What's Henry been up to?

Some random updates:

Henry is enjoying swimming lessons every M-W-F. They're not really lessons. They're more like baby playtime in the pool. There's a group of 8-10 moms and babies, and we sing songs and play with balls and toys and flotation devices. Henry really loves it. Today he was splashing, kicking, and cracking up laughing while we were in the pool.

Henry also loves Baby Einstein! Jeff & I weren't going to let Henry watch t.v. until he was a bit older, but after seeing how much he loved the Baby Einstein DVDs on the plane, I've been letting him watch one a day (on most days). He loves the "Baby MacDonald" episode. As soon as the show starts, and he sees the Baby Einstein caterpillar, his face breaks out into a HUGE smile. For some reason, the cow puppet really cracks him up. They are only about 30 mins. long, so it's a perfect amount of time for me to make and eat breakfast or do a load of laundry or update the blog! Here he is this morning glued to the show:











What do you do with a crawling baby when you need to get ready and don't want him getting into trouble? I guess you could put him in his crib or his exersaucer. This was my effective solution the other day:















Henry got to meet his youngest cousin yesterday at Grandpa's house. He has 8 cousins, and Oliver is the only one who is younger than Henry (3 months younger). They played together a little bit, but now that Henry is crawling, he doesn't stay in one place for too long. Here they are together:











When Henry wakes up, he doesn't cry. He talks and laughs and squeals. I usually give him some time to play before going into his room to get him. When he was tiny, I used to find him lying in the exact same spot where he was when I left. Then as he grew older, I'd find him on his tummy. Then I started finding him sitting up in his crib. Now this is what I find when I go into his room:















O.K. That's all for now. You've been updated on the recent Henry happenings.

p.s. You can click on any of the pictures to enlarge them.

p.p.s. You can leave comments so that I know people are reading (and hopefully enjoying) the blog! Just click on the comments link below the post. I accidentally had a "moderate comments" setting checked, so no comments were showing up. I've since fixed that. Thanks for the comments, Lannie!

Do you think Henry misses Hawaii?

From the warm Hawaiian beaches and the tropical Maui swimming pools to this... a plastic kiddie pool in our backyard. Add to that the humiliation of appearing naked to all of his friends and family. I don't blame Henry for crying!

We're back from Maui!

Did you miss us? I never had the chance to update the blog while on Maui. My mom still doesn't have a computer, and Henry wasn't into hanging out at an internet cafe. We had a good time swimming, seeing friends, eating out, and enjoying the sunshine. He was very good on the flights, but it was a long time to be confined to the small airline seats alone with a very active 9-month-old. Henry hasn't watched t.v. before, but a portable DVD player and a Baby Einstein DVD kept him occupied for quite a while. Many of the other passengers commented on what a good baby he is. I'm sure they were very thankful that they didn't have to listen to him cry the whole time. While in Hawaii, Henry got to spend lots of time with his Grandma Jackie. He liked watching her pet birds fly around the house. He also got to meet some of Mommy's good friends. Everyone spoiled him! He particularly loved "Auntie" Laurie's daughters Christina, Casey, and Morgan. They loved holding him and feeding him, and even at 9 months old, he enjoyed the attention of pretty girls! Some recent Henry milestones: he got his first tooth the day after we arrived on Maui, and he just cut his second tooth today, he started pulling himself up to a standing position while holding on to furniture or people, and he started crawling the day we got back. He was getting into crawl position for a few weeks, but he waited until we got home so that his Daddy could witness his first crawl "steps." He's getting pretty good at it! When we got home from the airport, Henry seemed happy to see his toys, his room, and his pugs, but especially his Daddy. Jeff & Henry have been enjoying some good Daddy & Son time. We had a lot of fun on Maui, but it's nice to be home.

Henry enjoying Grandma Jackie's pool....


Mommy & Henry in the ocean together....


Grandma Jackie & Henry out to lunch at Hula Grill....


Henry enjoying some Maui flowers after a swim....


Silly Henry lounging on a chair at the beach....

Henry's ready to go!

We're leaving tomorrow for Hawaii (not by train, as Henry's picture may have you thinking) for 10 days. The good things are: Henry will get to spend time with his Grandma Jackie, I will see lots of friends at my high school reunion, we'll spend time at the beach and in the pool, we will enjoy 10 days of nice, warm Maui weather. The bad things are: I have to travel alone on a LONG flight with a 9-month-old, I won't be able to update the blog, and most of all, we'll miss Jeff terribly. Daddy has never been away from Henry for more than an overnight. He claims that he'll miss ME, but I think it will be harder for him to be away from Henry. He's just so darn fun to be around!

If I happen upon a computer while I'm on Maui, I may be able to post a quick update and possibly add some pictures. We'll see.

For now... Aloha!

Ready, Set, Crawl!

Henry's ALMOST crawling! He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth. Sometimes he pushes with his arms, but that only moves him backwards. Sometimes he gets one foot stuck underneath himself and pivots around in a circle. Sometimes he lunges his whole body forward from the hands and knees position. Even though he's not officially crawling yet, through a series of rocking, pushing, rolling, lying down and sitting up, he is mobile. I'm not sure if I'm happy, sad, or terrified. On one hand, it's exciting to see Henry develop new skills and make progress of any kind. On the other hand, he's growing up so fast, and sometimes that makes me sad. Besides, now I'll have to babyproof the house and watch him like a hawk. Uggghhh. A few unfortunate "crawling" situations resulted in Henry under the coffee table crying because he couldn't get himself out. I quickly removed him from the coffee table jail, and he immediately pushed himself (backwards) back underneath. Another fun thing that's happened repeatedly is that Henry managed to roll-pivot-lunge himself over to the computer tower and remove the wireless mouse plug-in from the USB port. He thought it was a fun game, but I didn't think it was so much fun (especially after the 5th or 6th time).







It's probably only a matter of days or weeks before he's full-blown crawling all over the house like a maniac. Then he'll soon be walking. Then driving. Then moving out. I miss my baby even though he's still a baby!

Can babies drink coffee?

Henry loves coffee frappuccinos! Actually, he loves the whipped cream on top.

A couple of times a week, I treat myself to a caffeine fix in the form of a blended coffee, and I always order it "with whip" for the Little Guy. Lately he's become a bit gluttonous when it comes to the white stuff. After feeding Henry many mouthfuls of whipped cream, Mom wants to enjoy her coffee treat! When the white part is gone, and I try to reclaim my portion of the drink, "Greedy Baby" comes out to play. He wants the coffee, too! He grabs the cup and won't let go, steals the straw, and holds out his hands toward the cup while making a whining-panting type of sound.


I let him have the whipped cream, I let him have the straw, I even let him hold the cup for a while. But I draw the line at giving him my coffee! Maybe when he's 2?

Happy 4th (on the 6th)!!

Becky, a friend from work, stopped by on the 4th of July to bring Henry a present. Wow, a 4th of July present! I am all for that. I love presents of any kind; for any reason. Just think what kind of trends a 4th of July present could start...Arbor Day presents, April Fool's Day presents, Summer Equinox presents. This really opens up a whole new world of gift-giving. Anyway, Becky stopped by and gave Henry an adorable red & white straw cowboy hat that she'd found at a rodeo. Remember how we needed one to go with those boots? Since it was the 4th of July, Henry was dressed in his red, white & blue. Therefore, I decided we must take pictures of him in his festive outfit accessorized by the new hat! Sometimes the photo sessions don't go as planned. Maybe babies & hats don't mix. Maybe Henry wasn't in the mood. Maybe it was my fault.

For all of you who have commented on how Henry never takes a bad picture...here you go.





Thanks for the hat, Becky! Only 59 more shopping days 'till Labor Day...

Top 10 things Henry loves about Summer!

Henry is loving Summer! Well, his mommy is really the one loving it. I am having so much fun being home with Henry every day. This is my favorite benefit of being a teacher! Henry's at such a fun age. Last night he said a word that sounded a lot like "mommy" while reaching out his arms to me. Actually it was more like "mah-maay," but I'll take it. Then today he started clapping. There's no sound to his clapping; basically he just lightly taps his hands together, but he does it on purpose, and he smiles a huge smile while doing it. See...



Although Summer is definitely MY favorite season, only time will tell which season Henry prefers. Until he can voice his own opinions, though, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Henry loves summer. Here are the top 10 things Henry loves about Summer:

10. Being barefoot...


9. Summer clothing...


8. Shopping at Portland's Saturday Market...


7. Swinging at the park...


6. Going for walks along the waterfront...


5. Hanging out at the coffee shop with friends...


4. Spending time with the dogs...


3.Barbecues with friends and family


2.Chillin' by the pool


And the number 1 thing Henry loves about Summer...
1. Spending time with Mommy & Daddy!