Henry's 9 Months Old

We are entering my favorite phase of babyhood. Emerging personality, increased mobility, watching their little minds figure out new things, learning to eat what we eat, sleeping more at night...what's not to love? As most moms know, however, there are plenty of challenges with each month. The biggest one for me, right now, is simply watching my baby grow up. Along with all these emerging capabilities, means leaving behind more of the cute baby stuff. *sniff*

Here's what's new this month:

Eating: Henry got his first taste of table food, toast, and he loved it! He still eats some puree foods, but prefers foods he can feed himself. So far he has had peas, crackers, watermelon, green beans, strawberries, raspberries, bananas, cheese, lemon (liked it), broccoli, pasta, puffs and yogurt melts. He likes to drop his spoon or food to see what I'll do. He thinks it is a fun game, but I'm not playing it anymore!

Activity: He started crawling on all fours just right after he turned 8 months old. Eek.

Pulled up to stand for the first time. The hardest part of course is learning to get back down. It took him several frustrating weeks, but I think he is finally getting the idea of how to sit back down on his own. I can honestly say, that him standing in his crib crying because he could not get down has been my second least favorite challenge this month (the first being early wake-ups, see my complaint below).

Now he can get into a seated position on his own from lying down. This means he can crawl, stand and sit (all in one month)...next up, cruising and walking.

Has found out how to bring his hands together to clap. He doesn't do it out of excitement yet, but it's still very cute to watch. It always surprises him when he does it and will smile because he is so proud of himself.

Henry has also learned how to throw a tantrum. He screams and throws his head back as if the world has ended. I have to laugh at him, because I know what a real two-year-old tantrum looks likes, and Henry's "fits" are a walk in the park.

I've decided Henry is going to be my "climber" child. If he sees something on the ground, he tries to climb it. Usually its my legs, a pillow, toys, his brother, etc.

Sleeping: The early morning wake-ups continue and they need to GO. I do not start my day at 5 or 6 a.m. Someone please inform Henry of this news.

We've pretty much dropped down to just two naps per day. On Wednesday's I try to squeeze in a third cat nap because of church. Sometimes that just back fires on me and he is even crankier.

We hit another glorious Wonder Week. If you are a mom who once had a sweet baby, turn into a monster and suddenly hates sleep, then you need to look up the definition of a wonder week. It will help, I promise.

Doctor Visit Stats:

• Height-29 inches
• Weight- 17 lbs 9 ounces
• Other- My little guy only gained an ounce over three whole months : ( Doctor has suggested a few things to help increase his weight over the next few weeks. Can you blame Henry, though? He has been such a busy boy!

Likes, Dislikes and Other Milestones:

• Took first airplane ride, did pretty well.
• Traveled to Tennessee for the first time to see Gramma and Pops.
• Gets first tooth, bottom right.
• Went to his first parade, the Lumberton Homecoming parade. The loud noises did not bother him.
• Starting to dislike his jumperoo. Now that he's mobile, he doesn't like being stuck in it. Time to put it away!
• Puts everything into his mouth, EVERYTHING.
• First bath in the kitchen sink. He had a really messy dinner : )
• Favorite book is Bubbles, Bubbles...just like big bro.
• Sat in the shopping cart for first time and loved it.
• Dislikes being held like a baby or being rocked : ( He prefers to be upright. 

Things to Look Forward to:

• Trip to Tulsa, OK for a wedding and to see Uncle Ty, Aunt Lindsey, Jack and Paxton.
• Trip to Washington D.C. area for a family wedding.
• First Halloween.

Henry's 8 Months Old

*Good news, we have a working computer again! Which means I can get back to updating my blog.*

Momma's boy! I knew separation anxiety kicked in about this age, but this is totally different, Henry has definitely turned into an all momma's boy. For now anyway : )  I walk into the room and his face lights up like a Christmas tree. I leave the room and his whole world has ended. It's kind of annoying, but also makes me feel very special. I'll keep him this way as long as I can.

I'm going to miss this toothless smile.

Here is a breakdown of this month:

Eating: He's tried a few new foods such as prunes, watermelon and yellow squash. Hated yellow squash, and loved the prunes and watermelon. Starting to think he hates all veggies. The watermelon he ate in his mesh feeder. Glad both my boys like(d) that thing.

He is always kicking those legs in the air!

Activity: Oh my, this boy has changed so much in this department. He went from barely sitting up tri-pod style, to sitting up, climbing over things, his own form of crawling (not quite all fours yet) and trying to pull up on things. He is one busy boy. Don't even get me started on diaper changes and getting dressed, let's just say it's very frustrating.

Because of all this activity, he now bumps into everything. He is currently sporting a lovely bruise on his forehead because of this busy behavior! 

Teething is in full force and is starting to affect his mood. I have seen the future through Emerson and I know that I have a long two year road of teething ahead. Sigh.

It was so hard to get a descent picture on his blanket. He won't stay still long enough.

Sleeping: This is my least favorite topic. On one hand, he's doing awesome! He slept all night long for me one night this month so I decided he was ready to night wean. It went fairly smoothly. He is sleeping at least 10-11 hours straight at night and takes 2-3 naps. On the other hand, we still have some battles. 

He is struggling with dropping his third nap and that has been torture. Every day is a guessing game. Makes it really hard to plan evening activities. Not really sure if I'll have an angel or devil on my hands. His first nap usually lasts one hour and his second nap lasts about two hours. If we get a third, it's just around 30 minutes. And sometimes it seems to do more harm than good. 

Bedtime is good, however he has started this early morning wake-up stuff that has got to go. I do not start my day at 5:30 and no one should! He wakes up crying so I know he's not up for the day, but he also doesn't easily settle back to sleep because he's already slept 10+ hours at that point. 

Anyway, I'm working on his schedule to see what works best for the little guy.

Wiggle worm!

No doctor appointment update this month.

Likes, Dislikes and Other Milestones:

• Wearing 9-12 month clothing 
• Had first sickness, a cold
• Hates the nose sucker or having his nose wiped
• Reaches his arms up when he wants to be held
• In size 3 diapers
• Loves to play in the jumperoo 
• Loves to climb over anything low to the ground, especially me when I'm sitting down with him

"Hi, Mom."

Things to look forward to:

• First trip to Knoxville, TN to visit Gramma and Pops

Henry's 7 Months Old

What a busy month this has been for this boy! Highlights include his first beach vacation, started solids, moved up to his own room, and started babbling. 

Brotherly love also grew this month : ) For the first time, Emerson asked to hold Henry and lately has been very interested in picking him up. He tries, but says "Hen Hen too heavy" and then moves on. Baby steps. It's taken 7 months for him to warm up to Henry, but I love seeing them interact in small ways. 

Eating: Henry got his first taste of solid food, butternut squash. He was not very impressed by it. In fact, food in general does not impress him. So far he has tried butternut squash, sweet potatoes, green beans, pears, carrots, apples, peaches and peas. His favorites were pears, peaches and peas. At first, the foods he tried would make him gag and he'd make sour faces, but over time he has really got that hang of  this whole eating solids business. He would still rather just play with the spoon than actually eat what's on it.

He also is still nursing every 3-4 hours, so 5-6 times a day, with 1-2 night feedings. Hoping we drop those night feedings soon!

Activity: This kid has found a few new sounds. He has started babbling, saying "yeah, yeah, yeah" and  "dadada."

Henry's phase of screaming seems to have passed, thank goodness! My poor ears couldn't take it anymore.

Diaper changes have become very interesting. All he wants to do is roll over. It's impossible now to dress him or change his diaper unless he is on his tummy.

Sleeping: big news in this department is that we moved him up to his own crib at night time. Not going to lie, this created some challenges. He actually started adding in a night waking and he once went to sleep without any fuss, but when we moved him he started protesting when I left the room. It took some time, but he adjusted and we are almost back on track.

Henry blessed me one night this month by sleeping 10 straight hours! Still not quite "sleeping through the night," but I'll take it!

We are in the awkward nap tranistion from 3-2 naps. Most days he takes 3, but some days he fights his last nap. It's so hard to predict. He did go through a short stint where he was taking short naps, but thankfully that didn't last long. Normal sleep schedule looks something like this:

7:00 a.m. Wake
9:00 a.m. Nap 1 (lasts 1-1.5 hours)
1: p.m. Nap 2 (2-3 hours)
5:00 p.m. Cat nap
7-8 p.m. Bedtime

Doctor Visit Stats:

- Height: ?

- Weight: ? 

*no doctor visit this month

Likes, Dislikes and Other Milestones:

- First time to see and touch the ocean.

- Took first vacation.

- Took first trip to the zoo, Gulf Breeze zoo. He slept the whole time.

- Hair is finally starting to grow in! It's really dark on the sides and light brown on top.

- Makes spit bubbles.

- My best friend, Julie, came to visit and the boys loved spending time with her. 

- Likes to put his foot in his mouth and suck on his toes.

- His eyes have officially turned brown. No more hints of blue or green.

- Took first road trip with just mom and brother. Henry did pretty well, Emerson did not.

- Wears size 3 diaper and size 6-9 month clothing. Phasing out most 6 month clothing though.

- Dislikes most solid food.

- Likes to sit in his highchair at meal times with the rest of he family and happily chew on a spoon. 

Things to Look Forward to:

- Visiting friends in Houston, meeting Henry for the first time.

- Big brother starts school, so more one-on-one time with just momma.

- Trip to Tennessee for the TN vs. OU game. 

Beach Vacation, 2015

We took a wonderful beach vacation with a few of my family members in July in Florida. 

I'll let the pictures do most of the story telling since there are so many of them!

Emerson's second time to see the ocean. First time he was only 4 months old. 

Henry's first to time to see/touch the ocean.

Cousin Lucas loved holding Henry : )

My dad celebrated a birthday while we were there. Picture with my parents and the grand kids that were there.

Trip to the zoo! Another first for Henry.

Emerson loved feeding the animals!

Henry enjoyed sleeping : ) 

Walking on the pier.

Last day to play at the beach. Emerson hated the sand, so that made our trip more interesting...considering sand was everywhere!

These faces of Henry crack me up. Couldn't choose just one.

Some of my favorite of Henry! 

Family photo time.

Best picture ever of these two. 

Such a great trip, but we may be waiting a few years before going back. Emerson needs to get over his fear of sand first : )

Fourth of July, 2015

Playing major catch-up on events and also dealing with formatting issues of the iPad. Just work with me.

This Fourth of July we stayed at home and enjoyed a relaxing celebration of grilling, swimming and popping some fireworks.

This was also Henry's first Fourth of July and really Emerson's first time to participate in any of the activities.

Here are a few photos that capture our fun!

We actually popped some fireworks a few days leading up to the Fourth (the above pictures). Emerson didn't mind them at all...except when the big day rolled around suddenly every firework was "too loud." This included sparklers : / 

Our Saturday tradition to go to the park.

His new favorite playground toy, the monkey bars. 

The boys enjoyed watching a hot dog eating contest. It was totally disgusting to watch.

Emerson's new favorite way to eat watermelon!

Before the firework went off...

...after.

And this is the only one I really took of just Henry. Right before bed. Oh well, at least I got one and at least he is wearing pjs with stars on them : )