Open Wide!

It cracks me up how Henry opens his mouth into a great big "O" when I take his picture. My mom thinks it's because I open MY mouth into a wide open smile in order to make him smile. Maybe that's it. Whatever the reason, I have many pictures of the H-Man with the biggest of big open mouths. Some of them are half-smile, half-yell and some of them are just wide open-mouthed, squinty-eyed silliness. Here are some of the funny ones:

Crazy Hair!

I just had to post this funny picture of Henry with crazy hair and a model pose (I didn't pose him that way!). He'd just had a bath, and I towel-dried his hair and put on his pajamas. I guess the vigorous towel drying made for some bozo-like hair. This particular pair of jammies that he's wearing was a gift from our friends Jim & Amber, so I wanted to take a picture of Henry in them. Jim is my teaching partner at school, so I brought the picture to work the other day and he immediately tacked it up on the wall in his classroom. The next day, one of his students, a 3rd grade girl, pointed to the picture and asked, "is that Henry wearing a wig?" We died laughing.

Henry is NOT a sissy-boy

Before Henry was born, my friend Jill gave me BUNCHES of her old baby stuff. Even though Jill has a little girl, lots of her baby equipment, furniture & toys were gender neutral and we've gotten a lot of use out of everything. (Thanks, Jill!) In the boxes of stuff, there were even a few baby boy outfits that had been passed on through several people. Just last week I pulled out this sailor suit and figured it would be fun to try it on Henry. I thought it was ADORABLE! Obviously Henry did NOT share my sentiments. Moments after I put the outfit on him, Henry started crying. It's as if he has some kind of inner "sissy radar." He wanted that girly-boy sailor suit outfit off in the worst way! He pulled and tugged at the sleeves and pantlegs in an attempt to free himself of the garment (to no avail). I managed to snap a couple of cute pictures of him in the outfit, but most of them captured an indignant, angry little guy. I guess he won't be wearing the sailor suit out in public any time soon. He was very happy to get back into a pair of sweats and a t-shirt!

A Happier Henry!

Henry seems to be feeling lots better! He still has a lingering cough, but he's in a better mood, and is finally getting back to his usual happy personality. It was hard to see Henry so grumpy, whiny, and unhappy. He even has his appetite back now. He wasn't too interested in food while sick (only bottles), but now he's making up for lost time. He had his first Ravioli-O experience a few days ago. He liked them, but not as much as Jeff, who finished the can after Henry ate 2 or 3. Check out his two teeth! He still only has the 2 bottom ones, and I've been checking daily for more, but there's no sign of anything yet. Along with about a thousand other nicknames, we like to call Henry "Two-Teeth." So, I guess it's o.k. if he doesn't get any more for a while.

Here are a couple of videos that I took last night of Henry eating and laughing. I was playing a little game of peek-a-boo from behind the camera, which he thought was extremely funny. He's laughing, squealing, and talking (with a little bit of his patented "shaky chin" action).

Family Visits

I've been meaning to post these pictures, but procrastination has gotten the better of me. We had several family visitors a couple of weeks ago. Grandma Lannie came over from Spokane to see Henry. She had a great time hanging out with Henry while I went in to work. Here's a cute picture of the two of them together:

Then, Auntie Kathleen came down from Seattle for a work meeting, and we got to visit with her for a few days. Here's a picture of Henry & Auntie Kath in jail:


A few days after that, Auntie Liz also visited. She had fun playing with Henry. Here's a picture:

Daycare, Vomit, and Snot...oh my!

I'm sorry for not keeping up with the blog better. This is my busy time at work. The beginning and ending of the school year are the two most stressful and busy times for a teacher. I officially had to go back to work on Monday, and I've been working on getting my classroom set up for about two weeks. Today is Saturday, and I'll be going in for a few hours later today, too. With me going back to work, that means Henry has started going to daycare. I really like his daycare provider. She is very sweet and fun and organized. The first few days, Henry loved all of the new toys and the other kids. However, after three days of being around the other kids, Henry developed a cold. I guess his little immune system needs to adjust to being around the new germs. On Monday he went to daycare, but when I picked him up, he had thrown up in the crib during a nap. So, he stayed home with Jeff on Tuesday. He did great all day and had fun with Daddy. On Wednesday, he went back to daycare, but I got called to pick him up early because he had thrown up again. He has a very sensitive gag reflex, and the coughing triggers that, causing him to throw up during a coughing fit. Anyway, he stayed home again on Thursday. He did great. He was happy and playing and seemed fine except for the occasional cough and runny nose. He went back to daycare on Friday, but I was called at lunch time because he had AGAIN thrown up in the crib. It's been a tough week! I'm hoping the 3-day weekend will give him enough time to rest and recuperate, and that he'll be happy and healthy and ready for daycare on Tuesday. Poor little honey! I don't have any recent pictures because they would all show Henry with red eyes and a snotty nose. Here are some fairly recent funny pictures....

Henry seems to think he should open his mouth really wide every time I take a picture. The camera comes out...the mouth opens wide!
Henry's Grandma Lannie bought him a really cool push toy full of blocks, but what he really loves is the box that it came in.
I have no idea why, but Henry loves to lick the wall. It's pretty odd; but funny!
Bathtime funny...everything goes into the mouth!

Blazing Saddles!

Today we went to my friend Becky's house/farm in Sherwood so that my niece, Miranda, could go horseback riding. For the past few years, I've taken her horseback riding at Becky's & then we have a sleepover at our house. This time Cowboy Hank got to ride along. Miranda had a great time riding Dan, and Becky says that she's "a natural." After Miranda was done riding, we put Henry up on the horse with her and they did a little riding together. At first he wasn't so sure about being up there, but after a few minutes, he seemed to enjoy it. He LOVED sitting on the tractor even more. He looked so cute in his little cowboy boots and his HOWDY shirt. Hopefully we can continue the summer riding tradition. If Henry ends up not liking horses, he can always play on the tractor.

Henry "driving" the tractor....











Miranda & Henry sitting on Dan....











The cousins enjoying a little ride in the arena....











Here's a short video of the riding experience....

Halloween in August?

I know it's a little early, but I've already bought Henry a Halloween costume. I was at Babies "R" Us browsing through their adorable costumes, and planning on buying one closer to Halloween, when the saleswoman informed me that if I wanted a good one, I'd better buy it early. She said that some parents wait until the last minute to buy the costumes and then they're disappointed with the poor selection or can't find their kids' sizes. Well, not me! I couldn't let that happen! Henry will NOT have an uncool costume like a clown (hate them) or a vampire (boring...snore, snore) because I wasn't on the ball enough to buy a Halloween costume in August. I had a hard time deciding between the dragon, horse, or lion (all very cool choices), but I finally decided on the dragon. I think. They have a 90 day return policy, so I can still change my mind. Here's a sneak peek. What do YOU think? Scary? Funny? Cool?

It's o.k....Henry's secure in his masculinity.

I bought Henry a doll. I know that traditionally boys play with G.I. Joes or Stretch Armstrongs, and NOT baby dolls. I don't care. Henry needed a doll. Originally the doll was dressed in a frilly pink outfit, but I bought him/her a gender neutral outfit and named it Chris...or maybe Pat. I thought it would be nice for Henry to have a baby to hug and kiss and hold. I thought a doll might help him to grow up well-balanced and in touch with his loving, nurturing side. So far, all he wants to do is poke him/her in the eyeballs. I captured the following video of Henry and Chris/Pat in a rare moment of non-eye-poking sweetness.

Future Rock Star

Just because Henry doesn't go to school, it doesn't mean he can't get new school clothes, right? I saw this absolutely adorable outfit at Baby Gap and I happened to have a Gap giftcard burning a whole in my pocket (thanks Mom), so Henry had to have it. It even has matching socks that say "I love Rock." Having a baby isn't good for the shopaholic tendencies. I thought I was safe with a boy. I thought my choices would be should I get that t-shirt in navy blue or light blue? I was wrong. There are a lot of super cute boy clothes out there. MUST CONTROL SELF.... At least I've stopped buying clothes for Rocco & Stella. Yes, they have outfits and even pajamas. It's a sickness. I know.

A couple more pictures from the Future Rock Star photo shoot:

The Coy Rocker


The Pensive Rocker


The Party Animal Rocker


The Typical Rocker Tantrum


The Rocker Socks

Henry & Daddy

I know Jeff had some worries about fatherhood before Henry was born, but I was convinced he would be a great dad. During my pregnancy Jeff asked questions such as "what if I don't love him?" or "what if I'm not a good father?" I never worried about that because I'd seen Jeff playing with my neices and nephews or joking around with the kids in my class and I also knew first-hand the kind of love Jeff is capable of giving. Now, seeing Jeff with our son, I am still blown away by how much he loves him. Jeff cuddles Henry, kisses him, tickles him, and professes his love for him all the time. Jeff likes to say "You're my son...my sun, my moon and my stars." That gets me every time. Even though I knew I loved Jeff, and I knew Jeff would love Henry, I didn't know how much I would love Jeff loving Henry.

Here are some pictures of my two favorite guys:

Proud Papa at the hospital....











Rocking Henry to sleep....















Daddy with all of his "kids"....











Laughing together....











Bath time....















The Boys in Fall River over Spring Break....











Daddy can't get enough Henry kisses....















Watching the polar bear at the zoo....

Simple Pleasures

It's amazing what a 9 1/2 month old thinks is fun or funny or amazing. Yesterday Henry was absolutely delighted with the doggy door. He kept batting at it and laughing hysterically. He laughed even harder when one of the dogs used the door.















He had lots of fun playing in the curtains next to the doggy door, and he also discovered the amazing wonders of the heating vent. (Sidenote: After Henry demonstrated his love of the doggy door, it was thoroughly cleaned for future fun. Please ignore the extreme dirt.)

Here is a video clip of Henry and the HILARIOUS doggy door (46 seconds)...



Here's one of Henry playing with the super-fun curtains (40 seconds)...




Wouldn't it be wonderful to be so easily thrilled and entertained?

Let's try something new....

Have you ever heard of You Tube? It's a website where you can upload videos and then other people can go there to view them. Let's try it out!

The first video is of Henry crawling. He just learned last week, but is getting faster & better already. This video is about 2 1/2 minutes long, and was taken on July 29.



This next 30 second video from July 31 shows how quickly the moods of Henry can change!


Let me know if you are able to view the videos. I hope it works!