The first goodbye - Week 39

Jenny Thompson and Henry

We went on our first vacation without the little guy this week. It was a 3-night trip to Chicago to see a number of friends, and to take in a Cubs-Giants game. As you can imagine, it was extremely hard for Laura to leave the Henry for the first time. However, she did really well overall, only crying once all weekend (and that was at the airport, so it barely counts). I give credit to the margaritas we had while waiting on our plane for calming her down. It was a great trip, filled with shopping, staying out late (4am!), and catfights. And it was cold. REALLY COLD. At the Cubs game, it was 40 degrees with a 30mph wind, and mist. The girls were ridiculous. Our friend Heidi was wearing socks on her hands, and we called Laura "Maude" because she was bundled up like some little old lady. Really, she looked like the character who is the "spokesperson" for Hallmark Shoebox cards!

Mommy, can I go with you?

Maude and Ethel pre-game

While we were gone, Grandma and Grandpa Anderson came to town to watch Henry for the weekend. We were extremely grateful that they would send us cell phone pictures and videos throughout our trip. Reggie watched a video sent by Aunt Jen multiple times during the weekend, prompting Laura to state that she thought he had a rougher time being away from Henry than she did (she was probably right).

Lucky for us, Henry saved his big developmental moment for until we got back from Chicago. He had already occassionally pulled himself up to all fours in a proper crawling position. However, once ready to crawl/move, he would always plop back down to army crawl position. On Sunday night he did a couple of very small distance "proper" crawls. Then, on Tuesday morning before we went to work, he all of a sudden started crawling on all fours for long distances!!!! Of course, we grabbed the video camera and started shooting.

Chalice and Laura

On another note, this kid HATES green beans. On Tuesday night we tried to feed him pureed green beans again. He had never really liked them, but this time after giving out a big "I hate these" grunt, he forced himself to spontaneously throw up/spit up. It was as if he was saying, "Seriously, mom, I hate these. Next time this is going on you!"

You have to bring your baby a souvenir!

Mark, Laura, and Heidi