Recent Random Pictures

Happy Birthday Rocco! Yesterday was Rocco's 3rd birthday. I tried to get a picture of Henry and Rocco wearing party hats, but neither one cooperated.
The Birthday Dog in Henry's special chair.

Daddy-Son cuddles....

Henry doesn't know how to use a fork yet, but he likes to play with it.

Today I walked into the kitchen to find Henry IN the dishwasher. Too bad he can't really do the dishes. Someday....

Today is Dr. Seuss' Birthday! It's also Read-Across-America Day. My class and I celebrated by dressing up like The Cat in the Hat.

We read Dr. Seuss books, listened to guest readers, had a costume parade, and did other fun Dr. Seuss activities.

Bathtime Conversations

For some reason, Henry gets very talkative during his bath. We play a game where he makes a sound and I repeat it, and then I say a word and he repeats it. The other night he was repeating every word I said. I grabbed my camera, and of course, he stopped doing it. I managed to capture a few Henry words. I just love the way he says "Stella." It sounds like "Tetta." He seems to say "baba" or "dada" in place of most words. I swear the other day he said "billy goat." I'm sure it was just a random combination of sounds, but it made me laugh.




Naked Time Update: We had another couple of hours of Naked Time yesterday to try and air out Henry's diaper rash. This time we had FIVE pees and ONE POOP on the floor. YUCK!

Naked Time!

My poor little Henry has such sensitive skin that he keeps getting horrible diaper rashes. He's had prescription medication for the rashes on three different occasions, and we always keep him slathered in Desitin in an attempt to prevent a new rash. Yesterday evening his little bottom was so red and raw. He shrieked and shook and clenched his legs together when I changed his diaper. Even a bath with baking soda made him scream. He spent two hours running around the house with no diaper on to air out the rash. I kept a VERY close eye on him to make sure he didn't leave any surprises anywhere. Although he seemed to enjoy the naked time, his rash doesn't look any better today. In fact, it looks worse after all night in a diaper. We're going to run to Target right now to buy more Desitin, but when we get back, it's Naked Time!

Don't YOU check your mail without pants on?

Pants? Who needs pants?

I LOVE naked time, Mommy!

Henry is going to HATE me for these pictures someday.

Weekend Getaway (a.k.a. Birthday Barf-O-Rama)

Happy Presidents' Day! For some reason that greeting never really caught on. It's definitely not my favorite holiday, but anytime I get a 3-day weekend, I'm glad. So, as I said, Happy Presidents' Day! We spent the weekend down in Sunriver, Oregon (near Bend) at our friend Jim's parents' house. They have a huge vacation home there, so we had 11 adults and 4 children staying there. Henry and I drove over Saturday morning since Jeff was still working. He did pretty well on the 4-hour drive. He slept the first 2 1/2 hours, was o.k. for the next 1/2 hour, and then whined and cried for the last hour. He REALLY wanted to get out of his car seat. Jeff didn't make it there until Sunday, so as soon as he arrived we went for a walk. In the COLD. It was snowing earlier in the day, and it was really cold! Did I mention that it was cold? We only walked for about 10 minutes before turning around because it was way too cold for Henry, who didn't have any gloves with us. Bad Mommy!

Jim's birthday was on Sunday, so we were all there to help him celebrate.

Unfortunately, we ended up calling it "Birthday Barf-O-Rama" or "Noro (VIRUS) Birthday." All of a sudden on Saturday, Amber became violently ill. She spent most of the night on the bathroom floor. We thought it might have been food poisoning. Until 2 1/2-year-old Sebastian threw up later that night. The next day, it struck Bryan. He threw up all night. Then Sunday night, it was Mark's turn. I haven't heard whether there were any more casualties after we QUICKLY left early today, and so far our family seems fine. Knock on wood.

I don't think I've ever mentioned on this blog what a great sleeper Henry is. I usually don't talk about it, because every time I do, he has a terrible night's sleep that night. I'm taking a chance by writing this down, but I'll throw caution to the wind just this once. Henry started sleeping through the night at 8 weeks, and with very few exceptions, he has been a great night sleeper. This was NOT the case at Sunriver. He has spent the night away from home before and has done great. Saturday night he screamed and cried when I tried to put him down at his usual 7:30 time. I can't stand to let him cry, so I got him back up and didn't put him down until about 9:30. He seemed o.k. until 2:45 a.m. when he woke up SCREAMING. I picked him up, calmed him down, and fed him a bottle, but he wouldn't go back to sleep. He wouldn't go back into his crib. He wouldn't sleep in bed with me. He finally went back to sleep at about 4:15...then he woke up at 6:30. Not good. Sunday night was a bit better. He went down at 7:30 with very minimal crying. But, then he woke up crying at 11:00. And 11:30. And 12:00. And so on. It was another rough night. I thought at least he would sleep well in the car on the way home. I thought. He slept for the first 40 minutes of the drive, but woke up when I stopped for gas. Then he wouldn't go back to sleep. He wanted OUT! Here is a very unhappy Henry....

After 1 1/2 hours of whining and crying, and then a stop for pizza with Jeff, and then MORE whining, he finally fell asleep in the car.

He slept for the last 40 minutes of the drive and then for another hour in the car in the garage. I just put him down for the night in his own crib. Hopefully he'll sleep all night...and none of us will throw up.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Don't you think Henry makes the perfect Valentine cherub? If only he had a pair of wings and a bow and arrow. He could be Cupid. Since I don't have a pair of wings lying around, I had to improvise for some Valentine's pictures. He loved the balloons and chocolates!

Mmmm...look at all these chocolates!

These balloons are fun!

Happy Valentine's Day from Henry and his two sweethearts (Mommy & Daddy)!

Rainy Sunday

This morning it was clear and sunny out. I wanted to go outside to enjoy the nice weather. After Henry's nap, Jeff and I decided to take Henry and the pugs to a nearby park. By the time we got everyone dressed and ready to go, it was kind of cloudy. By the time we drove to the park (about 2 miles away), it was gray. As soon as we got out of the car, it started drizzling. A few minutes later it was full-fledged raining. We were determined to enjoy our trip to the park. I pushed Henry on the swings and let him explore the play structure while Jeff walked the pugs around the park. We only stayed for about 15 minutes. Oh well. It was still fun.

Henry loves swinging! He smiles and laughs the whole time.

Henry's driving...watch out!

A little rain didn't spoil Henry's fun! He even kept his hood up the whole time.

Here's a quick & blurry video of Henry having fun swinging in the rain....

We live in Oregon...

...so Henry needs rain gear!


Of course, when we take him out in the rain, we will probably have him wear pants.

Sick AGAIN!

Yes, Henry is sick again. He was congested and coughing over the weekend, but he seemed o.k. otherwise. Then this morning he woke up with a 101.3 fever. Not too high, but he definitely needed to stay home. Jeff was home, so Henry stayed home with Daddy. He woke up from his nap this afternoon with a 104.5 fever, so when I got home from work I took him to Urgent Care (after he greeted me by vomiting on me). He then threw up again in the car on the way to Kaiser. He screamed and cried and made everyone around us in the waiting room feel sorry for him. When we were finally seen by the doctor, he did not like being poked and prodded, so he screamed and cried some more. Fast forward TWO HOURS...end result: double ear infection on top of some kind of virus. He's on antibiotics, and I was told he should be feeling better within 48 hours. I've called in a sub and will stay home with my little sickie tomorrow. Poor baby. He just can't seem to stay well. I'll be so glad when cold & flu season is over!

Here's a video from Saturday when he was feeling MUCH better. He's having fun feeding Daddy....

Feeding Frenzy!

Henry is a very picky eater! Some days he hardly eats anything (which drives me crazy) and other days he has a voracious appetite and eats all day long. He's kind of a thin little guy, and was barely in the 25th percentile for weight at his last few doctor appointments. This surprises me because neither Jeff nor I are picky eaters, and neither of us could be described as thin! Yesterday morning Henry woke up HUNGRY. I got him out of his crib, and was changing his diaper, when he started asking for a bottle, "ba-ba?...BA-ba?...BA-BA!" As I was pouring milk into the bottle, Henry continued his "BA-BA!" chant. As I was about to put the bottle into the microwave, Henry grabbed it with both hands and started gulping cold milk straight from the bottle (without a nipple). After chugging a couple of ounces, he allowed me to heat up the bottle, and drank the rest in the normal fashion. When we got home yesterday afternoon, Henry was already hungry for dinner. I made him some beef and pasta. O.K., it was hamburger with macaroni and cheese, but he loves that stuff. He ate quite a bit of dinner, but then used his "all done" sign to let me know he was finished. I cleaned him off, lifted him out of the highchair, and set him down. Then I proceeded to feed the dogs his leftovers. I threw the bits of hamburger onto the ground, and Rocco and Stella quickly ate them up. Then I tossed some of the macaroni on the floor, and Henry was right there with Rocco and Stella eating it off the floor! I put a stop to that pretty quickly. Clearly Henry was still hungry, so I started handing him pieces of macaroni as I finished making spaghetti for me and Jeff. Henry was walking around, playing, opening cupboards, and coming back to me every few minutes for more macaroni. After one macaroni hand-off, he walked away and I heard a THUD. I turned around to find him flat on the ground about to let out a loud cry/scream, with macaroni still tightly clutched in each fist. I don't think he wanted to let go of the macaroni, so he wasn't able to use his hands to break his fall. I quickly scooped him up, and he started crying hard. However, in between sobs, he continued to feed himself macaroni. It was definitely a hungry day.

Here's Henry during a peanutbutter feeding frenzy. He even had peanutbutter in his hair when he was finished.

He was mad because I wouldn't let him touch my camera! I don't think peanutbutter and cameras go well together.

Stella's Funny! Or is she?

Here's a video of Henry laughing at funny Stella. It seems like kind of a fake laugh, though, so I'm not sure whether he actually thinks she's funny. The dogs don't usually go into the living room area, but every once in a while we let them out. Henry loves the pugs...especially Stella. He likes to hug her and pet her and put his face against her fur. I was hoping to get some video of Henry playing with Rocco and Stella, or at least hugging Stella. I'll try again another time.

My Little Bruiser

It looks like Henry may have been in a fight, but I have no idea how he got those "owies" on his face. I got him up from his nap several days ago, and he had a little cut right on his birthmark on his forehead. He didn't seem to mind. Then yesterday he was happily playing, when I noticed a bright red scratch near the corner of his mouth. He never cried about it. Maybe he did it himself since I need to clip his nails. Who knows. But, now I'm afraid to take him out in public for fear of people thinking we're abusing our baby! Ever since he was born, people have asked me what happened to his forehead. They'll say, "he must have taken a tumble" or "did he bonk his head?" Then when I explain that it's a birthmark, they always seem embarrassed or they apologize for asking. I don't care if they ask! Maybe I should make up a really good story about how he got it... Henry was riding on his very own pony, when all of a sudden, the pony spooked and bucked him off. Henry flew 30 feet into the air and hit his head on the bumper of my Mercedes. Believable? When he had his 3-month portraits done, they airbrushed his birthmark out of the pictures because they thought it was a bruise. Now I have to specifically ask them NOT to remove the birthmark from the portraits. Poor Henry will probably be fielding questions about his birthmark forever. I guess it'll be a good conversation starter. "I was riding my Harley to my beach house, when all of a sudden...."

An Only Child

"When are you going to have another baby?" I get asked that question a lot. I guess Henry is at an age where people are expecting us to start thinking about having another one. Well, we're not. As much as I would love to have a brother or sister for Henry, it's just not going to happen. It wasn't easy having Henry! In Vitro was hard...and expensive...and heart-breaking when it didn't work...and SO worth it when it did. Anyone who knows me knows how much I hate needles. I gave myself THREE shots a day for weeks. Then an additional shot a day for months even after I was pregnant with Henry. I spent over a month on bed rest when I went into preterm labor. I had to have an emergency surgery immediately after Henry was born. Of course it was all worth it. So much more than worth it. But, we can't do it again. We can't afford it. I'll be 39 on my next birthday. We couldn't pay for daycare for TWO kids. Even though I know these things, and even though being Henry's Mommy is so very fulfilling, sometimes it makes me sad to think that Henry will be an only child. He's such an amazing, beautiful, smart baby. I'd love to see if we could get that lucky again! Brothers and sisters are SO important. I hate to think of Henry being alone when Jeff and I are gone someday. I will just have to make sure that Henry has lots of friends, and that he is close to his eight cousins. Luckily he's a very independent little guy who keeps himself entertained. Also, Jeff's like a big kid, so he'll have fun growing up with Daddy! Plus, we'll only have to save for ONE college education. But still, sometimes I'm sad that we won't have another baby.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

We woke up to A LOT of snow on Tuesday morning. Schools were closed yesterday and today, and it looks like Alaska outside. We bundled Henry up into some warm clothes and took him out in the front yard to play in the snow. He wasn't quite sure what to make of the snow. When we first stood him in the snow, he wouldn't take a step or move. He just stood there and looked around.
Eventually Jeff layed him down on his back in the snow, but I don't think he liked that much better. He was happy when we brought him back inside. Good thing we don't live in Alaska.




Henry wasn't too interested in making snow angels.

Henry and Jeff in the Winter Wonderland.

I had my quadruple wisdom tooth extraction today. I was really nervous before-hand, and even started crying when they inserted the IV, but I don't remember much else. The doctor said to let him know when I started feeling drowsy, and I remember thinking, "I'm not drowsy yet" and then I woke up. I wasn't in much pain then, but my mouth was stuffed with gauze, and I was REALLY thirsty. I wasn't allowed to remove the gauze and drink for an hour. Every minute felt like an hour! I've been taking pain meds (so excuse any ramblings or mistakes), but so far have only felt minor pain. The worst part is not being able to eat anything but liquids, especially when Jeff made steak for dinner! Hmmm...I wonder what a steak smoothie would taste like.

Drama KING!

While getting ready for his bath, Henry is not always patient. As the tub fills up with water, Henry often stands there watching. The other night, he was so excited for his bath that he got mad about the wait! He stood there watching the water, hands balled up into fists, shaking and shrieking with anticipation. After about a minute of waiting, as I gathered his towel and other bath supplies, he turned around and looked at me and started crying. Tears and all! I put him in the tub, and the tears immediately stopped, and he happily splashed and played. Is there such thing as a Drama KING?

Speaking of drama, I have to have all four of my wisdom teeth pulled on Wednesday. I am NOT looking forward to it. Luckily Lannie is flying in today from Spokane, and will stay through the weekend to help take care of Henry while I'm out of commission. I am a wimp about all things involving pain, and I am very scared! I will let you know how it goes.

The Many Faces of Henry

I love all of Henry's facial expressions, so I thought I'd capture some while he was eating lunch today.

Cute AND Funny!

I just had to post this picture because it makes me smile. I gave Henry a bath tonight and then wrapped him up in this cute froggy towel that I bought today at Target. How adorable is he? Don't you just want to eat him up? He's so cute. Not only is he cute; he's funny, too! Some recent funny Henry moments:

1. Henry hates to be on the changing table. He constantly tries to flip over onto his tummy, and cries when we don't let him. Recently during changes, he's started doing the "all done" sign language to let us know that we should stop and let him down just like we do when he's finished eating in his highchair!

2. I was handing goldfish crackers to Henry, and he would take a few, then walk away. Then he would come back back for more. He came back with a toy in one hand and a binky in the other. When I held out the cracker, he looked at one full hand and then at the other, and then he opened his mouth wide and leaned forward, waiting for me to pop the cracker straight in.

3. Henry hates hats. He will not allow a hat or hood to stay on his head longer than just a few seconds. I have a lot of pictures of Henry pulling hats off of his head. The other day I put a baseball cap on him. Of course, he immediately tore it off. It looked so cute on him, so I decided to show him how cute he looked. I stood in front of the mirror with him, and THEN I put the hat on him. He loved it! He smiled at himself. He turned his head to admire himself from all angles. He laughed at himself in the mirror. He was mesmerized by his own reflection! That's how I was able to take his picture with the baseball cap on the other day and how I got the picture with the froggy hood tonight.

Even HENRY thinks he's cute!

Feeling MUCH better

Henry and I are both feeling much better. Still not 100%, but OH-SO-MUCH-BETTER than we were before. He hasn't thrown up since Wednesday, so it looks like that phase is over. Finally! Three days of vomiting is three days too many. On Wednesday, I decided we had to go to the store. Jeff was out of town working and I desperately needed a few things from the store. Henry hadn't thrown up since early morning, and it was about 1:00, so I figured we were safe. Wrong! We got to Safeway, and were cruising the aisles looking for Saltines, ginger ale (which, can you believe, they didn't have?), Immodium, etc. when all of a sudden Henry threw up all over himself and the cart. I just froze. I didn't know what to do. A Safeway worker walked by pushing a cart of freshly-baked bread, and looked at us, and I started crying. I tearfully asked her for a towel, and she directed me toward the bathroom. I cleaned up a crying Henry and the cart, and went back out and quickly finished shopping. I would have left, but I NEEDED those items! That was my worst shopping experience so far. There was the time I stepped in a puddle of pee in a dressing room (remember that, Liz?)
but that wasn't a grocery store, so it's not the same. Luckily the Safeway vomit incident was the last one, so we haven't had to deal with that aspect of the sickness anymore. Henry has been pretty happy the past couple of days. He's back to playing, reading books, and some eating. Hooray! 2007 is looking better already!

2007 has GOT to get better!

The new year arrived, bringing with it stomach viruses to both Henry and myself. He seemed fine when he woke up on Monday morning, but after breakfast, he vomited all over himeself and the highchair. He went on to vomit SIX times that day. I took him to Urgent Care, but they just said that it's a virus and he should get better on his own. Later that day, my stomach started cramping up. Without going into too much detail, I seem to have sort of the opposite problem as Henry. Yesterday was supposed to be my first day back at work after the vacation. Jeff was home, so he stayed with Henry, and I drug myself out the door to work. I lasted almost 2 hours. They called a sub for me, and I drug myself back home. Henry seemed to be feeling better yesterday. He even played and laughed a bit. However, he still vomited THREE times. I guess it's better than SIX! The saddest part is that he can't eat any food at all. He can barely even drink milk. We've been trying to give him tiny sips of water at short intervals, but of course, he wants to guzzle it all down at once because he's thirsty and hungry. Then he vomits. I haven't been able to successfully eat or drink anything besides water, either. Jeff had to go to work last night, so now I'm home sick again today with a sick baby. He's only vomited once so far today, and even though it's early, I'm hoping it will be the last time. This morning when I got him out of his crib, he just sat on my lap and cuddled with me for about a half an hour. This never happens. Usually he's raring to go in the morning. Eventually, I decided to try a small amount of milk in a bottle. As soon as I got the empty bottle out, he started crying and grabbing at the bottle. He sucked down those 3 ounces in record time, and then shrieked and shook, wanting more. I tried to hold him off, but he was sucking air out of the empty bottle, so I caved. I got him 3 more ounces of milk, which he quickly drank, and then promptly threw up. I should have known better. He spent most of the morning lying on the floor with two binkies, switching them every few seconds. Now he's napping. I feel awful for my poor little baby. Other than lots of stomach cramps and very frequent trips to the bathroom, I'm o.k. I've already lined up a sub for tomorrow, and we'll see if I make it to work on Friday. This sucks! Like I said, 2007 has GOT to get better!