick diaper change at the mall.

After returning from the mall, Henry falls asleep and Erin prepares his food for the next day.

Erin pets Tigerman.

Henry eats first dinner.

Henry spent some more time playing on the floor.

Henry helps Erin vacuum while hanging out in the Baby Bjorn

Henry helps Erin chop some onions for dinner, mostly through moral support.

Erin and Henry play on the floor some more.

Erin and Henry finish up dinner, which was delicious.

Erin and Henry wait outside for me to come home.

As you can see, they had a full day. It makes me think I need to say home with them so I don’t miss out on the fun!

A friend of ours from college, Elizabeth, sent us a bib that she made as a gift. It was immediately named our favorite bib. It is longer than most bibs which covers his whole upper body. The hole for his neck is the perfect size. It’s not big enough for food to fall through but not too tight either. Plus, it has a soft towel back and a great print on the front.

Erin emailed and asked if we could pay Elizabeth to make us a few more bibs. She agreed and now four bibs by Elizabeth share the title of favorite bib. We then convinced Elizabeth that she should set up a store on Esty to sell the bibs.

So, if you would like a bib by Elizabeth, just go to pinknu4se.etsy.com and buy a few. Tell her Henry sent you!

Henry's learning states and staying clean at the same time.

We didn't specifically ask for a bib to match the high chair, but Elizabeth is good like that.

Now that he is eating semi solid food, we’re having fun experimenting to see what types of food Henry likes.

Erin has been buying, cooking an pureeing various fruits and vegetables for Henry to try. We freeze most of it in ice cube trays to keep for later. Two veggie cubes is about the right amount for each meal.

The good news is that so far he has liked most everything we’ve given him, although the jury is still out on peas.

Unlike his father, Henry is good about eating his vegetables.

Who would have thought that my freezer would be full of veggies?

Henry doesn't quite understand what's so funny but he's happy to play along.

Henry has been enjoying experiencing new tastes lately. We’ve given him pureed bananas, carrots and squash. He’s getting better about eating from a spoon but as you can see plenty still manages to miss his mouth.

Since we’re introducing food into Henry’s life, it’s also time to introduce a highchair to our house. Granny and Granddad’s bible study class at their church gave the highchair to us as a gift shortly after Henry was born. Since there wasn’t an immediate need for it, Granny and Granddad agreed to store it at their house until Henry turned of age.

That moment is now, so here is Henry and his highchair.

[Show as slideshow]

At Henry’s four month doctor’s appointment, his doctor said that we could start feeding him small amounts of food. Erin had prepared our family for this momentous news a few days earlier by buying a box of rice cereal and plastic spoons.

So later that evening, we embarked on a journey that will leave our home messier place.

As you can tell, Henry wasn’t overly thrilled with this new experience but his genetics pre-dispose him eventually enjoying meal time. One important lesson we learned was to always use a bib. Apparently the people who gave us bibs at showers already knew that but we catch on pretty quick.