Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Fighting Sleep
For the past couple of weeks, Henry has been fighting his naps and nighttime sleep like a little warrior. It all started when he learned how to push up from his tummy to sitting. I tuck him in nice and comfy and the moment I walk out of the room...he sits up and starts crying. Well no one can fall asleep sitting up so I usually have to go in several times to lay him back down. He will scream so loud when I lay him back down but then he usually quiets down until he pushes himself back to sitting again. Eventually, he gives in and just stays down and falls asleep, but this is getting a little exhausting for me and for Henry. Any tips or advice? Or I will even take a "oh yeah I remember that...it will get better soon."
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
And I thought I couldn't possibly love you more...
It is hard to even begin to describe the love I have for Henry. I wanted to share this little story that I wrote for Henry, and I hope to print it out and laminate for us to read together some day soon.
My heart was beating out of my chest the moment I looked over at the test sitting on our bedside table. It was positive, and I couldn't believe my eyes. At that moment, I knew you were with us...growing inside mommy's belly. And I thought I couldn't possibly love you more...
But then I did. Daddy was squeezing my hand as we looked up at the screen. And there you were just as tiny as a coffee bean with a beating heart. ba bum ba bum ba bum. And I thought I couldn't possibly love you more...
But then I did. Weeks later, a nice nurse told us, "it's a boy!!!" And even though we knew all along, your daddy and I were so happy when we found out for sure. You were kicking and stretching, and I thought I couldn't possibly love you more...
But then I did. It was your birthday August 7, 2009 and the doctor told me just one more push and at that moment you came out of mommy's belly and into my arms. Your daddy and I could not get over how beautiful you were and that we could finally hold you. You were wide awake just looking around at everyone. It was love at first sight, and I thought I couldn't possibly love you more...
But then I did. It was before the sun even rose into the sky, and you and I were awake because as a baby you needed to eat a lot at night. You stopped eating for a second and looked up at me and smiled. And I thought I couldn't possibly love you more...
But then I did. Your daddy had you in the air flying you like an airplane, and you had perfect form like you always do with your head up and your arms to the side. You giggled so much that you hardly took a breath, and it was the cutest sound I ever heard, and I thought I couldn't possibly love you more...
But then I did. You were sick with a fever, and you didn't feel good at all. It made me so sad that you were sick, and I couldn't wait for you to feel better. As I wiped your soft forehead with a cool washcloth, I thought I couldn't love you possibly more.
But then I did. You had been practicing for weeks and trying so hard to crawl. We were playing in my room, and I stacked some blocks up for you. You took four big crawls forward and knocked them down. I was so proud of you for trying so hard like you always do, and I though I couldn't possibly love you more.
But then I did. and then I did again and again. You see Henry...my love for you will never stop. It will just continue to grow and grow. I couldn't possibly love you more than I do today....but I will.
And I Thought I Couldn't Possibly Love You More
Copyright 2010
But then I did. Daddy was squeezing my hand as we looked up at the screen. And there you were just as tiny as a coffee bean with a beating heart. ba bum ba bum ba bum. And I thought I couldn't possibly love you more...
But then I did. Weeks later, a nice nurse told us, "it's a boy!!!" And even though we knew all along, your daddy and I were so happy when we found out for sure. You were kicking and stretching, and I thought I couldn't possibly love you more...
But then I did. It was your birthday August 7, 2009 and the doctor told me just one more push and at that moment you came out of mommy's belly and into my arms. Your daddy and I could not get over how beautiful you were and that we could finally hold you. You were wide awake just looking around at everyone. It was love at first sight, and I thought I couldn't possibly love you more...
But then I did. It was before the sun even rose into the sky, and you and I were awake because as a baby you needed to eat a lot at night. You stopped eating for a second and looked up at me and smiled. And I thought I couldn't possibly love you more...
But then I did. Your daddy had you in the air flying you like an airplane, and you had perfect form like you always do with your head up and your arms to the side. You giggled so much that you hardly took a breath, and it was the cutest sound I ever heard, and I thought I couldn't possibly love you more...
But then I did. You were sick with a fever, and you didn't feel good at all. It made me so sad that you were sick, and I couldn't wait for you to feel better. As I wiped your soft forehead with a cool washcloth, I thought I couldn't love you possibly more.
But then I did. You had been practicing for weeks and trying so hard to crawl. We were playing in my room, and I stacked some blocks up for you. You took four big crawls forward and knocked them down. I was so proud of you for trying so hard like you always do, and I though I couldn't possibly love you more.
But then I did. and then I did again and again. You see Henry...my love for you will never stop. It will just continue to grow and grow. I couldn't possibly love you more than I do today....but I will.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
8 Month Update!
My little buddy is 8 months old today. I can't believe it. This was a huge month as far as development for Henry. It seemed like he was changing and doing something new on a daily basis. By the way...I know I get very detailed on these but I do that for me so I can remember! I don't want to forget these sweet little changes.
Stats:
Weight- Thankfully we haven't had a sick visit this month so I couldn't tell you!
Size- Definitely growing though....wearing mostly 12 months now (some 18 month sizes!)
Milestones:
Mobile without forward crawling!- This has been of course the biggest change. Henry has gone from just sitting and playing to almost crawling. He can get pretty much anywhere he wants to go with a scoot, lunge, rocking, and a few rolls. It all started especially when we went down to Orlando for a friend's wedding. We were in the car all day except for lunch at cracker and when we got him out to play at my friend's house in Orlando, he immediately got up on his knees and started rocking! I guess he had a lot of energy built up from the long day in the car and maybe he was thinking "man if I could just get out of this carseat I would...." He was fighting naps and going down for the night like crazy in FL (was doing fine in the pack n play in AL at my parent's house before we left for FL) because he was learning a new skill. Every time we would check on him to try to calm him...he was rocking his little heart out! He was also an expert backwards crawler although he is no longer using that since he has decided he wants to go forwards. Now he is doing this thing where he is keeping his hands on the ground but he is completely locking out his legs. It is like he thinks he has to walk to crawl...poor guy if he only knew how close he was when he was on his knees! (pic below to explain)
Word recognition- I can tell that Henry is starting to understand the meaning of some of the words that we use on a regular basis. Words like....more, night night, kiss, bye bye, eat, out, milk. Cute story--this could fall under the nursing category but I will just go ahead and share it here. Henry is such a distracted eater so I usually don't say a word when he nurses because I don't want to distract him more. Well I decided to try using some of the words/phrases that I use for solid feedings for nursing. When Henry pulled off to look around, I said "more" and he went right back to eating. I use that all of the time now, and it keeps him on task. Really surprised me that it worked!
Standing- Henry is getting really great at standing. He loves to stand and play with his Leap Frog music table or with trucks on top of an ottoman. He is not pulling up yet, but I'm sure it is coming soon!
Big boy crib- Which brings me to my next point, we had to drop Henry's mattress down. I cried when Shaun did it because it was just such a symbol to me of how fast he is growing up! The reason we decided to go ahead and do it is because he seems close to pulling up to stand, and he was somehow able to tear down his tiny love mobile (which is NOT tiny) and the camera for his video monitor.
Walker- Say what you want about walkers in the comment section...I know someone is going to say something. But for a very limited time every evening while I work in the kitchen, Henry has a blast walking/running back and forth and all around the kitchen. His favorite thing to do is to stay right by the dishwasher and to reach as far as he can possibly reach to try to get a fork or spoon. He is trying so hard! I usually plant a "safe" plastic cup or spoon for him to reach so that I don't have to snatch a fork out of his hand (although I had to do that today)
Waving Bye Bye- Henry just squeaked this one in for this month as he did it tonight at church. I also thought I saw him wave on Monday to this little kid that was waving to him outside a pizza place, but I was like "did he just do that....no...but did he?" I actually didn't see him wave at church because Shaun had him, but Shaun said it was very obvious. He was moving one arm up and down and then opening and closing the other hand to wave. I always move his arm up and down when we say bye to Shaun every morning so that is probably why he was doing that!
Tummy to Sitting position- Just another example of the new mobility...Henry has no problem going from tummy to sitting, and I'm always surprised to look over and see him sitting when I left him on his tummy.
Shaking his head- Shaun and I can't get enough of Henry shaking his head...it is sooo cute. He doesn't know he is saying no yet so I guess it will stop being as cute once he uses it to tell us no. The first time he ever did this was again in FL at our friend's wedding, Shaun was holding him and another guy started shaking his head at Henry, and Henry just started doing it. We couldn't believe it. Well Henry quickly learned that we thought it was hilarious so now he does it for us all of the time. And he shakes his head when a stranger comes up...like "hey look what I can do?" He also uses it to communicate..."hey don't put me to bed" and "oh I'm so happy"
Favorite toys- Anything he isn't supposed to have or things around the house like empty bottles, paper, door hinges...and he loves white tags! he will play with the white tag on any toy including his taggie book. He also really likes his trucks and leap frog music table and any balls!
Favorite books- Still loves "little cow" and "i love you more than" and "my little lovebug"
Eating/Nursing:
Breastfeeding is still going well despite being distracted. I hope to have a separate post about breastfeeding in the near future. 4 feedings a day and one night feeding
Eating--he loves to eat! 3 meals a day with stage 2 foods
Nighttime sleep and Naps:
Naps are getting better and better with time. I'm just trying to be consistent, and I hope that one day that pays off to longer naps. In the meantime, I try not to let Henry's tendency to take short naps bother me too much!
Nighttime sleep- well here we are at 8 months and I'm still not getting a full nights sleep. But it is my fault!! Completely! I kept feeding Henry whenever he woke up because it was just the sweetest and easiest thing to do instead of using a paci or whatever. Well now I'm Henry's paci. I was having to get up at 12 AM and 4 or 5 AM for a feeding. I told Shaun about my frustrations, and he just happened to still be awake that night (last Saturday) when Henry woke up at 12 AM. I was about to get up when I heard Henry scream really loud and then stop. I looked at the monitor, and Henry was out with his paci! Shaun had gone in there to put his paci in just to see what he would do. Shaun replaced the paci at midnight for 3 nights straight and guess who didn't even wake last night at midnight...yep! So my fault all along! So now I'm going to wait a few more days and then work on the 5 AM.
Now for the pics!!
Okay I need to post the pics from Easter and more but I'm just too tired so I'm going to have to post some more later!
Stats:
Weight- Thankfully we haven't had a sick visit this month so I couldn't tell you!
Size- Definitely growing though....wearing mostly 12 months now (some 18 month sizes!)
Milestones:
Mobile without forward crawling!- This has been of course the biggest change. Henry has gone from just sitting and playing to almost crawling. He can get pretty much anywhere he wants to go with a scoot, lunge, rocking, and a few rolls. It all started especially when we went down to Orlando for a friend's wedding. We were in the car all day except for lunch at cracker and when we got him out to play at my friend's house in Orlando, he immediately got up on his knees and started rocking! I guess he had a lot of energy built up from the long day in the car and maybe he was thinking "man if I could just get out of this carseat I would...." He was fighting naps and going down for the night like crazy in FL (was doing fine in the pack n play in AL at my parent's house before we left for FL) because he was learning a new skill. Every time we would check on him to try to calm him...he was rocking his little heart out! He was also an expert backwards crawler although he is no longer using that since he has decided he wants to go forwards. Now he is doing this thing where he is keeping his hands on the ground but he is completely locking out his legs. It is like he thinks he has to walk to crawl...poor guy if he only knew how close he was when he was on his knees! (pic below to explain)
Word recognition- I can tell that Henry is starting to understand the meaning of some of the words that we use on a regular basis. Words like....more, night night, kiss, bye bye, eat, out, milk. Cute story--this could fall under the nursing category but I will just go ahead and share it here. Henry is such a distracted eater so I usually don't say a word when he nurses because I don't want to distract him more. Well I decided to try using some of the words/phrases that I use for solid feedings for nursing. When Henry pulled off to look around, I said "more" and he went right back to eating. I use that all of the time now, and it keeps him on task. Really surprised me that it worked!
Standing- Henry is getting really great at standing. He loves to stand and play with his Leap Frog music table or with trucks on top of an ottoman. He is not pulling up yet, but I'm sure it is coming soon!
Big boy crib- Which brings me to my next point, we had to drop Henry's mattress down. I cried when Shaun did it because it was just such a symbol to me of how fast he is growing up! The reason we decided to go ahead and do it is because he seems close to pulling up to stand, and he was somehow able to tear down his tiny love mobile (which is NOT tiny) and the camera for his video monitor.
Walker- Say what you want about walkers in the comment section...I know someone is going to say something. But for a very limited time every evening while I work in the kitchen, Henry has a blast walking/running back and forth and all around the kitchen. His favorite thing to do is to stay right by the dishwasher and to reach as far as he can possibly reach to try to get a fork or spoon. He is trying so hard! I usually plant a "safe" plastic cup or spoon for him to reach so that I don't have to snatch a fork out of his hand (although I had to do that today)
Waving Bye Bye- Henry just squeaked this one in for this month as he did it tonight at church. I also thought I saw him wave on Monday to this little kid that was waving to him outside a pizza place, but I was like "did he just do that....no...but did he?" I actually didn't see him wave at church because Shaun had him, but Shaun said it was very obvious. He was moving one arm up and down and then opening and closing the other hand to wave. I always move his arm up and down when we say bye to Shaun every morning so that is probably why he was doing that!
Tummy to Sitting position- Just another example of the new mobility...Henry has no problem going from tummy to sitting, and I'm always surprised to look over and see him sitting when I left him on his tummy.
Shaking his head- Shaun and I can't get enough of Henry shaking his head...it is sooo cute. He doesn't know he is saying no yet so I guess it will stop being as cute once he uses it to tell us no. The first time he ever did this was again in FL at our friend's wedding, Shaun was holding him and another guy started shaking his head at Henry, and Henry just started doing it. We couldn't believe it. Well Henry quickly learned that we thought it was hilarious so now he does it for us all of the time. And he shakes his head when a stranger comes up...like "hey look what I can do?" He also uses it to communicate..."hey don't put me to bed" and "oh I'm so happy"
Favorite toys- Anything he isn't supposed to have or things around the house like empty bottles, paper, door hinges...and he loves white tags! he will play with the white tag on any toy including his taggie book. He also really likes his trucks and leap frog music table and any balls!
Favorite books- Still loves "little cow" and "i love you more than" and "my little lovebug"
Eating/Nursing:
Breastfeeding is still going well despite being distracted. I hope to have a separate post about breastfeeding in the near future. 4 feedings a day and one night feeding
Eating--he loves to eat! 3 meals a day with stage 2 foods
Nighttime sleep and Naps:
Naps are getting better and better with time. I'm just trying to be consistent, and I hope that one day that pays off to longer naps. In the meantime, I try not to let Henry's tendency to take short naps bother me too much!
Nighttime sleep- well here we are at 8 months and I'm still not getting a full nights sleep. But it is my fault!! Completely! I kept feeding Henry whenever he woke up because it was just the sweetest and easiest thing to do instead of using a paci or whatever. Well now I'm Henry's paci. I was having to get up at 12 AM and 4 or 5 AM for a feeding. I told Shaun about my frustrations, and he just happened to still be awake that night (last Saturday) when Henry woke up at 12 AM. I was about to get up when I heard Henry scream really loud and then stop. I looked at the monitor, and Henry was out with his paci! Shaun had gone in there to put his paci in just to see what he would do. Shaun replaced the paci at midnight for 3 nights straight and guess who didn't even wake last night at midnight...yep! So my fault all along! So now I'm going to wait a few more days and then work on the 5 AM.
Now for the pics!!
Didn't they look cute at the wedding....awwwh!
Henry's Baptism
Happy to be at such a neat mall (orlando)
Before Downtown Disney...
After Downtown Disney :)
"Okay enough with the pics already."
Yes...We were matching ;)
Love.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Whew!
I need a vacation after my vacation! March literally felt like it didn't exist for me because it went by so fast. We had so much going on this past month with Henry's baptism, visiting my parents, and a road trip to a great friend's wedding weekend in Orlando. It was a very fun month, but I'm looking forward to some down time. Once I finally get the house clean and Henry's drawers and closets changed out with his new size, I'm just going to chill and spend a lot of time with Henry outside strolling or swinging on our porch (we got a new swing for Henry!). My plan for meals this summer is to grill at least once or twice a week because number one...it is delicious and number two...it doesn't make a mess! I'm just trying to soak up this time with a simple life with just one little sweet baby boy because he is already growing up way too fast. I have a lot of updates on my hen hen (who is currently taking forever to fall asleep tonight but not crying just playing), but I will save those for his EIGHT(!) month post in a few days. Just wanted to update! yay spring!
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