Hendricks Family: July 2008

Millennium Park

While Stan studied downtown for his final tomorrow, Sean and I made our first trip to Millennium Park to play in the fountain.

"Come on, Mom. Let's go get wet!"

Joy.

Crawling around and starting to get soaked...

Splashing!

Time with my buddy, Reed

I'll put my feet here. You can put yours over there.

We went to Chipotle for dinner - you can get a kid's quesadilla for $0.75. They also play great music - at one point both Sean and Reed started swaying back and forth - dancing in their highchairs... pretty soon the whole table was bopping their heads. It was hilarious.... or embarrassing...

Smiling/Posing for all the people who stopped us along the way. I guess other people think they're pretty cute too...

Can you guess who's who?

Rub-a-dub-dub. Two boys in the tub.

Can Reed come back tomorrow? Please?

"No Hands"

Last Friday, Sean took his first baby-baby-baby steps (and he hasn't tried since...) Sean has a fun game he likes to play called 'no hands' - he props himself up on the couch/chair/ottoman, we say "no hands," and with determination, Sean steadies himself, throws both hands in the air, sticks his tongue out, opens up his eyes as big as they will go, and lets out a little "whoa!" All this lasts approximately 3 seconds. Well, last Friday, Sean let go of my hands in the middle of the room, stood by himself for about 30 seconds and took 3 little shuffle steps toward me! I was so excited - I thought we'd try it again. One step: fell down on booty. And from there on out, every time he does "no hands," he squats down and crawls away. So I'm not writing anything on the calendar yet - but we are making progress... Enjoy some of Sean's "no hands" faces :)

Family Appreciation

Stan's parents came up to watch Sean last weekend so Stan and I could go see Batman - Sean really enjoyed sitting on Grandpa's shoulders

Hey, J & Dyan - here is my zebra! I love grooving to the music and one day I'll get daring enough to hop on - if my mom ever figures out how to send you a 45 mb little movie - you'll get to see the dancing for yourself...

My friend, Bridget, is a little wild. She LOVED the zebra and would bounce and spin and put her hands up in the air! Daring.

4th of July with College Friends

Photo courtesy of Brad & Sara Stayte

Friday night bike ride & picnic

Took the new bike trailer out for a spin on the Salt Creek Trail. It was a lot of fun - I took some photos when we stopped for a picnic, but realized I never actually took a picture of Sean in the trailer... next time.

Sean's development update

Either Sean was just ready - or physical therapy is really working. Last week Sean learned how to pull himself up to standing, can climb stairs, and can walk/run while holding onto 2 hands, and is getting pretty good at walking with just one hand. The therapist is very encouraged, and I think we'll see him walking on his own before summer's end.

Sean also has a litany of words -

Uh, Oh (this means: something is on the floor - or I'm about to throw something...)
Hi (+wave)
Bye, Bye & Night, Night (also includes wave)
Car & Door (both come with Bostonian accent)
Close (the door)
Thank you (one of Sean's first words - mostly says it when he hands me something)
Book & Ball (both come out 'Ba')
Clock (pronounced Clock-ka)
On/Off (favorite pastime - light switches...)
All Done
Cheers! (comes out 'chee' - he does this about 20 times during the course of a meal)
Oh, Wee! (translates - swing, wheels, rocking chair - anything that moves)
Salsa (guess whose mom eats a lot of nachos?)
Cash - My personal favorite complete with hand motions for 'gimme some cash' - can't wait to see what else he learns from Chris & Cassidy....

Suspiciously missing from the list: Daddy & Mama. Sean babbles with these words - "Dada" is his happy babble, and "Mama" is his unhappy babble - but so far, he has not used those names with us. Until then.... Cheers!

Indy Road Trip

Sean's sitter took the week of the 4th of July off for vacation - so I decided that I would too. Stan's parents watched Sean while I went on a work retreat to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Then we spent the weekend relaxing at their house. Monday, Sean and I drove down to Indy and began a week of seeing all sorts of friends & family. Sean experienced riding on the back of a bike and riding on a big wheel (with some help) - and we test-drove a bike trailer too.

Besides a lot of schoolwork for Stan, our July is looking pretty empty of events and travel. In August, Stan is taking an intensive 10-day course between summer and fall session (have to admire that determination...or call him crazy) and a couple days after my parents get back from their trip to see J & Dyan in Australia, Mom is coming to Denver with Sean and me for a work conference.

After a very difficult June, it was very good for my soul to spend this time with friends and family. Enjoy the photos.

Papa wasted no time getting me outfitted for some adventures!

My child development friends from Purdue - we hadn't seen each other in 5 years!

Hey, Mom - Maya has crackers over here!

Swinging with Mackenzie! "Oh, wee!"

I have never seen Sean happier than when he was at the bowling alley - he cheered for us, the people in the adjacent lanes - and kept saying "ball, ball, ball"

Sean's first time on a big wheel

Vroom, Vroom!

Grandma's turn -
(Notice Sean is now wearing the helmet??)

"Beep, Beep"

Look, Ma - No hands!

Sean loves his cousins. All weekend he would look at Chris and wave and say "Hi!" One time he even woke up from a nap in his car seat, looked at Chris, said hi - and then fell back asleep...

Carmelfest - Cassidy with the bungee jump ride

She did a lot of backflips!

The only ride that Sean qualified for was the wagon of balls - he was in heaven...

The other kids in the pit were instructed not to hit the baby... little did they know what was about to hit them!

Going for a spin with a supermodel (Lanie).
Guess what, Lanie? My parents got me a trailer just like yours! We'll take you for a spin next time you come to Chicago!