eleven months

Oh hi there world. This is Henry now... crazy right? What 5 months since blogging monthly will do. So Henry, you're 11 months old...almost a whole year. This past month I have just been trying to soak it in of how much our world has changed since a year ago. Truly unbelievable.

What you've been up to this past month:

• You can walk!! Right before you turned 11 months, you started walking. It made me so happy. I came home from work one early saturday morning and did the usual- ok henry...walk to me! and you did. You did it over and over again. You still won't take huge walking spurts where there isn't someone to catch you, but we love this milestone.
• Bedtime is still at 630pm every night, and wake up about 6am/7am. We have been trying this new idea to give you a bottle and change your diaper in the morning and hope for some more sleep- closer to when your sister needs to wake up at 8. Its about 50/50 right now. Otherwise high pitch excited screaming to get up out of bed. We are lucky that you are a good sleeper.
• You are starting to really play with your sister. You two are best friends, I can see it more and more everyday. (you also are each others only friends, but that's beside the point) You do this hilarious crashing on cora's twin floor mattress- she copies you, crashing and laughing over and over. 
• Every once in awhile we try to take you out to a restaurant. a family restaurant. It usually is a little more stress than its worth, but we will keep on trying. you have a hard time sitting still, just like cora- surprise surprise. We've got some active babes on our hands. 
• You have little stroller-walk-friends, a handful of other babes that were born around the same time as you from my work friends. I enjoy the company, you love walks so that is awesome. and one day you will really be able to play with these fun little people- I cant wait to be drinking my coffee- sitting back at the park watching you and Cora and friends just play without my physical support- only emotional cheering for going down the slide, swinging high, and finally being able to reach those monkey bars.
• You are overall a happy guy, you are quick to smile at us with your sweet little toothy smile. You love to be held, and kissed, and to laugh at us being silly. I appreciate this about you, trying to savor this baby time and I enjoy that you love me so.
• You are quite good in the store- in the boba carrier or in the cart. You dislike the car- just get antsy after a short while. Cora tries to talk to you in your language "dada dada dada! mama! " or she says "hand, henry!" and you reach over and you two hold hands with the biggest smiles on your faces. I almost pull the car over and start crying, you two are so sweet and so little.
• We love you Henry, our little Oaks. This is your last month as a babe... then on to toddler world.

six months

(a post I forgot to publish a month ago...when hank was 6 months old)

Hey big boy, you're six months old! Our quality of life greatly improved in our house this past month. HUGE month. Sleep deprivation days are over, you are growing, and we love you more and more every day. Just like when Cora turned 6 months, we said we could have a whole slew of 6 month babes, this time in your life is no different. You're wonderful. Let the fun begin.

 What you have been up to this past month...

• You sleep through the night! Oh, henry. This makes us such happy parents. I thought it was going to be a fluke...but then it stuck shortly after you turned 5 months. You sleep 12hrs at night! We do a bedtime routine with you- dinner with cora, eating baby foods, bathtime, PJs and nighttime diaper, then a bottle. We put you down in your crib usually drowsy...and you flip yourself right over to your tummy and go fast to sleep around 6:30pm. Then you cry for us around 6:30am- take a bottle and about 75% of the time you take a nap after this bottle for another hour. Way to go hank! 
• You also just learned how to sit all by yourself, unassisted. You can't get to sitting without our help- but you can stay sitting. We love this independence. 
• You walk with quite determination in your walker. It is hilarious to us that you want to get places so badly. Oh, crawling will be fun someday. 
• You're just a happy dude. 
• You like to be in our arms, looking at the world. But you are learning how to be a little more content in a walker, rolling around on the ground, sitting, jumping...we appreciate this. 
• You don't mind the sun in your eyes- except for the consecutive and adorably cute sneezes, you aren't too sensitive to hot or cold, or bumps from your sister. 
• I took you AND your sister to your well-babe checks, 2 yr and 6 months. We had shots, and weigh-ins, and assessments. And we did it. Just the three of us. You did great.

five months

Five months? Now where has the time gone. I knew right around this time when you would start becoming a fun dude, time would start flying by- and it has. You are still fussy and not a content guy- but you are fun and you love the hell out of us. All you have to do is see our faces and you have a huge smile. You are doing really cool things and we love watching you grow up. So amazing, little guy.

What you have been up to this past month...

• Two teeth! Henry!!! You have two tiny teeth, front bottom teeth. Amazing. We thought you were teething, and were certainly grumpy, drooling and chewing on your hands...and then you sprouted two teeth. Don't be fooled by their tiny size, these are fierce, sharp teeth.
• You *occasionally* sleep through the night, like 12 hours. It's also amazing. It seems to be you have one good night of sleep, then one bad one. Of course nothing is really that predictable.
• You love to roll from back to tummy and tummy to back. You are quite proficient.
• We took the leap of sleeping you unswaddled...and it works for bedtime! Nap time we still need to constrain your arms for a longer, more purposeful nap. You were fighting that swaddle so much throughout the night, so we stopped, and it has been nice for you to soothe yourself as we muddle through cry-it-out method. 
• Your laugh is precious. You are most ticklish under your arms and chin. You also laugh with peek a boo or when dad scares you and says "I'm going to get you!" Cora also loves being spooked- so this is not new to us, you're just clearly one of our kids, it fits.
• You like to eat baby food at dinner and lunch. You weren't a fan of rice cereal, you like the tasty foods like carrots, bananas, squash, pears, peas even. 
• You just barely found your toes and can hold a toy for a little while to chew on. 
• Your skin is quite sensitive perhaps to detergents/soaps. You get rashes extremely easily. Perhaps its being fair skinned/redheaded...we shall see if you outgrow it. Your eyes are still a questionable color. You remind me so much of your sister, you are definitely siblings. 
• Going on stroller-walks are a blast. You can ride just like a big kid in the BOB, so we got a double stroller to enjoy this springtime.
• You love to stand and can "walk" as we hold your body. I can't wait for you to be able to sit up on your own, I have this suspicion that your fussies will go away as soon as you can keep yourself upright and watch the world.
• I kiss you and your sister's tiny feet every time I change your diapers.(yes, every time!) It's my way of slowing down time and telling you I love you dearly. I also kiss your little heads each time I take you both in and out of the car- I cherish you both so much. You are amazing little people and I know these days are fleeting. I savor every moment, I truly do. 

four months

oh, hi big boy.

What you have been up this past month:

• You are always chewing on your hands. Not sucking, chewing and drooling. We think you will be getting teeth soon. However, we said that with Cora for about a year until she got her first ones.
• You are sleeping for a 6-7 hour stretch at night. Sometimes it's a great night of sleep, others it's not so hot. Regardless though, you smile when you see us and fall back to sleep easily, I appreciate this. 
• We tried solid foods in the past few days- not a fan. I will keep on trying.
• You laugh! It's wonderful when it happens. You are ticklish under your arms and chin. You also think facial hair is funny- like dad and the grandpas. 
• You are mesmerized by Cora and all of her movements. She likes to jump on her bed with you and lay under your play gym. She turns on your obnoxious toys for you and shakes them so you watch. That's about it. More playing I assume later on.
• You are 16 lbs....and about 50-60% percentile in the rest. You fit into 6 month clothes. Not bad big guy.
• Definitely red hair. I think it's going to stay. Your eyes sometimes look green, sometimes blue. I think blue, your dad thinks green. 
• We like you a lot big guy, I almost forget what life was like with one kid. It took me 9 months to get used to the idea of having a son, and now I can't imagine it any other way. We are a nice little content family of four thanks to you.

three months

tickle those tiny henry toes cora.

Wow...three months old Henry! I have been looking forward to this month...knowing the newborn stage would be gone and done with and we would be able to start seeing your personality. And it's true. 

You're a keeper.

What you have been up to this past month:

• You are trying very hard to roll over. You can roll from your stomach to back sometimes... but now back to stomach is tricky. You are capable of a snaking movement that moves you all around in your crib/ground/any surface. That is why you have had two patches of red broken skin on your jowls. So much moving for those chubby cheeks.
• You just found your hands, now grabbing/swatting at things
• You like to talk/coo at just about everything. Its sweet. I swear you are close to breaking out into laughter. Soon I hope.
• You smile at faces.... I'd like to think particularly at mine-however it's not really true. Your big crooked smile is adorable and warms my heart. 
• You love watching your sister play. She likes to tickle noses with you, hold your hand in the back of the car and lovingly touch your head. I think she is used to you in her life now... actually we all are.
• You are capable of sleeping one 7 hr stretch at night- sometimes it happens, more often its about a 5-6 hr stretch...then up every 3 hours for the rest of the night. One great night, then two bad ones. You are growing like crazy so its no wonder your sleep is erratic.
• However you have adapted nicely to our bedtime routine we have with Cora. You take a nightly bath with Cora...splash your little chubby froggie legs, then we put on PJs, swaddle as tight as we can, give you a bottle and put you to bed around 7:30pm. You go down nicely...I'll give you that. Then wake up around 1 am...etc. At each nightly waking you eat, we change your diaper, and you go down smoothly. So thank you. We love routines.
• You outgrew the colic!! I hadn't even realized it with our whirlwind lives, but you are actually a cool little dude. You no longer cry your little head off just for the hell of it. I wouldn't say you're a content babe- but not colicky. Yay!!

two months

 

 

Our little tater tot is two months old and he is already looking like a big boy. I believe we are on the way up from here. I look forward to what this next month will bring us all (ie. sleep.)

 

What you've been up to this month:

• I believe your favorite time of day is the morning. you like to hear us say "good morning!" and "oh, you look so good!"...because you smile and coo at us. You especially love your dad. When you find his face in the morning you have a huge grin.
• now don't be fooled, we don't actually wake you up in the morning...you very much wake us up throughout the night and morning. you have a loud, angry cry that means you want to be fed, changed, burped and held. But at least you do go back to your bed to sleep another 3-5 hour stretch (finally!)
• reluctantly we switched you from breast milk to formula at the end of this month. I think you are probably doing better, less gas, more sleep- or perhaps you are just growing up.
• you love bath time, but despise being dried off after. your sister loves taking a bath with you. she won't leave your side and helps with cleaning your hair and feet. I can't wait to see you both play together!!
• you now love diaper changes. so silly. you like to be kissed on your belly and toes...and smile with delight for a new clean diaper to be put on.
• your hair is still red, but may be lightening, and your eyes have a blue-ish-gray hue. we think your legs just grew longer....and you look like a hefty dude. We love it.
• we are still tired from lack of sleep, and feel that you just might be a colic-y baby....crying probably more than you should. I guess we just make unhappy babies. But we know that you will grow out of it soon, maybe this month?! ...Please.

 



one month: tater tot

so serious little oaks.

Oh, henry... you're one month old! Time has just flown by. We try to put these difficult newborn hours in perspective...that it is only a phase that you will soon grow out of it. And we were right. You are growing right out of it. Now, you're more like a baby. Our little baby.

What you were up to this first month:

• you have been great at breastfeeding from the first hour you were born... way to go hank!!
• you were quite a peaceful baby during the first two weeks, sleeping a lot. We thought there must have been something wrong with you... but you were just normal. eat-sleep. eat-sleep.
• from about 2 weeks on your "fussies" have ramped up. you sleep well for an infant, but then scream with gut pain/gas which makes us sad.
• now you have about 1-3 hour stretches of naps at all hours of the day/night. you take about an hour to change your diaper, feed, and walk/burp/jiggle the gas out of you until you stop wailing. so we are exhausted...and ready for you to turn brief naps into some solid sleeping hours.
• you enjoy bath time, hate diaper changes and love to be walked around in our arms.
• you have quite red hair, and still those gray eyes. I think they are turning blue, your dad thinks they will be green. and your feet crack me up, they are exactly your dad's feet...but tiny and so sweet.
• eesh! you are 12 pounds at 4 weeks (about a 4 lb weight gain)!! you are almost fitting into 3 month clothes, we think you may have some football in your future...yikes.
• your sister loves the heck out of you, just like the rest of us. she wants to hold your hand, when you cry she walks around searching for your pacifier to give to you, she kisses you and lovingly touches your head, she likes to feed you with a bottle and when you are in my arms she will hop onto the couch and point to her lap and say be-be! be-be! reee?! (henry)... until I hand you over. she is only 19 months old but already you are her little brother and she is definitely your big sister.
• you have fit quite nicely into our family, we love you dearly little son.

* Oh, and this lovely quilt is made by his grandma. Each month I will take photos on this quilt of him as he grows. We did the same thing with Cora (spud months). So much fun. Thanks grandma!