lots of stuff

Dear Henry -

It has been a month since my last note... I know, really slacking but we've been busy with the start of the summer...which means Nana is out of school, you are hanging with her & I'm back to work. Its not the greatest - but I will say not quite as horrible as I thought it might be. I give lots of credit to my low anxiety b/c I know you are being spoiled & snuggled all day with Nana - huge relief for me, so we are both lucky! Also a big help that I am going to be switching to 3 day/week at the end of the summer....so the countdown is on - 2 weeks down & 5 weeks to go.

So I'm going to be brief on words & just share lots of good pictures....and then try to sit down to write more often. Lots of visits in the last month -

So we left off heading to Manteca - the boys played well & had fun, the weather cooperated (not too hot) & as usual you were quite the little star. I'm pretty sure more of the fellow parents know your name than know mine "hows Hank?" is usually how I'm greeted. We have mastered attending a baseball game with baby gear - lots of stuff schlepped along & we are ready for anything! Also helps that your entertainer Lainey is on the sidelines & always good for some funny faces to entertain you.

Your Papa Bruce & Vicki came to visit & jumped right in on all the action, baseball & softball games. I am embarrassed to say I didn't take a single picture the entire weekend - but you will appreciate later that Papa Bruce had a camera (or two or three) in tow at all times - so I left it to him to be the photographer for the weekend. At one point, I was happily entertaining you & saw that he had (what I thought was) a little camera in his hand. Well, turns out it was a video camera....I might not have been such a goober had I realized sound and all would be captured. "uuhhh, whoops" as Jack would say. Well, now I'll have this later as an example that I will do anything to make you happy :-)

We took a trip down to LA for your Aunt Danielle's graduation; I thought a Hawaiian shirt would be appreciated by Papa Mike for the occasion. You also got to meet your Aunt Katherine, who was a very thoughtful host with us (and lots of baby gear) at her house & you had fun hanging with her while Dad & I enjoyed some sipping in the wine cellar with Papa Mike!

On the way back up - you, Dad & I spent 3 days in Santa Barbara which was wonderful. You went swimming which you loved! Toured the Botanical Gardens - we were sad to see how much had burnt from the recent fires, but plenty in the meadow which you enjoyed checking out. We didn't realize we choose a path that would involve these steps - I wanted to turn around, but oh no Dad was confident the Bob would handle it - and you of course squealed with delight as he bumped you down each step. There are definitely moments like these when I see the "boy" in you!

You have been growing like crazy the last month - there have been days that I look at you & swear you are bigger than just the day before. Lots of new tricks as well!

I haven't captured it yet - but you know absolutely recognize your bottle. You can be in the middle of crying to let us know we are taking to long getting it....then the second you see the bottle you stop, get a focused look - stick both your hands out for it & open up that mouth! It is pretty funny. You also like to hold onto the bottle now, after the first ~half and the immediate appetite is taken care of - you entertain yourself by pulling it out, dripping it around & then ferociously sucking again.

You have also mastered sucking your thumb. I may regret this later - but right now its so cute & you are so content that I'm not willing to try & stop it!

You have found your toes...endless entertainment to watch them, grab them...and you are currently working on getting them into your mouth (of course).

With the summer weather - we've been spending lots of time on the blanket under the magnolia tree. You are a pro at rolling from your back onto your belly. every other time your arm gets stuck underneath your belly & that is a bit annoying. But with practice you are figuring out how to get both arms out in front- then you open those big eyes and take in the view all around.

Now that you are a bit sturdier - both Jack & Lainey are always wanting to lay & snuggle with you. They rough house like crazy with each other - for now they are doing a mini Henry version with you - and you love it. I'm sure you will be in full rough house mode w/ them before we know it.

The heat is also a great excuse for you to hang out in just your diaper. The chubbiness is so inviting, we just can't help ourselves & we have found your two tickle spots - under your arms & squeezing your thighs. Giggles from you are one of my favorite things! Along with giggling you have mastered making raspberry noises with your lips. I managed to capture this on video - but my upload skills are still lacking - so that would delay this post for days, weeks - so I'll pass on that for now.

You popped your first tooth while in Santa Barbara - didn't seem too bad, just a little wimpy for a day or two. Hopefully the rest go as smoothly! In the last week your hair has really been coming in. Your Nana says she has been massaging your head everyday to help it grow. Her magic seems to be working on the top as you can see - but you still have a bald spot in the back for now. I'll let her know you need extra massaging for that spot!

Phew - I think those are the highlights! I am going to try my best to do quick little updates going forward....we'll see how that goes!

love, mama

Lainey & Henry

Dear Henry -

Lainey is your official back seat companion & you absolutely love it.  She sings songs to you, chats, makes silly faces & keeps you completely entertained. I love it too b/c you have recently started to get bored in the backseat if its just you & me in the car.  It is also rather entertaining what Lainey will think of to keep you happy.  This morning on the way to school you started fussing, she tried to give you the pacifier & I guess you didn't want it.  Next thing I hear she says "Henry!"  I look in the mirror & all I can see is the back of her head as she is leaning in really close to you.  Lainey then looks up & tells me "Henry keeps sucking on my nose!"  She says this as if you have the ability to go after her nose....wonder if it has anything to do with her sticking her nose right in front of your open mouth.  So, in case there was any doubt - we now know you will suck on anything.

One of Lainey's favorite things to do these days is write on the whiteboard easel.  You aren't quite old enough to play teacher with her - but she often writes things about you on the board.  She called us over the other day to see "Hennrey is a happy silly boy!" and a cute drawing of you.  After telling her how much I loved the picture, I cautiously say, "Henry is spelled h-e-n-r-y, only one N and one E".  She looks at w/o blinking an eye, "No" and turns back to drawing on her whiteboard.  All righty then.

We finally remembered to bring the camera to Lainey's softball game.  At her request - you were dressed in one of your baseball outfits for the occasion.  Didn't get a picture of your outfit - but few good ones of Lainey.

In other news....you rolled over for the first time yesterday!  You've definitely been getting better at tummy time, but I was quite surprised.  You started pushing with one arm, wobbled a little and then boom - all the way over from your belly to your back.  Jack & I were watching and gave you all sorts of applause when you were done.  You were quite pleased with yourself & lots of grins & squeals followed.  A few minutes later I put you back on your belly to see if you would do it again.  Uh, no - you didn't like this at all & immediately protested as if to say Jeez mom, can't you be happy w/ one roll? Sorry kiddo, I'm thoroughly impressed!

We've been enjoying lots of lunchtime visits from Auntie Sara...and your Dad & I even had date night this week & you hung out at Sara's with Ryan.  Ryan thought you were pretty fun & was nice enough to give you one of his favorite books about fire trucks from when he was younger.  

After your bath this morning happily talking to your friend the cow.  I'm not sure what it is - but something about laying on your changing table, you love it.  You talk to the cow, stare out the window, my patience w/ standing there usually ends before you tired of hanging out!

We're headed to Manteca this weekend for a tournament - you are quite the baseball fan!

love,

mama

Flying Bigs!

Dear Henry -

Dad & I had our first night away last weekend for our anniversary & it was wonderful!  You were in great care for the occasion - Nana, Granfeather and Aunt Malisa ALL spent the night at our house with you.  You charmed all day & them impressed them by sleeping from 7:30 - 7:30.  Malisa was prepared to be woken up early by you....not quite what she expected to be  woken up at 6:30 by your grans chatting & cracking each other up!  The next day was Mothers Day and you all joined us & we spent a relaxing day in Half Moon Bay ending with soup & pie at Duartes - yumm.

Your Dad & I have a love of "the little things" - so here are some of the little things I love about you:

-  your smile.  Almost guaranteed to get a smile when someone does raspberry lips for you.  But the best is when out of nowhere you look at me & crack a big grin, as if its just for me :-)

-  your eyelashes are so long!  It is usually the first thing people comment on when they meet you - either your long eyelashes or your big eyes (they are rather dreamy your Dad says.  You lost an eyelash the other day....I plucked it off your check & I couldn't resist measuring it - 3/4 of an inch!!!  

-  every night I put you down in your crib head to one end & foot to the other.  Every morning I go to get you from the crib - you are diagonal in the crib.  The part that makes me laugh is you manage to turn yourself the same way each time - head to the left, feet to the right.

I think your current favorite activity is doing the airplane with Dad.  He lifts you up, zooms you around, smacks you with kisses & then back down for landing.  You get really excited & anticipate the next lift off...  You make a rather goofy grin - it really looks like you want to laugh, just haven't figured out how to make that sound quite yet. 

As you fly around - lots of drool as well!

You've just discovered that you can stand.  Well, so my arms are holding you up - but you have the strength to push up with your legs & can hold the weight of your body up.  You seem to quite enjoy the new perspective looking at things this way.  The funny thing is most of the time you "stand" with your legs crossed - we will have to work on that.

You continue exploring by putting everything possible in your mouth.  You can definitely grip onto things & once it is in your mouth you have a blast....getting it into your mouth is the big challenge right now.  

Love,

mama

p.s.  We've named the monkey Cha-Cha.

3 Months

Dear Henry -

No Dr appt for this month - so I did an unofficial weigh-in today: 14.2 lbs. Thats another ~pound & a half in the last month.

Highlight of the 3 month mark: sleep! I think I can officially say you are sleeping through the night! Its been ~2 weeks so I don't think I will jinx it by writing it down - you now tend to go to bed around 8 and sleep ALL THE WAY through until 6/7 am. It is amazing! We haven't had to do any sleep training, cry it out, that some of your friends have tortured their parents with....your Dad & I are very pleased. I will brace myself for teething, or a trip, or something else to disturb your sleeping - but for now I am enjoying it. Jack & Lainey were apparently both good sleepers early on too - so must be your Dad has the good sleep gene :-)

You've recently made a new friend - a little stuffed monkey. I guess we should give him a name - seems like a good thing for Lainey & Jack to think off. I tried him out with you the other day & you immediately liked him - got all smiley as I had the monkey give you kisses. You wrapped your arms around him, pulled him towards you & yup - jammed him up against your face to try to get any part of the monkey into your mouth. I will admit it looks a bit like a make out session w/ the monkey :-) The picture doesn't quite do it justice - but you provided us all with a good laugh by managing to find the banana to suck on!

You are making major progress with your hands - no problems these days getting them to your mouth. You tend to suck on your first one or two fingers. I'm curious if you will stick with that or migrate over to your thumb at some point.

You can also now grab onto a lot of things - its been funny to see which things get your attention. There is a little cow toy that is hanging right next to your changing table. For a while you've seemed to be looking at him, chatting with him & reaching for him. You have now gotten pretty good at grabbing ahold of him & pulling him down on top of you.

Yesterday you took notice of the parrot hanging above you. (I guess you like animals - monkey, cow, parrot - ha!) I was so impressed that you could grab him & that I managed to capture it on video - that I finally got my act together to figure out how to import videos - here it is:

A few seconds after I stopped recording - you got extremely frustrated you couldn't get more to your mouth & kicked into high gear with your crying....Monkey to the rescue & as soon as I handed him to you, you happily shoved him towards your face.

We've been practicing on your tummy as well, developing arm stregnth:

Its Cinco de Mayo today - and we are going to a little fiesta at SFSF with your fan club!

Love, mama

Germain Visit

Dear Henry -

We were busy this last weekend - Uncle Jeff, Addie, Jasper & Papa Mike all came to visit! On Friday we wanted to head to SF & tour Alcatraz. Your dad & I decided you might not appreciate the tour...and since Nana is on spring break, she agreed to hang out with you for the day. So you missed out on SF - but you got spoiled & got to meet Pam & Gloria at her house. Alcatraz tour was sold out...so instead the big kids got treats & we headed over to the beach in Marin.

The rest of the weekend we hung around here & you got lots of good time to get to know everyone. You hung out on the front porch for quite some time in your bouncy chair, pretty sure you felt like part of the conversation with Uncle Jeff & Papa Mike - so were quite happy.

The girls were connected at the hip most of the weekend - crafts with Gran, a picnic on the lawn & getting cozy - they let you join in for a little cozy time while they watched a movie in the morning. Notice Lainey gets closer, closer, closer....this is how you & Lainey cuddling usually works. You look a little scared in the last one, wimpers started a few seconds later & Dad swooped you up before full on tears, lol.

Jack & Jasper were out all day on skates, bikes, scooters, etc with the rest of the neighborhood boys. Was fun to see the cousins instantly click & have a blast goofing off & hanging. This was the first hot weekend of the year - and the big kids found their way to the swimming hole near us - you missed out on this one too - maybe in a few years!




We wrapped up the weekend with meal of Peninsula Creamery shakes & pizza at the park. Before the big kids ran off to the playground - I managed to convince all the kids to do a photo with Granfeather....a little challenging to get everyone to smile for the same photo!

Your main interest these days is your hands. Most often they are in your mouth, you try your best to get the entire fist in your mouth & to produce as much slobber as possible. You also spend a lot of time just staring at them & checking out your fingers and crazy shapes you can make - maybe you are starting your hippie dancing practice now :-) Even when you are resting, you like to clasp your hands together & rest them on top of your belly (which is rather impressive these days).



You love to have conversation with me, doesn't really matter about what - you will listen as I describe how I'm folding the laundry - your main concern is that you are sitting close by and I talk to you a lot so you don't feel like you are alone. If I am silent too long (say a minute, lol) - you give a few panicky cries as my warning - and usually are content if I quickly pick up the conversation. I can get a lot of smiles from you now when we are chatting.

You continue to impress us with your will to sleep - to mark 10 weeks old you eliminated another feeding - so now you go to bed about 8, sleep until 3-4ish, eat quickly in your sleepy zombie state & then go back to sleep until 7ish. Its been about 2 weeks that you've been doing this most nights - and I love it! The best part is that I don't feel obligated to go to sleep the second you do - I can stay up "late" until, say, 9:30 and hang out with Dad - and then I still get a good night sleep. Next we need to work on an easier time getting you to go to sleep w/o being rocked & sshhhhed - but I'll take this for now :-) When you wake up, you don't imediately cry of hunger - and I've caught you a few times gazing up from your crib:

Can't believe we are almost to 3 months!

Love, mama