10 things about Henry

(This picture is almost a year old, but I like it. At the time, it was really something just to capture these two interacting at all. It is getting better now.)

Hmmmm. This will be a bit of a challenge, as I don't want to repeat things that you already know, like "Henry likes puzzles".

1. His middle name is Davies, which is also his father's middle name, his grandfather's middle name, and was his great-grandfather's middle name.

We mostly just picked the name Henry because we liked it, although my grandmother did have a brother named Henry.

2. Henry never really had a nickname until Thomas started calling him "bubba". That has kind of stuck with us now.

3. Henry loves to eat fruit. He hates to eat vegetables. He will eat a pound of grapes but will gag if you force him to eat one cube of carrot from the mixed vegetables.

He also likes to eat sausage links, pasta with tomato sauce, cereal with milk (but with his fingers- not with a spoon. Ugh.) He will not drink milk.

4. When he was small Henry used to like to watch the weather radar on tv.

5. Henry has always loved books. He has always loved to be read to and I just can hardly wait until he can read. I feel that day approaching and I know it will open a whole new world for him.

6. He has never had a successful haircut by a professional person. I (who have no skill whatsoever) have always cut his hair in the bathtub. Luckily he has those messy waves which hide my mistakes.

7. Henry likes to "help" me bake. He gets a chair to stand on and likes to talk about the recipe. Sometimes he'll stir a little.

8. Some of you have also said this about your children- Henry has a way of charming people and making them fall in love with him. It's very interesting that these autistic kids, who can be socially inept and unaware of others' feelings, have their own charm that is so irresistible.

9. At the zoo last week, Henry decided his new favorite animals are the reptiles. (Before that it was the "sea creatures".) We visited the reptile house once and then once more before we left. We stayed for the longest time, watching those snakes that don't really do much. I'm curious about why he found them so intriguing.

I had been wanting to set up an aquarium, but now I'm wondering if we should get a lizard or something. Are there some types that eat "lizard food"? Because I definitely don't want to have to keep crickets or mice in the house...

10. At age 9 mos., Henry tested allergic to cats and milk. When we had him tested again last spring, he tested allergic to NOTHING. And let me tell you, the testing process (holding him down to have his back pricked over and over) was not pleasant. I guess the resulting information was worth it.