Happy 1st Birthday Henry

Laura took this beautiful picture on Henry's special day

Birthday Fun with Everyone

Henry celebrated his birthday three times! First we had a celebration with five other June babies at his friend Oona's house...then we had a picnic in the park with the Harmon, Street and Mott families and on June 23 we all went out for breakfast at Tom's Diner and then enjoyed Henry's first trip to the zoo in Prospect Park. Henry really enjoyed himself and it was so wonderful that all his family could join us for such a special weekend!

SURPRISE!!!

Finlay and Laura flew over with Grandfather Street for an extra special surprise for Henry's 1st birthday. As you can see from the pictures above, we were flabbergasted! We had so much fun with them and it was especially good for Henry to play with Finlay every day.

Bier schmeckt gut!

On Memorial weekend, we decided Henry was old enough to go to an authentic Austrian beer hall (Cafe Steinhof) to sample some spaetzle, wurst and good old fashioned beer. Ok, so he didn't try the beer but he sampled some spaetzle and didn't like them much. Bryan tried to teach him some German words and a good time was had by all. We have had lovely sunny weather of late and have been really enjoying the park and gardens. Henry loves to stand up and walk with our help. He still shows no interest in crawling! He definitely has a cheeky sense of humour and enjoys joking around at dinner and playtime. We have been going to the weekly "Babies and Books" classes at the local library where we learn new rhymes, songs and games to play. Henry has his own library card and we regularly check out books. He especially enjoys flap books and picture books with photos of other babies. Our builders are here right now fixing up his little room and we can't wait for it to be finished!

We have had terrific weather in the last few weeks and Henry has had a lot of fun enjoying the great outdoors. The Botanical Gardens are beautiful at the moment with bluebells, peonies and lilacs all in bloom. We can't believe it was this time last year when we were preparing for Henry's arrival! Henry is going to be crawling soon we can tell. He can pull up his legs and moves around on his blanket a lot- shuffling backwards and sideways. He also loves to roll around on the bed after his bath and has quite a strong kick when we try to change him! He is beginning to wave at objects and people, can clap well and points at animals in his books. His favourite thing to do is to stand up on the sofa and listen to music and walk with mummy or daddy's help.

Trip to Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Henry and I took the train to Lancaster last week to visit Sarah, Trey, Jack & Sophie. We had a brilliant time with all the family! Henry went to the Amish market with us, ate Swedish pancakes, went to his first Cinco de Mayo party and enjoyed playing with his big cousins. The weather was lovely so we went for some long walks with their dog Hobbes in the County Park too. Thanks to the Rathmells for making this trip so special!

Cold Spring Hike

Last week we took the train from Grand Central and went up to Cold Spring on the Hudson river for a day hike. Bryan and I have always loved hiking there and we were so excited to test out our new baby hiking carrier with Henry! He took to it really well and enjoyed the views from riding up high. We were hiking for about 5 hours, with a few stops for nappy changes, nursing and photos along the way. We were all very happy to be out of the city for the day and didn't come across too many other people on the trails which was great. We finished off the day by eating ice cream on the sidewalk in the sun, and even Henry joined in. We shall return again soon!