Henry's First Solid Food

At five and a half months, Henry has reached another milestone - today he ate solid food for the first time.

Though solid is a bit of a misnomer, as I've had tomato soups with more structural integrity than his rice cereal: one part powder to three parts liquid.

Pics below are from the second feeding of the day, where Henry is starting to get the hang of the experience, if not yet actually enjoying it.

Halloween

Seriously, who has the time to actually write posts anymore?

Mom and Dad and Henry on Halloween night:

Henry at his first Halloween party (at least, his first "kids" Halloween party):

Prepare yourself for, perhaps, the cutest photo of Henry yet:

A Day at the Pumpkin Patch

Late pictures from the day we spent at the Pumpkin Patch a few weeks ago. I'll keep the verbosity to a minimum (It was a farm, with lots of farm...stuff? That's really about all I could say.) and get straight to the pictures.

Dad and Henry's first time in a corn maze. Little known fact: even corn mazes get boring after a while.

Seriously, more corn? Whatever.

Lots of good pictures at the actual pumpkin patch.

Mom was more concerned with getting a picture than getting this mutant soul-sucking monster off of my back:

Henry and Dad chill on the hay ride back.

A Day at the Museum

Who knew? September 27th was National Museum Day, and the Carnegie Museums participated. Total Culbertson family savings: 30 bucks! That's practically a case of beer (Dad buys expensive beer).

It was our first opportunity to see the recently redone dinosaur exhibit. Not only is it really beautiful, its as educational (museums educational? - news at 11:00!) as you want it to be: if you just want to walk through and look at the reconstructed skeletons, you'll be happy. On the other hand, if you have the time and inclination to use the interactive exhibits, you'll be rewarded with a great deal of pretty cool information. Henry is on the far side of the first category (and Mom might have an even shorter attention span), so I didn't get to dig very deep, but I did get to watch one cool little video about how paleontologist use the shape of the bones in the legs to figure out the gait. It would be cool to go back and spend some time exploring.

Henry, mildly amused

One of the coolest things about the refurb is how well it uses the space. The exhibit butts up against the Carnegie Library, and the windows of the library offer an unobstructed view onto the exhibit.

For the record, Henry made it through about half the museum - but that's still better than Mom usually does.

Mom, Dad, and Henry

First Night Out

Warning, this post contains no pictures of Henry.

A friend and co-worker (same person!) invited us to his wedding, so Mom and Dad had an opportunity to go out on our own. We've been out without Henry a few times previous, to see a movie or have dinner, but this was the first outing of any real consequence. It was an especially big deal for Mom, because while Dad is forced to spend 8 or 9 hours a day with his nose to the grindstone, she's never really spent that much time away from the little tyke.

The ceremony was nice, but the reception, held at the Green Gables Restaurant, was simply amazing. The restaurant and surrounding lands were simply beautiful, featuring a rustic building paired with a perfectly manicured lakefront lawn. Besides being beautiful everywhere you looked, the food was delicious, and the open bar was...open.

Though the only people we had more than a passing acquaintance with were coworkers, it was no problem because Bon and I generally get along really well with all of them. In short, we had a really great time.

'Tis the Season

Are you ready for some football?

In one of the defining events of any child growing up in the 'Burgh, Henry watched his first Steelers game.

Henry managed to grip the terrible towel, but he's going to need some more practice before he's able to twirl it correctly. He did get in on the touchdown celebrations though - during each touchdown Dad would jump around the room singing the touchdown song, and help Henry pump his fist into the air.

The Blessing and Curse of the Baby Bjorn

Since before Henry was born Mom and I have shared a vision of how he and I would interact during his first few months. We knew that he'd be building a strong bond with his Mom, and that we would need to set aside activities that Henry would associate with his Dad. One idea was to use the Baby Bjorn, a front-carrier that's all the rage these days.

I had this vision that the Bjorn would be the sole province of Dad, and that Henry and I would use the Baby Bjorn all the time. (Secretly, I hoped that I could use it to play video games while he slept.)

Henry does love his Bjorn...


...and he often falls asleep in it...


...but he only sleeps as long as he's moving, so you've got to keep walking. And, to be honest, he prefers that you have a little bounce to your walk, so you'd best hop to it.

Also, it turns out that he now only likes his Bjorn; Now that he's used to seeing the world when he's out and about, he's spoiled, and neither Mom nor Dad can get him to stay in his stroller.

Daily walks in the Bjorn are now required.