16 months!

This month was a big one for Henry. He spent 2 weeks with his Aunt Heather, Uncle Jimmy, and 3 cousins in Kentucky while we went to Europe. He did awesome with them and had lots of fun going to the ball park, the swimming pool, the library's bouncing baby story time, a baby play date that Heather hosts, and so much more! We stayed in daily contact, and even got to Face Time most days. We missed him so much, but knowing he was in such great hands made it easier. He was happy every time we saw him.

It will be a special memory for them all! This update will be short, but here are a few notes on what is happening in Henry's world these days.
 
We moved him to forward facing in his car seat. I was going to wait longer, but the main reason is that it has been so hot and when I was pulling him out of his rear facing one after errands, he was just so sweaty, and I felt so bad for him! He gets more air in the forward facing one and seems to really like it. The only think I don't like about it is that when he falls asleep he has a hard time getting his head in a comfy position (ends up falling forward) and also his toys are not as easy to keep a hold of-before if he dropped something it was just in his seat somewhere and he could get it again, whereas now it is on the floor. He is loving listening to music in the car, though, and this keeps him very preoccupied. He tries to sing along and when a song is over he asks for more and signs please until another one comes on.
Figured out how to open toilet and put hands in. Yuck!!
His vocabulary has really exploded this month (probably due to being surrounded by cousins for 2 wks), and I am sure this will continue. He is saying: diaper, poo poo, hello, nose, ears, eyes (sounds like "ice"), "oosh"-for shoes, neigh, goldfish, apple, book, more, please, thank you (way to go Kaia! you taught him this!), splash, cracker, dance, light, hat, bye-bye, Layna, Aunt Mae, wee, yay, and is even putting 2 words together like "more cracker" and "baby hat" when looking at a pic of himself wearing a hat. He will try to repeat many words we say, and I love his willingness because it means we get to hear that sweet voice! He loves to point out eyes and nose all the time. He does it to us and to other people, but he also does it when we are reading books or playing with stuffed animals or Maggie. He will point to their eyes/nose and say "ice"/"nose", then look up at me and nod his head as if to say, "right, mama?" I am sure there are more words I have forgotten, but you get the gist. Big boy!
Speaking of diaper and poo poo, both Heather and his Grandma Diana said Henry said poo poo and when they went to change his diaper, he was right! This only happened 3-4 times, and he has not done it with me, but I thought it was pretty interesting! Maybe we will have an early potty-ier.
Wants to use a spoon and feed himself. This poses quite a challenge. I hate the mess but also hate not to let him since he is trying to learn an important skill! He's even using food as utensils-he was stabbing his pretzel into his cheese toast the other day and bringing it to his mouth to eat it off the pretzel stick. I guess he likes the challenge!
Eating is still hit or miss. He eats well about every 3 days. He has started really liking raisins and holds the little box and feeds them to himself. He has also become a BIG fan of cereal like we eat, so breakfast for him is Cheerios in milk. He will eat a lot of this! He's also eating freeze dried fruit, so that is a nice easy thing to carry around and offer him. Likes quesadillas and animal crackers!
Henry has SO many teeth. I am not even sure how many myself, but it seems like a full mouth full! Maybe 12-14? His side molars have come in, so that's making him look so big!
Can climb up on lower sofas and chair in our room. Once he's on these he sits up there like a big boy. He also pulls out the the dining room chairs. Stands up once he's in them and tries to get on the table. Oh, boy! We are in for it!
Henry plays with his toys for a bit, but then he's done and is on to much more interesting things in the house like what is on the end tables or the floor...he always has some "treasure" in his hand that he's walking around with...very random stuff like a battery, crumpled up paper, writing utensil, a wipe...there's no telling what else. Luckily he is not big into putting stuff in his mouth, but he clinches down hard on whatever he has and does not like it being taken away.:)
One thing he LOVES to do is "art". He loves having a pencil/crayon and draws lines on paper with it. He also puts the lid on and off of his writing utensil over and over. If he is allowed to be free with this (I have learned the best place for "art" is in the high chair), he will lay on his belly on the floor with his legs up in the air and just work and work. It is so cute. He seems so little to be doing this kind of thing to me!
He is down to 1 nap a day. I think he could still do 2, and we may still resort to that some, but 1 is actually really nice. I get a bigger chunk of time to get some stuff accomplished around here, and I can plan my errands, etc. more efficiently. My goal is nap at 12:30 (this works perfectly with my school schedule next year), but sometimes it is closer to noon. He sleeps anywhere from 2.5-3.5 hrs. Very nice, and he waked up happy. With 2 naps, sometimes he was fussy when he woke up, but so far we have not had that issue with 1 nap.
The summertime weather has brought on lots of water play, and this has been so much fun for Henry. He throws caution to the wind, and is a splasher and a player in the water. Once he gets warmed up, he likes to put his face in the water and does not seem to mind getting it very submerged! This makes me a bit nervous, but I also know it is a good thing that he is not afraid. Sometimes fear can be a good thing, though, because I feel like he has no sense of self-preservation!
Well, there's so much more, but I better stop. Overall right now I would describe Henry is busy, silly, and sweet. We love you, baby boy! You are growing so fast!

15 Months!

 Below are some random ramblings about Henry's 15th month which he turned on 5/26! I am just a few days late....trying to get better at this!

On 5/29, at the 15 month check up, Henry's stats were:
height-32in, 75%
weight-22lbs3oz, 40%
head circumference-41.5in, 75%

After Zorios visit (the weekend of 4/26) Henry really started walking, noticed transition the week after my bday that he was walking more than crawling. Big walker at Bridge Street! Now tries to "run" through the yard....so funny as he gets tripped up and tries over and over. He has the biggest smile on his face while he does this. So, Henry took his first steps the day before he turned 13 months, but 14 months is truly when he started walking. Steven and I love to see him walking around. He's a "little person" all the more when we see this! It's funny to see him making himself at home by walking into his room, playing for a bit, then walking into the playroom and doing the same...I guess we really get to see that personality come out all the more now!:)
Persistent ear infections caused us to go with tubes in hopes of preventing more. He had surgery 5/28/13 and did great. He charmed everyone before, and was disoriented and crying afterward, but perked up in the car pretty quickly. If this enables him to be healthy, it will be well worth it. He just hasn't been able to kick those ear infections with the help of antibiotic alone, poor guy, and has an almost constant runny nose, too.
First overnight at Grandpa's on 5/10. Did great. Overnight again at Papa/Manar's (with cousins) on 5/25 and did great again! We are leaving him for 2 weeks in June, so it was high time we had a trial run or two.
Emptying AND refilling finally!! Loves to put things in baskets, buckets, etc. then dump them out again. I thought this might never come! :) He mastered the dumping technique long ago, but I wasn't sure he'd ever refill! We DID put locks on the kitchen cabinets finally b/c the mess was driving me nuts, and with now being out for summer break I didn't want to spend my whole summer cleaning kitchen utensils up from around the house! I didn't think I would have to do this, but never say never! There's just no way to block off our kitchen, so he had constant access.
In addition to the previous list, he is saying "night night" (nigh nigh), "ball" (no l on end), "go go", "papa" (bapa), "baby" (bebe), "nana' for banana and "cracker" and even imitating sounds like "oops", "whoa", "ahh" when we say them. Said "no no" and "ma ma" right together the other night...a sentence? He says mama and dada all the time...especially when he is riding in his car seat. Steven says he says mama like a little French boy:)
He went through a phase this month of humming, or trying to hum. It cracked us up, because it is really random and off key, but it is a hum indeed:)
Big splasher in tub. Lays on belly and kicks feet, puts mouth in water and blows. Still blows his nose...it is so funny to watch. He actually does a pretty good job with it, and it is a convenient skill for him to know!
Such a ham when we're out. Very social-smiles and waves at everyone. Makes friends with waiter, people in line, etc.
Such a dancer! When he's in the mood, he raises his hands in the air and shakes his hips! Loves to shake his head left and right really fast and move his hair all around:) It must tickle, and he grins and grins. Speaking of, the boy has some hair! He has had 3 or 4 trims here and needs another one even now. Hopefully we won't botch it too badly! Eventually we might have to go to a real place, but we are seriously going to have to budget for that at the rate at which it grows!We don't even go get real haircuts ourselves!
Loves broom and cords...loves to carry Maggie's leash (no dog attached) all around the house. Outside is his favorite place to be. He begs to go out, and when I go to open the door he squeals and kicks his feet. He likes to get in the flower beds and sit amongst the bushes, then just play with whatever he can get his hands on-namely mulch and rocks. He hands me whatever he has ("shares") over and over. 
Might be a lefty? I have been watching his hand preferences for a long time now, and he is pretty consistent with his left. That'd be different! It is probably too early to tell, but just an observation. I don't even know when hand dominance is "established", so I may be jumping the gun.
He is trying to combine his two naps I think. His longer nap ends up being in the morning (2 plus hours) then he is either taking a 45min-1hr afternoon nap or sometimes none at all, but will just play and talk in his crib. This summer I will be working on combining it to one (hopefully long!) nap. He knows his routine so well and lays his head down on my shoulder as soon as we walk into his dim room around nap time.
At night we read books before bed and it is such a sweet time! He is very willing to "talk" during this time. One book has a red car on one page and he says "vroom" for it, and the opposite page has a red apple. He says "MmmmMmmm" for this page and brings it to his mouth like he is eating it. He also says "meow" for kitty cat, pants for dog and also attempts a "ruff ruff". For the puppy farm animal page, he pants, barks, and them pulls the book up to hug over and over. He is certainly a dog fan! He also is really into his glowworm before bed now, and hugs it and smiles so big as each song comes on.This is our sweet cuddle time.
Henry knows where his (and others') nose and mouth are.
Eating seems about the same. He is finicky and opinionated, but has his certain things he'll eat pretty consistently. I am so thankful for those fruit/veggie pouches, because he will always take those and they are at least nutrition I know he's getting. Plus, they are so convenient and mess free. He has transitioned from baby "mush" to real oatmeal with milk and a whole squished up banana in it for breakfast. When we are about to give Henry something hot to eat, we blow on it first to cool it down. He quickly picked up on this and now blows, too. Whether it is hot or not:)

13 Months!

I love this age! Henry is super fun and busy, busy! Some of the highlights of this month are....

-Eating is going MUCH better! He now eats cheese (sticks), crackers, sometimes meat, mandarin oranges, black beans, rice, baby cereal bars, noodles, cheese toast.........among other things. Notice that veggies are not high on the list. Sigh. We will continue to try. He loves anything in a pouch.
-He is a pro at his sippy cup finally, but drops it on the ground EVERY time when he is done with it. I still nurse him one time before bed.
-He tested positive for an egg allergy. He's suppose to avoid eggs altogether (cooked in things, too) for a year and be retested in hopes that strict avoidance will give him the best chance of outgrowing it. So far it hasn't been too bad.

-He took an "official" step last night (3/25)...only with his right foot though! He did it several times and made a circle. It was funny! He was pivoting on that right foot. Once he did make a "shuffle" with his left foot after stepping with his right, so I guess that can be considered as true steps:)
-Then tonight, on his 13 month b-bday, he took "true" steps: standing on his own in front of Steven. Steven said "come here!" and he took 2 steps toward him!
-He is pushing around a walking toy now! He's been doing this for a couple of weeks and is getting more and more steady with it. He is very proud when he does this and grins and grins.
-He loves anything to do with a ball and stick (or anything resembling a stick). He will toss us the ball and we will toss it back. He love to play this. He loves to wield any kind of "stick" around like a wand or a light saber or something.
-He loves to share things....his food, his toys, anything. He extends whatever is in his hand to us to take, and if it is food and we eat it or pretend to eat it, he thinks it is hilarious! 
-Henry is starting to blow kisses. He puts his his hand to his mouth, and we pull it away. He grins and grins! He still gives real kisses, too.
-He gives high fives. His claps are still my fave, though.
-He waves "bye-bye" and "hi". He does this when I just say the words or when we are walking out of a room.
-He loves to put hats (or toys or bowls) on his head. He does it over and over once he starts and is such a ham.

 
-He still just signs more and all done. I have tried "up please" a little, but need to be more consistent. His more sign has gotten more "correct"...it used to just be a clap, but now it is the actual fingers on each hand joined and both hands brought together.
-He says the same words as at 12 months....dada, mama, quack, dog, uh-oh (so much!) and sometimes I think he says "this" when he points at something if he wants to go toward it.
-He has a new "groove" when he dances now. It used to be an up and down kind of motion with the knees and now it is like a side to side hip motion. So funny. Anytime he hears music, he will unprompted start grooving.
-He love to get INTO things now-literally. He crawls into his toy bin, his john deere gator, the cabinets in the kitchen and the bathroom. I have a wrapping paper tupperware that I was working on, and I turned around for a minute and when I turned back again he was sitting in it. He, he!

We can't wait for the next month with you, Henry! You're a sweetie!

Come One, Come All!

Three weeks after the fact....I am posting Henry's First Birthday Celebration pictures! I must admit that it turned out better than I could have hoped! I think I picked up the first circus themed item for Henry's party when I was pregnant with him...the cutest little clown cupcake toppers! I loved the idea of such a classic theme for a birthday celebration, plus I guess my way of coping with my baby turning one was to throw all of my focus into having a fun circus-themed party to celebrate! We had a great time, and I loved commemorating his first birthday. It will be a celebration we will always remember.

So, it's not every grand kid who has a clown for a grandma! Steven's mom did a clown ministry when he was just a baby, and she has kept the stuff for all these years...so, of course I wanted to solicit her "hidden talents" for Henry's shin-dig. She made Steven this clown outfit 30 years ago, and so we HAD to put Henry in it on the day of his party! I am not sure the pictures translate (he was ready for nap time), but he looked absolutely adorable in it!!

Aunt Heather (kid bday party planner extraordinaire) and Layna came a day early to help set up the party and to help Henry play hookie from school on Friday! You can't see it here, but it actually SNOWED the whole day of the party. It was kinda cool to look outside and see it coming down. It was a good excuse to all be inside celebrating. The party crowd was welcomed by a "Happy Birthday" banner...

A "Come one come all, It's Henry's first birthday!" sign...

And a "Step right up" wreath!

The mantle inside had a banner of Henry's monthly picture (including Bunky) and his "favorite things" were on display.

While I found this idea on pinterest and started it with great gusto, I lost steam and Aunt Heather and Steven had to pick up the slack. I'm so glad they did, because it was my favorite detail of the party!

These are the little details that will help me remember my little man at this age.

The party started at 11:00, so we had lunch for everyone. I tried to go circus themed with this, too, and it turned out great!

We had a dessert table complete with cake pops, cupcakes (with those clown toppers that started it all!), circus peanuts (yuck!), turquoise blue M&Ms, and swirled "lollipop" sugar cookies (another pinterst idea). There was plenty of sugar to go around!

We had hotdogs, popcorn, peanuts, nachos, and funfetti dip with animal crackers, too!

Before the crowd arrived, we had Henry meet his grandma all dressed up like a clown! He was a little unsure, but I think it was mostly because he was ready for his nap.

Here he is checking her out! :)

Grandma's talents continue to amaze us...she can make awesome animal balloons AND paint faces! The kids loved it!

My mom and sis-in-law and Henry's three cousins came from TN for the party. Here is Mary Ellen with grandma!

Here are the four grand kids with the clown!

Henry's best school bud Braeden came to his party! His mom Alicia and I teach together, and it is so much fun to watch these 2 boys grow up together. It was really sweet of them to come to Henry's party.

This is how I walk in on them every day at school nursery...two partners in crime! It is no different outside of school I guess!

I set up a "photo booth" to get a picture of everyone at the party. Here is my mom, Marie, Emma, and Mary Ellen. George was at the party, but he is too cool for stuff like this:) Oh, tweenagers! I am SO mad that I did not put Henry in a picture with them, but he was busy playing I think!

Our wonderful church small group friends Jeremy and Sarah (you know they are true friends when the choose to come to a one year old's bday party on their Saturday!). It's neat that they visited us in the hospital when Henry was born, have seen him weekly for his first year of life when we meet for small group, and are now at his first birthday party!

Here's our wonderful Kentucky family who drove all the way down just to help us celebrate. I know they wouldn't miss it. Henry is a BIG deal at their house.:) So sweet!

Cousin Camden with little cuz Henry...this is probably the best pic of Henry's shirt (and it's pretty cute of the boys, too)! I'm not exactly sure where his pants are (!), but grandma is a jack of many trades and whipped this up the night before the party for him. I was going to get one made for him, but the lady had to back out at the last minute, so grandma really came through, and I honestly think I love it more than anything else that could have been made! Simplicity is super in my book!

My amazing, super, wonderful neighbor Robin (who does me too many favors to name) and her 20 month old Bennett who is also one of Henry's best buds! I love watching them interact-so cute!

Our other wonderful small group friends Karen with kiddos Connor and Chloe.

David and Blair are friends of ours through Steven's company. We have hung out with them on and off for the last 5 (has it really been that long!!) years, and they had their little boy Clark just a few months after Henry was born. It will be neat to watch them grow together!

Elizabeth and Lyle are our friends from across the street!

Our church friends the Andrews.  I love the faces in this picture!

Henry's friend Juliet (just a week younger than Henry!) with my church friend Ashley and big sister Bella!

Our neighbors the Chris and Jenn with their son Ethan who is 3 weeks older than Henry! We are looking forward to some summer play dates with these guys!

Grandpa and Peggy came from TN to celebrate, too.

 

 

 

 

Don't be fooled. This is just him eating a Cheerio. No cake for him! The cute smash cake that Aunt Heather made for Henry remained un-smashed. We even put his finger in the frosting and put it in his mouth, and he just fussed. I think he wanted out of his highchair! I wish I had gotten a picture of the crowd from where we stood. Everyone gathered around to sing to Henry, and it was so sweet to see all the family and friends who came to help us celebrate our little guy.

I probably took 20 pictures of Juliet and Henry playing, but they were too busy to BOTH look at the camera at the same time! This is the best I could do...pretty cute of them looking at each other, though!:)I wonder what they are saying to each other in baby language?

When I realized how large our crowd was going to be and that we could not go outside, I decided it would be smart to use the garage for extra space. We set up some space heaters, chairs, and games in there. Here is Aunt Heather, Layna, Grandpa, and Peggy in the garage.

In the garage we had ring toss (seen here), a duck pond, one corn hole board, pin drop, and another bag toss game. Plus we put the riding toys out there. The kids seemed to have a fun time!

Also in the garage we had a cotton candy maker! Uncle Jimmy is the owner and sole operator of the machine. Thanks, Uncle Jimmy!

Cousin Kaia took care of the duck pond for us! We put all the cousins to work out there I think!

We asked for no gifts from friends, so once they all left we opened some family presents. Here Henry is with both of his grandmas.

Grandpa gave Henry this awesome John Deere gator which he loves (if you can't tell by the look on his face!).

One more picture of our cute little one year old clown.

And one  more of our little family. Happy first birthday, Henry. We love you so much!

12 Months Old!!

Our sweet boy is officially not a baby any longer! On February 26, 2013 Henry turned ONE! This year has been one of firsts and it has truly flown by. On his birthday, we went to school like normal except Henry wore his bday shirt and use his bday bib while eating and got lots of attention! I also gave my students pixie sticks in celebration. They have been SO excited about Henry turning one! That afternoon we opened cards and his gifts from us, then went to Chick-fil-A where it happened to be kids eat free night, so Henry got his first kids meal. He ate like one fry, spit out the chicken, but sucked down the applesauce pouch and took his milk from the straw like a dropper:) He thinks that's so fun. He got lots of phone calls, texts, and face time calls, too, from family. Everyone remembered his special day! I attempted to take his 12 month photos, but it it just getting harder and harder to do! He moves way too much. I will put what I got below, but I don't think they do him justice!:)
I will attempt to be brief on all his current details, but it is difficult!
 

Stats: As of 2/28
Height: 29 3/4 inches=50%
Weight: 20lbs4oz=35%
Head Circumference: 75%

Sleeping-Same! Great! Sleeps through the night, wakes at about 6 or 6:30, naps at 9:30 for anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 hrs then naps again around 2:30 for another 1.5-2 hrs. He sleeps with a sound machine and rolls around in his bed on his own before falling asleep. I sway him some, but he usually just needs to do it on his own.

Eating-Well, this is still an interesting game. I have just recently cut out all but 2 feedings and introduced whole milk in a sippy for those feedings instead, and it has gone way better than I expected. Weaning him has been more sentimental for me than I thought it would be. I will miss those times with him, but I am also ready for the next phase of being able to leave him for a night, etc. That being said, I think that cutting back on his feedings has helped his appetite some. He is still a picky eater, and yogurt, cheerios, and any fruit or fruit/veggie pouch is accepted. He likes goldfish and most carbs, but any type of fruit or veggie (like peas or bananas or peaches, etc) that we put on his highchair tray he just plays with and pokes at and will not actually put in his mouth. Once he decides he does not want something, he is extremely adamant about it and shakes his head no, no, no and swats at whatever it is. Ugg. So frustrating!
He eats cereal (oatmeal, fruit, apple juice or milk) for breakfast at 8:30, lunch at around noon, and dinner around 6 with snacks in between. We let him try whatever we are eating for dinner from our fork, and depending upon his mood he will try whatever it is, but he still does not truly make a meal off of something like that. He does ok with whole milk in a sippy, but he does not chug it. Me mainly just entertains the idea, then drops it on the ground and says "Uh-oh".
On a bummer of a note, the day before his first bday, I gave Henry a scrambled egg. He only ingested a tiny piece, but the second bite got on his face and he broke out. We had to call the doc and rush to get him benedryl, and it went down with that. The pediatrician wants him to be tested for allergies, so we are going next week. I SO hope it goes well.

Playing- Oh, this is the best! Henry is such fun these days! He is super cuddly and lays his head down on us and Maggie all the time, rolls around on the floor (wallers we call it), kicks his legs, etc. He also attempts to give kisses now-you know the ones: open mouth, drool, funny placement. The ones that only parents really think are sweet. :) He is an excellent crawler, but he has not really shown much interest in walking. We have not pushed it, but I think one day he will just take off. He cruises everywhere and is into everything; still loves to empty drawers and splashing during bath time. He loves books and has started pushing trucks around some.
Henry can say "Mama", "Dada", "Dog", "Uh-oh" and when asked "Henry, what does the duck say?", he is very consistent with "Quack". When asked, "Where is my nose?" he points to my nose and grins. He imitates a lot of noises we make like "grrr", and he has the funnies "courtesy" laugh that I have to get on video someday! It is so cute and gets us laughing so hard for real, then he does his fake laugh even more to try to join in with us all the more. Precious!
He is still SUCH a ham when we are out. He makes eyes at whoever is nearby and grins, shys away, grins again. He has what we call his "scrunchy face" that he makes all the time when he's being silly. The boy does not lack in the area of personality, let's just say that.

I am honestly in shock that this year is over. It has been such a joy, and we have loved each minute of it.  It makes us look forward to what is in store for the year to come!

We love you so much, Henry mouse. You light up our life!