7 Months

Sweet Henry turned 7 months yesterday!  This past month has absolutely flown by due to a mixture of colds, family time and Christmas (more on this later).  Henry is such a joy to be around, and we are so lucky to have him.  It makes us so proud when people comment on what a happy and smiley baby we have. 

This month has been all about our sitting skills.  Henry really has this whole sitting thing down, which I think is the greatest.  Its so fun just to sit him down and watch him play with his toys.  It gives him so much more freedom, thus giving me a little more freedom too!  Happy birthday sweet Henry!

Beauty Sleep

Now that Henry sleeps on his tummy, he likes to sleep face down.  He uses his hands as a buffer between his face and the mattress.  It drives Ryan and me crazy to see him sleeping like that.  I cannot tell you how many times we have tip-toed into Henry's room to check on him these past two weeks.  This is how Henry often looks when he wakes up:

Hello Santa

We took Henry to meet Santa last week.  The place where I get my hair cut had a Christmas party, and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for Henry and Santa to meet.  The idea of taking Henry to the mall and exposing him to all kinds of germs didn't appeal to me.  And in all honesty, if the mall was the only option for us, it probably wouldn't have happened for us this year.  So I decided that we would stop by for a quick visit.  Henry did great - I think he was trying to show Santa what a good boy he has been these past 6+ months.

*my only complaint is that Santa reminded me more of Kenny Rogers than an actual Santa*

This is how we roll - Part Two

On Saturday (specifically, during the UNC-Kentucky game), Henry rolled over from his back to his tummy.  A victory for all!  Since then, the little guy rolls over just about every time he is in his crib.  And now he will roll over during our playtime in the sun room.  He has yet to figure out how to roll back over.  Well, I take that back.  He can roll from tummy to back, but he chooses not to.  As an added bonus, Henry sleeps on his tummy now that he has discovered this new trick.  I think this is going to be a wonderful change for us all.

And, of course, I had to take some pictures:

6 Months

Henry turned 6 months on Sunday.  6 months down, 6 months to go until we have a toddler running (maybe) around the house.  We had his dr. appointment today and here are his stats:

17 pounds, 8 ounces (50%) - I was really surprised by this because Henry feels as heavy as a load of bricks to me.
27 inches (75%) - that's my big boy!

It is amazing to think that just 6 months ago he was 10 pounds lighter and 5.5 inches shorter.  Teeny-tiny Henry!

Well, if we could sum up this month in just one word, it would be "toes".  Henry ADORES his toes.  Absolutely loves them.  They are fun to hold, fun to look at, and really fun to chew on.  We hold/suck on our toes during diaper changes, when we practice sitting, when we are going to sleep, when we wake up from naps/bedtime, during feedings, during bathtime, during doctor appointments, etc., etc.

We are also working on sitting.  Henry can sit pretty well (as long as he holds his toes).  He is able to stay sitting for 3-5 minutes, as long as something/someone distracts him.  He will fight it sometimes (well, often) and throw himself backwards.  So I make sure I'm right behind him while we practice.

Henry is also starting to show preferences for toys, namely Sophie the Giraffe and an elephant-shaped rattle.  Just about everything else gets the cold shoulder when those two are around.  Therefore, they go with us everywhere.  I should probably get backups in case we lose one...

Henry also had his first cold in November.  And I am very proud of myself for not acting like a worrywart.  He did great, which is probably why I didn't overreact.  The cold really messed up all the progress we made with his sleeping, but we are slowly getting back to normal.  One good thing about the cold is that Henry no longer takes a pacifier.  He was never really attached to it, but he wont even suck on one anymore.  He still likes to chew on it and to practice popping it in and out of his mouth.

As I mentioned in the previous post, Henry has finally gotten a taste for the good stuff - real food.  So far we have had sweet potatoes, bananas and butternut squash.  I'm currently making my own babyfood, which has been really easy so far (but we'll see how long that lasts...).  We have been so proud of Henry for how well he is eating.  He doesn't exactly love sweet potatoes, but he still eats them.  And bananas and butternut squash have been a huge hit.

Henry and Sophie

Sitting Pretty

Thanksgiving

Henry at the Christmas Parade.  Notice his excitement??

Adventures in Solids - Part Two

We thought Thanksgiving Day would be the perfect day to introduce Henry to real food.  And what could be better than sweet potatoes - who doesn't love sweet potatoes?  I carefully and lovingly prepared Henry's sweet potato Thanksgiving meal the night before.  Nice, big organic sweet potatoes.  They looked so yummy and delicious, and I just knew they would be a hit with Henry.

So after his bottle on Thanksgiving morning, we stripped Henry down to his diaper so he could really get into his sweet potatoes - what I thought would be a momentous introduction to the world of "real" food.  Well, the sweet potatoes were not the hit I was hoping they would be.  I'd put a bite in his mouth, and it would fall right out.  Over and over again.  We tried everything - a change in food temperature, adding formula, etc.  But I would put a bite right in, and it would fall right out.  You would have thought I was trying to feed Henry dirt.  At least our pictures looked good!

*** We've now had sweet potatoes at breakfast for three days in a row.  Henry will eat them, but he wears a look on his face of pure torture.  Its kind of the same look I wear whenever I am forced to eat peas...



Farmer Henry

Just because Henry has had a cold this week doesn't mean he has slacked off on his duties.

He must still feed the farm animals:

And he must still tend his crops:

No rest for the weary around here.  No sir.

Big Day Today

Henry had a big day today...

1)  He rolled over TWICE this morning!  Once for Mommy and then again for Daddy.

2)  He finally figured out how to pull down that pesky bird toy that has been hanging on his car seat.

3)  He discovered toes are delicious.

And all this occurred before lunchtime.  Ryan and I were the most excited about his rolling over, but Henry (I think) really enjoyed his new toe discovery.

Toes!

About a week ago or so, Henry discovered that feet are pretty awesome.  It makes diaper changes a bit more challenging, but oh so cute!

Happy Halloween!!

I'm not one of those people who normally dresses their pets.  But how could I resist putting Bea in a bumblebee costume for Halloween??  She has been a bumblebee every Halloween, and the kids love seeing her when they come to our door.  So last year I decided that the baby would also be a bumblebee so that he/she would have matching outfits!  Sadly, getting Henry and Bea to pose for the camera together was impossible, but we got some pretty cute shots anyway!

*Do you have any idea how hard it was to find a bumblebee outfit for Henry that didn't make him look like a girl?  Can't boys be bumblebees too?*

5 Months

Henry is five months old today!  And boy have we had a lot of firsts this month - our first trip to the mountains, our first stroll in our big boy stroller, our first taste of solids, and our first time sleeping through the night (twice now!!).  Here are a few more things about Henry:

He wants to put EVERYTHING in his mouth.  If its not a paci, a toy, blanket, his shirt, his hands or my shoulder, then he is probably sleeping.  It doesn't matter how big it is either - Henry will try to chew on it.  This is pretty much how we play everyday:

Nap time.  Henry can be such a great napper.  However, this was when we swaddled him and plopped him in his swing.  He could sleep for hours if I'd let him.  But starting this week, I've been putting Henry down for naps in his crib.  He will fall asleep after a few moments of fussing.  Unfortunately, these naps do not last long - usually about 30-40 minutes.  I am hoping that Henry will start stretching them out soon.  I miss those long naps already!

 

That was a GREAT nap!

Bedtime.  Thank goodness for the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.  Henry has become such a rock star this month when it comes to nighttime sleeping.  At the beginning of the month, he was still waking up every couple of hours.  Ryan or I would stumble, sleepy-eyed into his room and try to get him back to sleep (and try really hard not to resort to putting him in his swing).  Lately, Henry has really gotten the hang of this whole sleeping in the crib idea.  For the past few weeks, Henry has gone stretches of 8-10 hours, and has even slept through the night twice now!  Love it!

 

Tummy time and rolling over. Henry has gotten much better about tummy time. He might even enjoy it sometimes. Henry isn't anxious to roll over any time soon, however. And why should he when Mommy and Daddy will take him anywhere he wants to go? I have a feeling it will be a while before we have a little mover on our hands.

Talking.  Henry has become such a little chatterbox - and a very loud one at that.  We have some serious, and not so serious, conversations daily.  We don't know what each other is saying (yet), but we enjoy our chats.

Silly Henry.  We love seeing Henry's personality come out more and more each day.  He is such a funny little man.  He makes me laugh and do silly things all the time.  He is all smiles and squeaky noises.  We are just crazy over the little guy he is becoming.



Baby Pumpkin with a baby  pumpkin

 

Big boy stroller!

Slept Through the Night

Guess who slept through the night...

THIS GUY!



Now, we are realistic and know that this probably wont happen every night from now on (and probably won't happen again for a while).  BUT, just knowing that Henry can sleep through the night makes us so happy.  What a big boy!

Adventures in Solids

Since Henry is almost 5 months and since he stares me down whenever I eat, we thought that Henry should try some rice cereal this morning.  I also want to gradually get Henry used to eating solids so that he will be completely ready for the good stuff at 6 months.  So after his bottle this morning, I whipped up a small bowl of rice cereal that looked about as appetizing as cardboard.  Apparently, Henry had the same thought.