This Little Reindeer is Six Months Old!

I can hardly believe it. My baby had his half-birthday last Friday. Six months ago Henry weighed less than seven pounds. He was over sixteen pounds as of last week.

Henry doesn't seem to mind his reindeer suit, and it keeps him pretty warm. I was trying to take pictures of Henry, and Nick kept inserting himself into the pictures. He likes to be the center of attention. But today is all about Henry and his half-birthday.

Instead of a coat, this reindeer zip-up coat is what I got for Henry this December. Nick had one just like it when he was a baby, but it was in the newborn size, and Henry is definitely not a newborn. In fact, he is just a little bigger than Nick was at the same age. I found this picture of Nick, taken when he was exactly six months old. Do the brothers look alike?

I think Henry's face is slightly less round, and he looks a little more like Greg.

Henry is growing up so fast, and I can't believe how much he has changed in the last six months. Tonight he ate a jar of spinach and potatoes, a bowl of mixed grain cereal with formula, and a few ounces of blueberry-purple carrot baby food. My boy has an appetite.

Goodnight from my little reindeer, and his attention-hogging big brother.

Rocking Already?

Henry seems to be on a totally different schedule than his older brother, at least development-wise. I've especially noticed how strong Henry is--he could hold his head up very early on, and has been doing baby push-ups almost since birth. But this?

Yup. My Henry-doodle is getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth. This movement is commonly done right before an infant starts crawling. I was hoping this movement was just an anomaly, but he's now been doing this for five days.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm very proud that my little boy is ahead of the curve in some ways. But we thought we had a few good months where we could still trust the Henry would stay where we put him. Nick didn't crawl until after he was 9 months old. Henry just turned five months old, and he's already rocking with quite a bit of strength and intent. I think he just wants to chase Nick. 

Henry doesn't even sit on his own yet, though he's working on that. Maybe I don't have anything to worry about, other than the excessive drooling and the baby snot. Either way, the baby rocking is certainly pretty cute.

Five Months Already?

Yup. Mr. Henry turned five months old this week. Even Henry is surprised at how fast he is growing.

This week we had to buy size 3 diapers for Henry. That's in addition to the size 5 diapers we still have to buy for Nick. Henry sure is growing fast. He is not, however, sleeping well. That means, unfortunately, that Greg and I aren't sleeping well.

The last few nights have been especially rough. After teaching my class on Tuesday night and not getting home until 9 p.m., I then had parent-teacher conferences Wednesday and Thursday nights. Greg and I switch off getting up with Henry, but either way, we're both up when he is up.

On Wednesday night, Henry woke up when I was in the middle of my deepest kind of sleep. I only vaguely remember going over and picking him up. What I thought I did was set him next to me, snuggle him, and stick the bottle in his mouth. I then immediately passed out. I have quite the sleep debt lately.

Henry went to sleep relatively quickly, but we woke up in a huge puddle. I realized, at 6 a.m. when I woke up and Henry was still sleeping next to me, that I hadn't put the bottle in his mouth at all. Apparently, I stuck the bottle in Henry's armpit and went to sleep. The entire bottle leaked all over my pajamas, Henry's pajamas, and our sheets. I felt like an absolute moron.

I read this book recently called Brain Rules, by John Medina. He talks a lot about sleep debt, and how it can negatively impact your whole life. One thing that was mentioned was how your IQ can drop at least a point for every hour of sleep you've lost. I guess this IQ loss is cumulative until you get caught up on sleep. No wonder I feel like a moron. I'm not a huge proponent for the validity of IQ tests in general, but I've probably dropped at least 30 points in the last few months due to sleep loss. I suppose it's not surprising I fed my baby's armpit.

See? Henry is laughing at me. I love this little munchkin, but I do wish he would sleep. He would have a much smarter mommy.

Well, hello there.

I'm Henry. I like to scoot on the floor. I've been growing. Now, I can pick up toys and do baby push-ups of the advanced variety.

See how strong I am?

Did you know that I can pull off my own socks? I also like to chew on plastic kitchen implements. They are fun.

Every single day I learn how to manipulate, move, and pick up new things. I make noises sometimes, too. I grunt a lot.

I still like hugs from my mommy, though. Hugs are always good.

Signs of Growing Up

Everyday my Nicholas is becoming more of a little boy and less of a toddler. Soon I won't even be able to blame anything on the fact that "he is only two." Here are some recent signs I've noticed that my baby is growing up:

1. Creative Play. Nick has all-out conversations with all of his toys, and he role-plays things that have happened using his cars. The other day he had his cars all go to lap sit at the library, and he admonished them for running around and being "too loud cars."

2. Counting. Nick is starting to understand the concept, and though he can only count with one to one correspondence on a hit or miss basis, he's been getting more hits than misses lately. Point in case: Friday evening he says to me, "Mommy, I want raspberries. Put them in the purple bowl. One, two, three, four, five raspberries in my bowl." Then, he counted them to make sure I wasn't cheating him on the raspberries. Maybe it was just coincidence that he counted them correctly, but I was excited. I can't help it--I'm an elementary school teacher.

3. Coordination. Nick is starting to be able to put on and take off his clothing and shoes, to a point. I have to confess that I have spent very little time on this. Our babysitter is a stickler for teaching things step-by-step, and I admire her ability to patiently explain every step of putting on a sock, and then wait and talk through his impatience. It takes Nick forever to do this, but I love that he is learning how.

4. Letter recognition. On my way back from Iowa a few weeks ago, Nick started identifying letters on street signs. He also knows many stores simply by their signs, though I'm sure the distinctive color and shape of the signs have more to do with it than actual reading skills.  "Mommy, look! T is for Target. Are we going to go in there and go shopping? The "t" says "t" and T is for Toni!" (This is from Monday, I believe.)

5. Storytelling. Nick has started retelling lots of the books we read him, and he even memorizes some of the words. We let him take books to bed with him, and even though it's pretty dark in there, one night this week I could hear him quoting from this book he loves, "Edna." It's part of a poem (Recuerda, by Edna St. Vincent Milay), and he loves the way this poem sounds. Nick likes the line, "We were very tired. We were very merry. We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry."

6. Stinky feet. This is definitely a little boy sign. You know how babies and even toddlers always have that cute little kid smell? Nick is no longer one of them. Except for right after his bath, Nick smells like an amalgamation of crayons, dirt, kid sweat, and fresh air. It's not actually a bad smell, but it shows that he's not a baby anymore.

7. My son is a backseat driver. He's always telling me that the light is red and it is not my turn. Then he tells me that the light is green so I should go. Pretty soon he'll be commenting on my following distance or the no-turn-on-red sign. Perhaps.

While I'm often frustrated with his behavior (you'll notice I have consistently avoided the entire topic of potty training), I am usually pleased with his growth. I'm a little wistful that his baby years are mostly behind him, but it is so nice to have actual conversations with him. I'm torn between feelings of pride and regret. Regardless, I think Nick, sometime recently, has crossed the line and is officially a little boy, even if he won't be three for another month.

Four Months Old!

Henry is four months old, and he tried baby oatmeal this afternoon for the first time.  He loved it.

Here are Henry's updated statistics from the doctor today:

Height: 24 1/4 inches (25th percentile)
Weight: 14 pounds, 11 ounces (45th percentile)
Head Circumference: 41 cm. (19th percentile)

The doctor is pleased with his growth, and suggested that we start him on cereal right away. She said not to wait, even though he's not feeling too well, because the cereal might cheer him up. It did!

Henry opened his mouth up just like a little bird.

Everyone in our home is now sick. Nick, while over the croup, still has a very bad lingering cold. Greg has a sinus infection and a bad cough. Henry has an upper respiratory infection that the doctor says isn't the croup. . . yet. We will wait to see if it turns into a barking cough.

Henry's regular well visit was today, but it turned into a sick visit because Henry started running a fever yesterday afternoon, and has had low grade fevers ever since. Last night he was up to 101.5, and the poor guy just wants to be held. He's also coughing and has a bad runny nose. I stayed home with the boys today because Henry's fever was too high to go to daycare.

I am sick, too, but mommies don't get time to take care of themselves. I did pop over to my G.P. to get checked out, and I have bronchitis and the beginnings of a sinus infection. They take this stuff seriously with me because I have asthma and a history of allergies and chronic bronchitis, so I'm on about seven prescription and non-prescription medications for my various illnesses. I'm taking a nebulizer treatment as I type this, in fact.

But even as I wheeze, I am smiling, because check out this video.

I absolutely love seeing my two boys together like this. 

Three Months Old!

I can't believe it! Three months ago today my little man Henry was born. Just look at him now. . .

Now that he's old enough, Henry can sit in the bumbo seat. I just pulled it out of the basement yesterday, and Henry took to it right away. He can also hold small objects in his hands, coo, laugh, and push up.  He actually loves to do baby push-ups.

My boy is turning into a little person. I am a very proud mama.  :)

Ten Weeks Old!

Today Henry is ten weeks old. Laughing and smiling and cooing, this little man has stolen my heart.

Here he is at his doctor's appointment. My boy weighs 11 pounds, 3 ounces, and is now 22 1/4 inches long. He's hanging around the 25th percentile, so he's not hefty. Henry sure feels bigger, though! It's hard to believe that just ten weeks ago, I was walking (no, waddling!) into the hospital to have him.

Our pediatrician said that Henry was perfectly healthy, with no concerns. That felt really good to hear. Henry enjoyed the doctor's appointment and was happy as a little cuddly clam until the shots came. Then, such a look of betrayal came onto his face. It was like his whole idea of the world was destroyed in an instant, and he was deeply saddened. I cuddled him for a long time after his shots.

Henry had to get his shots so he could start daycare. He started Monday. Both boys are doing a great job both at daycare and with my mother-in-law. They are thriving.

This was my first week back to work, and I'm exhausted. I've been a lazy blogger lately, but I certainly haven't been a lazy person. I started teaching graduate school last week, and I'm struggling to learn Blackboard, the online program that is used to teach some portions of my class. At the same time, I'm helping my grad students, who are struggling to learn both Blackboard as well as the content of the class! I'm sure it will be easier in a few weeks, but for now I've been working nonstop.

In between all of this, I've been trying to set aside some quality time for my boys. I spent a good 40 minutes reading books to Nick. I held Henry for several hours and patted his back to make his tummy feel better. I'm doing my best.

Big Boy Bed!

Nick has been sleeping in his big boy bed for a whole week now. A little over a month ago, Nick figured out how to get out of his crib. This started a whole chain of events, culminating in the purchase of a nice toddler bed for our boy here.

Between having to return the crib mattress and buy a new one, and moving furniture around, we finally got the whole thing set up for him. Nick was super-excited about sleeping in his new bed. We love his new quilt and sheet set, which was made by a lady who sells them on Ebay. I love that it doesn't have any wacky cartoon characters on it.

All day, he kept saying, "I seep in my big boy bed!" (He doesn't always pronounce his "l"s.) I was totally anticipating problems, because I've spoken to a number of friends about the transition from crib to bed. Some of them had their little ones wandering around the house at all hours of the night.

Nick slept just fine, though, and when Greg went into his room in the morning, he was sleeping in his bed, happy as a clam. One night, I guess, he woke up in the guest bed, which still hasn't been moved to the basement. But that's no great tragedy. Every other night, he's slept in his big boy bed with a stack of books and his favorite monkey beside him.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
When it's time for bed, we just ask him, "Nick, what time is it?" He always replies, "Seepytime." Then he goes to sleep in his big toddler bed. Sniff. My little baby is growing up!

*Photos courtesy of Amanda Wiatr.

Running Errands With a Nearly Two-Year-Old

It's become more interesting lately to take Nick on errands. He's much more talkative, and also far more demanding about what he wants and what he does not want. We pick our battles, but Nick definitely knows the meaning of "No." Today Greg and I went to rent a video, and our little man enjoyed running up and down the aisles. He also loved sitting in the director's chair, pulling dvds from the shelves, and trying to swipe candy bars. It is exhausting but never boring teaching him boundaries.

We also had to pick up some groceries, and Nick adores the grocery store because of all the people and the colors and the things to grab. Near the end of our shopping adventure, my blood sugar started to drop, so I went to buy a few munchkins from the Dunkin' Donuts in our Walmart. Nick immediately started shouting, "Please! Me eat! Please mummin!" I told him that they were doughnuts, not muffins, and he adjusted his demands accordingly. "Please doughnut! Me eat!" Stuffing an entire munchkin in his mouth, Nick grabbed for the bag, snatching another one. You'd think we didn't feed the boy.

I adore the look on his face in the picture above. He looks like he just got caught doing something naughty. Lest you think that Nick subsists on doughnuts and mummins, please understand that today he also ate greek yogurt, whole wheat bread, chicken, rice, a whole apple, and pasta with plenty of shrimp, asparagus, and red pepper.

Today was a pretty good day. When Nick woke up this morning, he climbed next to me on the couch with one of his favorite books, "If You Give a Moose a Muffin," by Laura Numeroff. "Mummin story," he demanded. Then he started to climb into my lap, exclaiming, "Lap story!" I do believe I read that story three times this morning. "Again! Mummin Again!" Nick loves pointing to the moose and the muffin every time they appear and naming them. He has this thing about muffins. I actually don't mind rereading stories; Nick has pretty good taste in books, and reading together is our thing. I've been reading stories to him since he was only a few wees old. I think that reading with him is actually my favorite thing to do with him--I'll always remember sitting with him on my lap with a story.

I love Nick's velour track suit. It was a hand-me-down from one of my teacher friends, and I think it's adorable. Greg said that when he wears it, he looks like he was about to go for a run. it's a 2T, and it actually fits him, though I had to roll the waistband so it wouldn't be too long. I can't believe Nick is going to be two this Wednesday.

I haven't been posting as often as I'd like during the last few weeks. Fall always makes me tired, and the time change has really messed me up. Plus, I have had multiple days of parent conferences, doctor's appointments, and family visits. I'm really looking forward to having a five-day weekend for Thanksgiving in a few weeks.

My Big Boy

Look who grew out of his 12-18 month clothes already. He certainly looks surprised in his new pajamas.

I had to pull out the 18-24 month clothes for my big boy. It's very strange. . . all of the clothes say that the 12-18 month size is for 22-27 pounds, and the 18-24 month size is for 27-30 pounds. Well, Nick weighs barely 23 pounds, and yet he's too chunky for the 12-18 month stuff. Strange. Not bad, though, since I spent the last six months on ebay, buying adorable spring and summer Gymboree outfits for Nick, all in the 18-24 month size.

Another little habit that Nick has is stealing our phones. He knows just what to do with a phone, too. He's pretending to have a whole conversation. It's neat how he has the whole rhythm of a phone conversation down.

Eleven Months Old Today!

Nick has been chattering away lately. No distinct words yet, but he has full out conversations with his toys. This was early this morning, when he was playing with his frisbee. Tonight he stood up holding on to the table and kept begging for bites of our turkey tacos. I was impressed; my little boy ate turkey, red and yellow peppers, onions, black beans, and avocadoes. I think he has trouble getting food to his mouth when he eats with his hands. We fed him today from our forks, and he did great. Like a little bird, he kept opening his mouth wide for more, while slamming his fists down on the table and screeching.

Whatever evil stomach virus Nick had last week, Greg caught this week. He was miserable from Wednesday until today. He's still pretty weak. No sign of it yet in me (knock on wood). But I have had a ton of little kid viruses, because I spent years working in day care centers when I was in high school and college. I believe you're decently immune once you've had a particular illness. At least I hope so.

When I bought Nick this kitchen set back in July from www.napervilleyardsales.com, I wasn't sure he'd like it. Mostly it just sat in the corner. But lately he's been

loving it. The faucet makes noises, you can set the toaster, and there's a light switch to turn on and off. In the picture above, he's picking up the frying pan. The stove makes sizzling noises when you pick up or put down the pan. Nick thinks that's pretty cool. Perhaps he'll be a chef. He certainly loves his kitchen. He likes our kitchen as well; it's very hard to tear him away from the cabinets and pots and pans.

Nick has also been standing extremely well. I've seen him holding on with only one hand lots of times. Once I even saw him let go until he realized what he was doing. Then, he slowly sat down. I believe that means walking isn't far off. I can't believe he's 11 months old.

I've been struggling lately with the whole working mom thing. I feel like I'm in a great place in my job, and I truly love my school and my kids. I believe that I have the best job I could have because I honestly look forward to work. (At least the part of work where I'm teaching kids.) But I've also been taking a ton of work home, which I hadn't usually had to do the last few years. I'm actually doing as much "homework" now as I did when I was a classroom teacher. I think it's because I have 42 kids on my caseload, and I want to feel like I'm giving every one of them the right kind of supports and lessons.

I feel guilty sometimes that I have so much work to do and I can't play with Nick as much. I do spend a decent amount of time each day playing with him, and we read books together every night without fail. But I have schoolwork, and dinner, and laundry, and I can't pay attention to him every minute. I suppose all working moms struggle with this.

Speaking of which, I'm going to play blocks with him right now. :) I'd better do it quickly, before he grows up some more.