18 Months Old.

Today Henry turns 18 months old and, according to our doctor, is the size of an average (50th percentile) three-year-old. Just let that sink in for a minute. Henry is the average size for someone twice his age. As you can imagine that means he is in 3T clothing. Since he was born we have gone through 8 sizes of clothing. Wow. This is obviously not surprising to anyone that knows our family. Height is on both sides (especially Nick's obviously) but to hear that he is the size of an average three-year-old really put it in perspective. 

Besides growing physically like a weed, he's learning and growing mentally everyday. We are amazed everyday at things he's picked up on that we haven't taught him. Like the other day he picked up a wrapper off the floor, walked to the trashcan, pulled it out, and threw it away. We'd never shown him that and he just did it. Just like you or I would. This made me think about all the things he learns just by watching. And it made me realize how much you teach by doing. We've gone over and over "where's your nose? show me your teeth!" and he responds to those cues often but not always. But he knows when I start to pack up my bag that the sitter is coming. He knows because he's watching everything we do. That is something that I need to remember. And that all parents need to remember. They won't learn only what you say and what you want them to, they will learn it all. They will learn it's okay to sit on your phone at dinner or yell at your spouse or say bad words. But they will also learn to hug and listen and laugh and eat ice cream for breakfast once in awhile. It's amazing how just him throwing away a piece of trash made me realize this. But I realized it. And I've adapted some actions because of it. I'm not perfect but I'll try to be the best I can for Henry.

Henry is amazing. He loves being outside, Elmo, his blanket, grapes, reading and eating at the table like a big boy. Below is my favorite recent picture. We were outside after we'd gone pumpkin picking and I just happened to snap it when he sat down along the fence. He's just the best.

HENRY JOSEPH MEYER

18 MONTHS

36.25in (100%)

28lbs (85%)

Happy Halloween!

Can't believe this is Henry's second Halloween. He's getting so big and this year even got a piece of candy! An Oh Henry! bar from his ZouZou and Pop K. This year he was a bat. It was a costume that my mom sent me from when my brother and I were kids. She sent me a bunch and this was the winner because it was the only one Henry would tolerate the head gear on. It turned out pretty cute. The pictures aren't great because getting a nearly 18 month old to slow down is rather hard these days, but you'll get the idea. Oh, and don't mind the runny nose...he got my cold. poor baby. Enjoy! 

Columbus Day Weekend

We had a busy Columbus Day weekend. It's nice because Nick has Monday off since we works with the government, so we always get to have a lot of family time.

This year we were so excited to take Henry to the pumpkin patch. It's something Nick and I have done for the past two years and although Henry went last year, we thought he'd really enjoy it this year. He loves to be outside and this was the perfect day to do so.

We usually get to go on Columbus Day because Nick and I are both off work, but this year I wasn't, we went the Sunday before. We weren't ready for all the crowds but had a great time anyway. Henry's favorite part was the tractor ride out to the patch. He wasn't as excited as we thought he would be when we got out there. The ground isn't especially easy for a 17-month-old to navigate and he wanted to be held a lot.

We still had a great time and got a few good pictures! Enjoy!

Picking out the perfect pumpkin!

This is it Mom!

Not loving be in the middle of the field.

Very important discussion going on.

On actual Columbus Day we went to the zoo. We got a pass for the year and every time we've gone Henry has enjoyed it a little more. He seems to enjoy the other kids more than the animals at times. It was a great three day weekend and we were blessed with nice weather and got outside a lot.

Why are you making me sit on this turtle?

Watching the polar bear with dad.

What you can't see here is that there is a semi-circle of people looking at the gorilla, so Henry walked right up so that he would be right in front of everyone. He thought this was hilarious. he hardly noticed the giant gorilla behind him. He clearly liked being the center of attention. 

Henry's First Tailgate

With my work schedule it is difficult to get back to Columbia as often as we would like for Missouri games. Over the past few years the Kirkwood/Mizzou Tailgate has become quite the event. Luckily for us, Mizzou played at IU this past weekend and since that's only 2 hours from Louisville, we got to go and take Henry. 

The weather was perfect and thanks to a good friend we got to make the trip up there earlier than anticipated because I found coverage for my soccer games. So after breakfast we loaded up and headed North. 

We had great weather and got to celebrate the Tigers with great family and friends. Henry had an amazing time. He got to run around, eat junk food and see his ZouZou and Pop K. We can't wait to do it again soon!

Henry and his ZouZou. He obviously couldn't be bothered to put down his drink.
It's a tailgate, remember?

Henry and Pop K.  

He thought sitting in this chair was just the best. We stuck Chex Mix in the the cup holder and thought he was just the coolest thing ever. Until of course five minutes later he jumped out, ran around and ate a handful of mud. Parents of the year right here.

Again, too busy eating to take a proper picture.
No wonder this 16 month old is already in 3T clothing. 

With Jason and Jessica Engelbrecht. I've known these for basically their whole lives. So great to have grown up with such good friends. I love spending my holidays with you guys.
Missed you B and Jimmy!

As we neared our limit the only thing that entertained Henry was playing in this cooler and eating the ice. Most likely he was trying to wash the mud taste out of his mouth. 

Delicious cookies at the mixed team tailgate. 

Henry Gets a Slide

Henry is lucky enough to have a grandpa that is an amazing woodworker. He made Henry's beautiful crib and this summer he added on to Henry's swing-set. A few weekends ago Nick, his dad, and sister put together this beautiful tower and slide. Henry loves it and absolutely cannot get enough. We are so happy that we could get this done. 

Nick and Jen working on the tower.

Feeling the power of the nail gun.

Watching the train from the new tower.

Sitting with dad and watching the train.

The finished project.

With Grandpa Meyer and the finished project.

Las Vegas

So, went to Vegas awhile back and I'm just now getting around to blogging about it. I was going to do a generic "Summer 2013" post but once I started talking about Vegas I realized too much happened to do that. So here we go...

At the end of June Nick and I headed out to Las Vegas for some sun and fun, oh and the National Athletic Trainer's Association Yearly Meeting. This was a trip we had been looking forward to for sometime. We had known it was going to be out for a couple years and had been planning the entire time to attend. Nick had never been to Vegas and I hadn't been since I was in high school. There was a lot we wanted to see and do but the things we wanted to make sure hit were Old Vegas (Freemont Street) and a show. 

On our second day we grabbed the bus with a couple of our friends and headed down to Old Vegas. The first stop was the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop from the History Channel's Pawn Stars. Overall the store was a lot smaller then we anticipated and smaller then it seems on TV. It was cool to walk around and see all the neat stuff they had. We'd just about made our way around when they announced that they were closing to film, so that was cool. Here's some pictures from the pawn shop:

Nick and me at the Gold and Silver Pawn shop.

One view of the pawn shop

Panoramic view of the pawn shop.

After that we headed to the older casinos to gamble and had a ton of fun. These tables were a lot less expensive and so Nick could play black jack longer and we could try more things. After we were done gambling our friends Matt and Sara decided to zip-line down the middle of the road that all the old casinos sit on. It was all a lot of fun and probably the best part of the trip for me. 

The zip lines and a view of the street and ceiling. 

           

 The next morning we went to a fantastic brunch buffet call the Wicked Spoon. It was in the Cosmopolitan Hotel and was so good. It was all individually plated items and everything was so good. I'd eat there again if I went back. Here's a picture in front of a really cool bar in the Cosmopolitan Hotel. 

 That night we headed out to the bar on top of our hotel. It had a great view of the strip but of course everything was insanely expensive. But it was fun to see the view and when you went to the bathroom you were even overlooking the strip from your stall. Weird but entertaining. 

From the bar at the top of our hotel.

So while on the West Coast we of COURSE had to to try In n Out burger. Nick had eaten before on trips out West with volleyball, I however had never had the experience. It was delicious. :) And we need some out here in the Midwest/South.

That night we bought tickets to go see David Copperfield and were not disappointed. It was an amazing show and is one that I would highly highly recommend to anyone. As my mom put it, it's just so Vegas. He was very very funny and is an amazing all-around entertainer. Since he doesn't really tour it's worth going to see him while you're out there. At dinner before I tried two beers that were off the beaten path for me. A wild blueberry and a banana bread. Both were SO good and I'd recommend to anyone. They weren't too strong and had just enough fruity flavor. Here's the beers and a picture of us after Copperfield. 

 Since it was our last night we decided to do a little walking around. We still needed a souviner for Henry (we had dumbly left the one we bought and other items sitting at a slot machine earlier in the day) and so we walked the strip a bit and ended up the Coke store. For under $10 you can sample different sodas from around the world. So as dorky as you may find it, that's what we did on Friday night in Vegas. We were exhausted from the week (it had been so hot) and this was something we couldn't do at home. Here's the sodas and labels that came with. The Beverly was the most disgusting. Most we finished but this one we barely sipped. 

Overall we had a ton of fun and I am so glad we were able to go. Thank you to my parents for watching Henry while we were gone. As much as were love him and were excited to get home, this wasn't a trip for a one year old.

Glad I finally found the time to blog about this. It was fun to look at all the pictures again and think about all we did.