Hitting the Highlights

A few months ago I had issues with uploading pictures to the blog. Once I finally got it figured out, I found myself very much out of the habit of posting things! I have made myself do the monthly posting for Henry, but I want to get back into the habit of a weekly, or at least close to a weekly, post. When I look back at all the postings and pictures, I am so glad I am documenting our lives, because it is SO SO easy to forget what was going on just a few months (or heck, just a few days!) ago. Things change so quickly in the life of a baby that it is easy just to focus on the day at hand. That being said, I want to hit the highlights from Thanksgiving until now. Easier said than done!

We celebrated Thanksgiving day at Steven's mom's house. Here are the 4 grand kids with the cook in front of the turkey!

Henry got to eat some yummy sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes at the meal!

The whole crew

My boy with his "Thankful for Mommy" shirt on

My parents joined everyone for the Thanksgiving day meal, too.

On Friday morning we headed to Steven's dad's to hang with them for a bit.

Henry loved the stuffed horse they have...he grinned and grinned on it and bobbed up and down while riding it.

Then he got to ride a real horse!! We went with grandpa and Peggy to the barn and had some farm time. Henry was pretty serious for this, but did not cry!

Grandpa showing Henry the cows.

I think they were more nervous about him that he was about them.

He had the most fun "dancing" in the feed trough...liked the way that feed felt and sounded under his feet!

Three generations...

Saturday morning we headed to my folks. Here is Henry checking out papa's mustache.

Seriously....THIS is my papa? :)

It was cold but sunny! I brought the girls some pumpkins to paint, so Henry watched them through the window.

Little artists!

He was cute looking out at them and the kitty cat.

And of course no visit to my parents would be complete without a good old Rook game.

Back on the home front...Henry was as busy as ever and doing lots of new things. He is getting better and better at his sippy as you can see above.

Makes a bee-line for outlets and pulls on whatever is plugged in...sheesh!

This was so cute. I probably should have been helping him rather than photographing him....he's engrossed in his toys here; leaning over for something important I am sure.

Just a little further!

And, both feet are off the floor, and he toppled over into the bin! (Don't ask where his pants are...I am not really sure, but it shows those cute rolls off pretty well that way!)

We decorated the house before we even left for Thanksgiving, and Henry was all about the tree and was always crawling over to check it out. We slowly moved the ornaments up the tree and out of his reach. Then he just pulled at the branches. He always had little pieces of tree in his hand!

Henry had his 9 month appt....he did great! His stats are in his 9 month post.

Capturing more of his busyness...Henry crawled over to the dish washer and sat like this to grab at stuff and check it out!

We had several really nice days in December. We took advantage of it wit plenty of swinging and walking. Henry really mastered "so big" and was doing it all the time...even without being asked:) Here he is doing it while swinging!

I looked over another time and he was just raising his arms up like this in the middle of the floor:)

And again while eating....:)

I love this picture, even if it is fuzzy. It just shows his determination and focus while crawling! He is getting good at it for sure!

Another beautiful day in the front yard...busy checking out grass and leaves.

We went to Steven's company party in December and also to our Sunday school Christmas party. My mom and Mary Ellen came for the wknd to watch Henry so we did not have to get a sitter and they could spend some time with him.

The "babysitters" for the weekend!

The next weekend we had our annual "Tour de Christmas" with our small group. LOTS of fun.

Hanging with my boy. I loved being off of work for just over 2 weeks during Christmas break and getting to spend all that time with Henry.

I just included this pic because I think it it such a sweet face.

We stayed in our PJ's half the morning while I was on break! Henry loved hanging at home I think. What a cute baby booty!

Henry is certainly a climber...he LOVES the stairs, so we had to rig up some gates. This one had a big gap at first, but we were hopeful that maybe Henry would just be deterred by the gate being there. No such luck! Steven had to quickly fix it so the little stinker wouldn't get through:)

Steven's family came to us for their Christmas celebration, which was awesome. We had several rounds of festivities! One of Henry's favorite parts of presents was taking off the bows.

Grandma gave each grand kid a bicycle ornament to remind them of the money she gave to help a young Christian in India get a bike to use to help spread the Gospel.

Grandpa with his 2 grandsons!

All smiles!

This LOOKS like all smiles....actually Henry is pulling Camden's hair and Camden is being a really good sport about it!

Sweet cousins!

After church on Sunday

One of Layna's requests was to take a bath with Henry. The had fun!

Here is Henry checking out Santa....he didn't seem to mind him too much!

Grandpa and Peggy got Henry this great toy...he loves it. Here he is trying it out outside.

Spending time with our boy after company left. This is Christmas Eve.

Steven had quite a bit of time off work, and it was so nice to spend time as a family around the house. Henry is quite the cuddler lately. Here he is giving Mags a squeeze.

We were home on Christmas morning and got to spend it as a family. Henry got some safari animals and stacking cups under the tree!

He also got some balls in his stocking...his favorite!

Christmas afternoon we went to my family's house in TN. More Rook....Henry is getting some good exposure!

I am not sure this will translate on camera, but in real life it was so cute. I took Henry back to my parents room and showed him the mirror. He was so animated and checked himself out, talked and squealed to himself, them proceeded to taste and kiss the mirror:)

Hey, who's that cute baby? Wanna be friends?

Big cheese!

The next morning I left Henry while I showered and this is what I walked out to...the grandparents are allowed to let this happen I guess!:) It was so cute!

Henry is taken with these cousins...we had loves spending time with them!

He has a special affinity for George....he just can't take his eyes off of him. Henry grins and grins at him.

My aunt Brens came to visit us (and when I say us I mean Mr. Henry) the next day.

Being silly with manar.

Fast forward to the first weekend in January....we went Friday to Steven's dad's house for them to watch him while we went to Franklin for a date night. We spent the night and the next day made a farm visit to meet a 2 day old calf.

He also got to sit in the tractor and hear it turned on....he liked it!

Next we headed to the lodge for our annual Christmas celebration with my extended family. Who knew my mom could play piano?

Ellie and Mary Ellen wanted a pic with Henry:)

Here is the whole gang minus Nicole (at college) and Josiah (napping)

And here are all the grand kids who were present!

Fast forward to the second weekend in January (just last weekend!)...we traveled to Lexington to celebrate Kaia's 8th bday with her. Lots of good family time again! We had a great trip even though Henry got his first ear infection and we had to go to the cousins pediatrician on Saturday to get some antibiotic. As of today (Tues) he is much better!

She had a CUTE bakery party.

This was hilarious....he is sitting on an American Girl doll scooter. It was just his size and he was SO proud of it. He was bobbing his head and grinning and grinning:) I promise he has a diaper on here...it just looks like he doesn't! :) OK! We are all caught up! On to the rest of January!

 

10 Months Old!

I get a lump in my throat when I think about how close TEN months is to a year, but alas, I will try to swallow it and move on. Time waits for no man (or mom!), right? Henry turned ten months old the day after Christmas, on December 26th. I will try to make this update short(er) and sweet by trying to highlight just what is new in Henry's world.

Sleeping-
Still sleeps great: 11-12 hours a night, takes 2 big naps during the day.

Eating-
Lots of new things! After the doc gave the go ahead, we started introducing some more adventurous foods into Henry's diet. He still does not love baby foods, but we try to get them down him, even if sometimes it takes a song and a dance to do so:) We've tried some of the "dinner" type combo baby foods (sweet potato/chicken, chicken noodle, etc.), but I don't think he likes those very much either. What he has started to LOVE is Cheerios and yogurt!! For more "finger" type food, we've also tried bread, avocado, banana, noodles, mac and cheese, cheese, crackers, tomato, french fry, eggs, and green beans....among other things that I have forgotten I am sure. He is nursing 4 times a day and eating breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks of solid foods. We've tried a sippy cup, and right now he just kind of plays with it like it's a toy. If he does actually get the mouth part in his mouth and liquid gets into his mouth, he pulls it away and grins and coughs and acts so surprised!

Playing-
Crawling everywhere, pulling up a lot (sometimes letting go-he has pretty good balance!), and into everything!  Henry's newest "tricks" are clapping (my absolute favorite-so, so cute), showing us "so big" on his own when asked, and signing "more" for food. His more sign looks quite a bit like a clap, but if we ask, "Do you want more?" and he does his motion, we take it as more:) He is such a ham and waves at strangers and entertains whoever is behind us in church with all of his antics and grins. We do nursery some, but still keep him with us when we can.
He has also become quite the dancer...Henry is constantly bobbing his head back and forth and side to side and bouncing up and down to groove to some beat (which is sometimes in his head and sometime actual music).
His favorite places are on the hearth and on the stairs. He has become very good at getting on and off the hearth carefully by himself, so we allow him to do so. The stairs, however, are a different story, and we have put a baby gate at the top and bottom of the stairs to keep him off them. When he has gotten on them with us watching, he crawls up them really quickly! He is also SO proud of himself and dances, shrieks, and acts silly on them. It's like he knows he is getting away with something. On that note, we have noticed lately that when we go to get him away from something he is not suppose to have (Maggie's bowls, a drawer, etc.), he "scrambles" to play with it extra fast and furious for those few seconds before we get him. Or if he is crawling toward something and we are coming to get him from it, he tries to hurry and get to it really quickly like it is a game or something. Cute now, not so cute later I am sure:) 
The other thing about Henry right now is how affectionate he is. The cuddles and hugs that were once just reserved for me are now shared with all! With family around over Christmas, they got to get in on the loving, too. He lays his head down on shoulders and anything soft (Maggie, pillows, blankets). If someone is on the floor with him, Henry will crawl to them and lay his head down over and over wherever it lands! He crawls to us and pulls up on our pant legs to stand, and of course, we can't resist picking him up. He likes to be held, but he also is very good at playing by himself for long periods of time. He is very content when we go out to run errands and is entertained by just looking around and rarely fusses. If he is tired, though, getting back into his car seat can make him awfully sad. Also if he is sleepy getting his diaper and clothes changed is no fun!

We love you, Henry! You are a blessing to us, and we love watching you grow each day! 

My, oh, my how things change. Just a few months ago we were having to help you sit up for these pictures and now we can't get you to sit down! Danger mouse!

Love that silly "scrunchy" face.

Lots to say! Looking SO big...

9 months old

This is full of useless info:) I just try to write down everything happening in little man's world so I don't forget. It is amazing how quickly you forget. That being said...I decided to put the pictures first and all the writing at the end!

It is hard to believe baby man turned 9 months old on Monday 11/26 (this post is way late. I have had some blog issues, so Henry is technically 3 days from being 10 months old now....grrr). The past 9 months have truly flown by. It has been such a sweet, fun time, and we are loving this newest phase of our Henry's development-mobility! That's right-Henry is crawling! He took a few forward motions (finally!) on Thanksgiving day with family all around him and continued to do a little more and a little more for the next few days while we were traveling. When we got home on Sunday, we realized just how well he was crawling as he made his way from the living room into the kitchen and straight to the dishwasher! It was like he had been eyeing it for 9 months and could finally get his hands on it!:) He is also pulling up on everything. It has certainly changed things around here, and I just stared in disbelief at my little baby who was (what feels like) just born yesterday and is now roaming around the house and gaining more and more independence daily. It could make me sad, but I won't let it, because it is fun, too! Let's just say he is a BUSY boy! In other Henry news....

At his 9 month appointment on 12/5, the doctor said Henry looked perfect! His stats were:
Weight: Almost 19 lbs (40%)
Height: 26.5 inches (60%)
Head Circumference: (70%)

Eating: He is eating baby food so much better now. I would say it took him a good 2-3 months to warm up to it. I do about half and half on the store bought food and the homemade food....basically I make what is easiest (bananas, sweet potatoes, stuff like that) and buy the rest. Textures are still tricky, and he much prefers the smoothest of foods (even though he has 6 teeth-4 on top, 2 on bottom). He also much prefers fruit to veggies, but I can get him to eat most smooth baby food veggies if I mask it with a fruit. Banana is a tried and true one: sweet and smooth. He eats it without fail. Thank you, bananas!
He still nurses about every 3-4 hours...6:30, 9:30, 1:00ish, 4:00ish, and 7:00ish, so 5 times a day. I know this will be reduced soon as we add in a lunch time baby food meal, but right now he is just eating cereal with fruit around 8:30am and a veggie (usually masked by a little fruit) at around 5:30pm. He also eats mum-mums, wheels, rice cups, and puffs. He does the best with the rice based stuff, but tries to eat it all. He does not seem to particularly love these, but I figure he should practice with some self-feeding! We tried yogurt melts, and he made the most awful face every time....maybe we will re-visit those again soon. :)

Sleeping: He takes 2 good naps a day...around 9:30 and 2:30 or 3:30ish and sleeps give or take a couple of hours at each nap. He tends to sleep longer in the morning and will sometimes sleep for 3 hours then. As a good rule of thumb, he is awake for 3 hours and then is ready to sleep again. He is laid down for the night by 7:30 and goes to sleep on his own. He sleeps solid through the night and wakes up between 6:30 and 7:00. He wakes up so sweet and smiley, and I love to cuddle with him when he wakes up.

Playing: Henry is so playful now. He loves peek-a-boo, where's Henry, gonna getcha, being tickled, and "riding" on my knee to "this is the way the lady rides". He also loves when we ask, "How big is Henry?" then raise his arms up in the air and say, "So big!" He grins and grins...I know soon he will be raising his arms without our help. Very cute. He is so curious and loves things that are off limits (how do babies know??)...shoes, outlets, cell phones, remote controls, cords....these are what he covets in the midst of all of his age appropriate, clean toys that surround him. Oh well! I can't really blame him. He also loves to pull things out of bags and baskets and gets a kick out of messing up paper...my school bag is the jackpot!
He started waving bye-bye a few weeks ago and it is so cute. He continues to be quite verbal and talkative. We love it when he does his whisper talking....he also breathes out of his mouth a lot and it entertains us. He makes lots of noises, and mamama and dadada are among them, but I don't think he officially knows that those words go for us or anything. He is squealy and yells a lot, too. He is always clicking his tongue or humming....
He has become a little bit of a mamma's boy (which I don't like at ALL:))...and reaches for me, crawls after me, and gives me the sweetest smiles. He also gives great hugs these days-both arms around my neck and a big squeeze. He will then pull away, look at me, and do it again with a squeal. It is the sweetest thing. He reserves his "kisses" mainly for me and opens his mouth and puts it on my cheek. If he weren't my kid I would think it was gross, but I know he is showing love:) We did not teach him this-he just started it on his own! He also still leans his head on my shoulder when strangers are talking to him a lot of times, and he gives them a big shy grin. He is super friendly to everyone and a lot of times I will catch him and some stranger smiling and communicating back and forth if I am at the grocery or in line somewhere. He is quite nosy and when we are out he is checking out everyone around him and trying to figure them out by watching whatever they are doing. Oh, he also is doing great in my school nursery and is always happy there. All the moms love him and brag about what a sweetie he is and how good of a sleeper he is. They also talk about how cuddly he is:) Evidently he is not stingy with his snuggles! Church nursery is a bit more of a struggle. It is always bad timing with him being sleepy when we are about to drop him off, so then he is unhappy while there. I think this will just be difficult for a bit, but we are going to keep trying.
I would say his #1 favorite activity is bath time. He will play in the tub for forever if we let him. He feels invincible in there for some reason...he reaches for everything, grabs the side of the tub and stands up, then plops back down into the water over and over. He loves bath toys and also loves to splash and scream. He slaps at the water and it goes everywhere...makes quite the mess, but he is having too much fun to try and stop him. :) He also still loves Maggie and grabs at her all the time. She's a good sport. Henry loves to sit and play with spatulas and wooden spoons in the kitchen and he also loves plastic hangers for whatever reason! When he is in the zone, he sits and "grooves"-head bobbing up and down, legs kicking, and and talking away. The end of this month I finally feel like Henry is truly more interested in books and will sit in my lap and look at the pictures and listen to me read. He will sit through several books, and I love this time with him and look forward to more of it in the future now that will put his attention on books.
 Overall, Henry is very laid back and has a happy disposition. He still does not like to get his clothes changed and if he is tired he does not like his diaper to be changed, either. If there is something he has that he shouldn't (ie-a cord or remote control or something) that gets taken away, he let's us know he is unhappy by crying or at least fussing a bit.

Happy 9 months, Hankford. Dada and I love you so much. We think you are pretty special