9 months, already?

Another month has passed, and I actually have days where I want time to stand still :).  I feel like Henry has changed so much in the last month.  He really is becoming less baby and more little boy, although he still is a sweet little peanut.

Here's a quick update on what he's been doing lately...

-Mastered sitting up alone, although he doesn't sit still long.

-Progressed from swimming on his belly, to inching, to the full-on army crawl.  He is fast, and loves to hide under things.  He reaches up to the coffee table. So my guess is he will be pulling up as soon as he gets those knees under him to crawl.

-Has started picking up a few finger foods and putting them in his month. But really, he prefers to pick them up, look over the edge of his highchair at the floor, and promptly drop them. 

-Had his 2nd, and maybe 3rd ear infection and about 3-4 weeks of the crud.  Ugh. 

-Took his first big boy bath in the "duck." 

-Starting to notice when I leave the room.  He pulls down the bumper on his crib and tries to see who might come through the door.

-Is stealing toys from his sister. Tries to eat the toys. Gags on the toys (don't worry, nothing he can choke on). Spits up on the toys. Crawls through the spit-up. Nice. 

-Had his first haircut courtesy of yours truly.

-He's VERY strong and packs a mean pinch. Ouch. 

-Teething?  Who knows. Nothing yet in that department. Aubrey didn't get one until she was nearly one.

-Is NOT a fan of the diaper change.  I have to pin him down to keep him from rolling over. Let me tell you, he loves when I do that. Did I mention he's strong?

-He continues to be a very happy baby. I love his little laugh, the cheeks, the toes, the belly... you name it.  He's precious. 

That's about all I can think of at the moment. He'll go for his 9 month check on Monday, so I'll update you on the stats then. I know you can hardly wait. Be patient please. :)

The "duck." We've had this since Aubrey was this age. She loved it. Her first word was duck. Henry seems a little confused by it, but he's catching on, although I think his urge to escape the duck is much stronger than Aubrey's ever was. Boys.

Sitting up so big. Thanks for the sweater and booties Aunt Jenny.

Let me out.

Sister's toys make great snacks. Actually, that was one of my toys when I was little. I'm sure it has some good germs on it by now.

A little distracted.

I have become a distracted person. It seems I can never make it through a task without having to move on to another one, or two, or three.  I guess you could say my mind is not as sharp as it once was.  Two kids will do that to you, right? 

This morning was one of those mornings.  Henry was up too early, Aubrey woke up too late, and I needed to get Aubrey up, get her dressed and fed, and be out the door to take her to school all in about 15 mins. At the same time, Henry needed a diaper change, a spit-up clean up, and some consoling (he was tired, from waking up too early of course).  Anyway... today was picture day for Aubrey at school and she wanted to wear a sleeveless summer dress. Fine I said. It's going to be close to 90 degrees today (not kidding). Why not.  But seeing as it just seems odd to wear a short dress in February,  I decided she should probably wear some pants underneath.  And it's a good thing I did.

Ok, long story short. I picked her up from school and as we were walking to the car, I said "Wow Aubrey, it sure is hot. We should take those pants off and just wear your dress." To which Aubrey replied... "But mommy, you forgot my panties!!!"  I said "what?" and promptly tugged at the waistband on her pants only to see that yes, in fact, I had indeed forgotten to put on her underwear.  I'm not sure what disturbs me more. That I forgot to put them on, or that she apparently didn't notice until she was at school.  Imagine if I hadn't decided to put those pants on her.  

A house full o' love.

Today, my dear friend Lisa stopped by on her way into town for a visit with her family. I love catching up with her and it's so fun to see our children play together. All five of them!  The house was full of noise, and love of course. Lisa has three boys, God bless her, and they are all simply precious! The last time we had them all together was a few days after Henry was born, I think. How time flies! Here's a few pics from the day.

Beautiful Lisa lovin' on Henry

Henry and Lane. 3 months apart and a few pounds too!  Look at those luscious cheeks!  

Aubrey, Powell and Reese

Baby Lane

A few photos from the week

As you could probably tell from the last post, I'm playing around with photoshop again. I like the retro 70's look of these.

We all need a little space.

Our rental house is fine. It's in a great neighborhood, we love our neighbors and it does have three bedrooms. But somehow it seems no one has their own "space."  Our bedroom... also an office for Brian.  My office... also the living room.  The kitchen... also the laundry room.  The living room... also the playroom. Henry's room... also Aubrey's playroom. Aubrey's room... also storage. You get the picture.  I keep telling Brian there is nowhere to hide!  You can't escape.  I am constantly shhhing Aubrey when Henry is asleep. Our bedroom door won't even close all the way. So if one of the kids is screaming, we are both awake.  I guess you could say we are all feeling a little claustrophobic in here, which leads me to my point (and I do have one, I promise).

Now that Henry has perfected the low crawl, he has made a breakthrough. He has found his own little space. And he escapes to it at every chance.  It's not his room, or crib. It's the bottom of the exersaucer .  He wiggles his way in and is happy as a clam.  I pull him out and a few minutes later, he's right back in there kicking and wiggling.  I guess I just haven't been creative enough in my search for a place to hide. Maybe I can crawl under the desk and find some peace.

Great home seeks new owner.

I need a new owner. Please. My old ones up and moved and I don't think they are coming back. I promise you will love me.  Just give me a chance.  Someone, anyone, just buy me!

Sleep is for sissies.

It's 1:35 am, and why aren't the rest of you awake? I mean really. You should have had a least a few hours of sleep by now, and that should be enough, right? Right. At least Henry thinks so. A very unhappy boy. He woke up screaming at 11:15 pm (about 15 mins into my sleep) and then again at 1am. So, what's a mama to do? Get him back to sleep and come send a few photos your way, because if I go back to bed, I may go postal on my husband who has snored through it all.

Inchworm

Let me start by saying, I am NOT at all ready for this... nor am I encouraging such behavior!  I have been in denial for the last few days.  But I think it is time to admit, Henry is on the move.  AGH.  Our rental house is FAR from childproofed and the floors are nowhere near clean enough for a crawler.  Guess I know what I'll be doing this week.

No more toupee...

Ok, Ok. So I realize Henry's hair got a little out of control. I just didn't realize how out of control until this week. It was a MESS the last two days! I've been so focused on getting him to feel better, I just didn't have a chance to deal with it. Plus, how do you cut a squirmy baby's hair? Well, let me tell you, it isn't easy.

With Brian's help today, we managed to give Henry his first haircut. I was a little nervous, or a lot nervous, that I would make him look worse. In the end, it turned out well, I think. He looks different to me, but still cute as a bug.

Before. Serious post-nap bedhead.

After.  Sweet little man.

Still sick

Well, when I wrote the last post on Sunday, I was really hoping for some healthy kids.  Wishful thinking. Sure enough, that very night, Aubrey woke up with a tummy ache and proceeded to vomit all night. Henry woke up with a very high fever, and nobody got any sleep.  Luckily, the vomiting only lasted until around noon the next day (and no one else got it, so maybe it was food related).  Henry just kept getting worse.  I took him to the Dr. on Tuesday and she said he had two really bad ear infections.  Because he had one about 5 weeks ago, she had to switch antibiotics and give him something more powerful.  Well, it has really upset his little tummy. He has no desire to nurse and it's a challenge to get down baby food too most of the time.  I got really concerned this morning after he still refused to nurse. So back to the Dr. we went.  Turns out his ears still look terrible.  So, we switched to a different antibiotic, I'm pumping like crazy, and praying he'll come back around to nursing soon. Could be his ears hurt so bad he doesn't want to suck.  He won't really take it from a bottle or sippy either.  He acts hungry, and seems interested, but after a few swallows, he just sits up and pushes away.  It's frustrating, but stressing certainly won't help, so I'm trying to just go with it and not worry about our routine until he feels better.  Now that is fever is gone, he does seem so much happier, just still not quite himself.  Feel better soon buddy!

Trying hard to play.  And yes, I will be cutting that hair this weekend!

S-I-C-K

Sorry for the lack of posts, but it's been a very long week.  Aubrey was sick, now Henry is fighting it.  No sleep, no school for Aubrey, no sleep, pitiful baby cries, and did I mention no sleep?  All this equals a very tired, worried and grumpy mommy. Let's hope this week is better.