4 Months Old

**Disclaimer! This info would be uninteresting to most, so feel free to skip all the words and jump to the pictures! I mostly just write all this up for myself, so I don't forget!**

Well, I am 3 days late on posting this, but better late than never, right?? Instead of lamenting over Henry being a whole 4 months old (which is my first inclination when writing this post!), I am going to reflect on how much FUN this age is! Henry is such a pleasant baby which makes him so enjoyable to be around. He rarely cries and loves to interact. He is a great sleeper and takes several good naps each day along with sleeping well through the night. He puts himself to sleep easily; I still swaddle him, although I know it will not last much longer. Our sleep routine is swaddle, stand and "sway" with him for a minute until he is drowsy, they lay him down in his crib to fall asleep on his own. It works like a charm! During the day, he usually has about 2 hours of awake time and then is ready to take a nap. At night, he is ready to go to bed at 8. This is his current schedule anyway!
Henry still eats well, and I feed him every 3 hours or so. I do not wait for him to get upset to eat...I try to curb any of that by just watching the clock and feed him at the 3 hour mark if possible. He has become a more efficient eater, which is awesome for me. Now it takes him about 10-15 minutes total to get a meal in whereas before it could take much longer! Lately, though, he has gone through a phase where some of his eating is not quite as focused and he wants to stop and look at me, smile at me, talk to me. I try not to interact with him too much so that he knows it is eating time and not playing time, but it is so cute and so hard to ignore, so sometimes we just go with it! I've gotta enjoy each moment, right? He also still takes a bottle well which is nice for those times when we need to be out and about and nursing is not as feasible. He has never spit up much at all, but has had a few times here lately where he has "lost it". It's not bad, but it has happened!
Henry is getting to be such a mover and a shaker...during his awake time he is kicking his legs, swinging his arms to get toys, and arching his back. He tolerates tummy time up to a point, but then is just done with it. He has not rolled from his tummy to his back yet, but I think he will soon. He has rolled from his side to his tummy and from his side to his back though. Henry has his hands in his mouth ALL the time. It is certainly an obsession right now. We are not sure if he is teething, just exploring, or using his hands as a paci or what. He just sucks on his knuckles, though, and has yet to really take to sucking a thumb or finger(s). He is also drooling all the time and sucks his bottom lip quite often!
My favorite thing about Henry right now is the way he is talking. He becomes more and more vocal each day, and he is getting louder! He squeals, gurgles, coos, and hums. Just this week he has started giggling some and it is precious! I love it....he has done it after I blow a "zurburt" on his belly and also after I tickle his sides. When he "talks" to us, he is so very expressive. He squints his eyes and really tells us all about it. My mom says that he, "Talks with his eyes"! Henry is watching everything now. He whips his head all around when I am holding him walking through the house to take everything in. I guess he is getting curious! He stares us down when we talk to him and listens and listens. He seems to have quite a bit of focus for a tiny little guy.
I asked Steven what highlights I should put in his 4 month post and he said, "He's really cute"....so, I guess that just about sums it up! Enjoy the cute pics below:) We love you, Henry, and think you are an awfully cute little guy. Thanks for keeping us entertained!

Sweet 4 month old babe.

Talking with his eyes!

Oh, hey, Bunky! Where have you been all month?

Saying a lot.

Starting to lean....

Timber!

Ah, much better!

There's that smile! Who are you pointing at, Henry?

Must eat my hands....

Must eat my hands....

MUST eat my hands....:)

Check out those chubby legs:)

You people sure do take a lot of pictures!

Week of 6/18

Okay, I know I should come up with more clever titles than just a date, but I figure it is probably time to stop with how many weeks old Henry is since he is about to hit a full 4 months this week, so a date it is! We had a good week despite the fact that on Tuesday Henry got what I think is his first cold, although it could also be early signs of teething. Jury is still out on that, and we may never know! He has been his normal sweet self and has not run a fever, but has been snotty (sorry for the details), sneezing and coughing. The worst day was Tuesday, so I skipped Bible study to stay home with him, but the runny nose has continued. The doc says there is nothing they can do for just a cold, so we will just have to wait it out. I know they can last a while and so can teething! Poor little guy-he has been a real trooper.
Henry also got completely out of his swaddle one night this week. Ugg! The dreaded event that everyone has warned me about! He is such an excellent sleeper, but does not do quite as well un-swaddled (he just rubs and rubs his face and can't stop!), so after trying him out of it for the rest of the night and then a nap, I decided to just swaddle tighter and hope it lasts even a few more weeks! I think this happened because the little guy is getting more active, and he's arching his back all the time and trying to move! I think it is only a matter of time before he starts to roll over.
He also has been really playing with his toys now...like in a much more intentional way. Before now, it has been an accident when he gets a toy in his mouth, but now we can see him took at a toy and concentrate on it when it is near him, move his hands toward it, grab it, and move it to his mouth...all really quickly! He certainly keeps us entertained.
We had a pretty uneventful week of just hanging out and spending time together! Enjoy the pics below...

On Monday night we went to dinner with small group to celebrate some June B-days. In the middle of eating, I looked over and Henry had fallen asleep just like this while Steven was holding him! Everyone died laughing, because he just looked so funny...we said he needed a remote control in one hand and a bag of potato chips in the other:)

Happy birthday Sarah and Karen!

Chloe is getting SO big!! I would watch out for that weird guy, too, Chloe.

We had another shady swim time this week, and Henry was much more active in the water. He kicked, splashed, and tried to stand.

He doesn't look like he is having fun, but I promise he was! He was just mesmerized by the water. :)

The pictures below are all of Henry playing with his toys in his crib. He was just so cute I couldn't stop taking pictures, then I couldn't decide which ones to add to the blog, so I just decided to add them all:) Each facial expression is special (in my humble, Momma loves her baby kind of way)!

 

These pictures are kind of the same situation...we were in the middle of a diaper change and, well, a naked baby is just really hard NOT to photograph! And, of course, I couldn't decide which ones NOT to include, so there you have it! I included them all.

His toys are getting more and more fun, and he is intentionally grabbing at them now when they dangle above him. Here he is concentrating on one....planning his attack I am sure.

We went to an ice cream social on Saturday....I only got a few pics, but at least I got a few! Alex is 8 months old.

Chillin'

Connor is showing me his cars sunglasses. Cool.

Netterville family!

16 Weeks Old

I am late on my blog posting for last week! We had an uneventful week at home-gotta love those! Over the weekend, we went to my family's cabin in Gadsden, AL and met my Mom and Henry's 3 cousins there. The cabin is a special place from my childhood, so I was excited to introduce Henry to such an important place to me! I hope you enjoy the pics below...our baby boy sure is growing.

Henry makes some serious bubbles lately, so I tried to capture that! He also has an obsession with chewing/sucking on his hands now. He always has his hands together or is busy doing something with them-even when he eats!

Henry wakes up super sweet almost all the time....he takes at least 2 great naps a day, sometimes more! :)

Again with the hand sucking obsession!

BIG stretcher!

Oh! There are his feet!

He got one! This has also been happening some lately, although I don't think it is intentional yet. I keep waiting to see him try to get his foot into his mouth.

I transitioned Henry out of his infant carrier/stroller combo and decided just to put him straight in the stroller. I don't know why I didn't do it sooner...he loves it and sits up in it great! I love to watch his little feet kick, kick, kick as we stroll. Here he is with his good ol' pup.

Close up! You can see the padding near his face is wet...he sucks on it constantly:) Look at those blue eyes!

Whole body shot-there are those cute little toes I mentioned!

Introducing Henry to the cabin...I think it was more special for me than him! It is a beautiful place, even if the cabin is less than desirable to sleep in and there are critters everywhere.....

And I mean everywhere! The girls were searching for frogs in the ivy and came upon this snake by accident (scary!!). I promptly took Henry inside while the rest of the crew shooed the snake out and, well, took care of him. Poor snake.

George and my mom...discussing fishing tackle? That George sure does love his fishing.

Showing Henry the pier and dock.

Maggie is in her element here....loving the water and outdoors. She will run off the end of the pier and catch quite a bit of air in pursuit of a stick.

This one is blurry, but I wanted to include it anyway! I think it was because Mary Ellen was rocking...Henry got lots of good "being held" time. His eyes are wide here!:)

With cousin Emma.

The girls kept Henry quite entertained. They loved to hear him coo and talk....he did a LOT of that!

He, he! I put Henry in his lake outfit for a bit...fishing hat, sleeveless shirt, and flip flops!

We were trying to keep this boy outta the sun!

~FAMILY~

George is growing so fast...just turned 12. He was born like 2 days after we graduated high school, so he is making me feel OLD these days!!

What cute girls! Mary Ellen is 8 and Emma is 10 (and a half!!)

We had a super time at the cabin, but were glad to get back to our clean, nicely air conditioned house! We took naps on Father's day and went to dinner at Outback per Steven's request. He had played golf on Saturday in Gadsden as his gift, and here he is with a card made by Henry and some white chocolate, too! Happy Father's day to the best Daddy around! Henry and I love you, Steven, and appreciate all you do for us. You are the best.