Spaghetti

Lately, it had been a battle feeding Henry baby food....and he was winning.  He's wanted no part of eating it, especially at dinnertime when he sees Edward and I eating people food.  Henry would clamp his mouth shut and put his head down refusing to eat it.  This eventually led to him crying and us giving him Puffs, which allowed us to sneak in a spoonful or two of baby food.  We decided one night while we were at Crystal Beach, to try giving Henry spaghetti.  What's the worst that could happen???  The result was a happy eater and led to the realization that he was sick of purred food and was ready for the real stuff.  Since then, Henry has been trying (and devouring) MANY new foods. 

 First bite...

 Not too sure what just he just ate...

Liking it...

 MORE please!!!

Staycation #1

Edward decided to take two separate four-day weekends this summer instead of taking a whole week off at one time.  He had his "staycation" (as he kept calling it) the last weekend of July.  Here's what we did... 

There was lots of Daddy & Henry playing.

We went to BarBill for wings.  It was Henry's first time at a restaurant so we decided lunch would be our best bet.   

We cheered on daddy's softball team!  Too bad they lost.

Edward and I went on our first date since having Henry.  We went to Cantina Loco for dinner, walked along the water at Canalside and enjoyed an adult beverage at Liberty Hound! Thanks Dale and John for watching Henry so we could step out on the town for the evening!!!

We spent the day at Crystal Beach visiting Lauren & Steve at the cottage.

Can you spot them in the water?

Our set up for the day.

We wrapped Henry up like a mummy after swimming in his pool.

Daddy and Henry had some serious conversations during dinner. 

Looking forward to staycation #2 at the end of August.  What will we do next???

July 18 - July 26

July 18 - Hiking the trails at Knox Farm. 

July 19 - Checking out the world from the front door.  

July 19 - Rockin' to my radio. 

July 20 - My Radio Flyer got delivered today! And Mommy put it together all by herself!

July 21 - Everything needed for a date night in the backyard having a bonfire. 

July 21 - Tending the fire pit. 

July 22 - We've been baking lots of blueberry muffins around here with fresh blueberries from the Farmer's Market. 

July 23 - Polish Princess & Polish Prince.

July 23 - Reading. 

July 24 - Eating my first Mum-Mum. 

July 25 - Like two old men sitting pool side.

 July 26 - Helping Mommy vacuum. 

July 26 - Straight out of the tub!

8 Months

 

Dear Henry,

I can't believe how much you have grown and changed in the past month since I did your 7 month update!  You're such a big boy, learning new things each day.

You spend your days playing on a blanket with toys (either inside or outside), rolling all over the place, and army crawling around the house.  During all of this, you are constantly smiling or babbling or both.  And now that you are on the move we've had to baby proof the house!  The gate is up at the top of the stairs and we've already been putting things away because you're pretty fast and know how to get into trouble real QUICK!  You've been exploring objects by shaking them, banging them, dropping them and throwing them.  Lately, you've become very interested in reading books.  Everyday we take a stack of them out on the porch and read together in the rocking chair.  You especially enjoy touch and feel books and books with real babies in them.  You've become very ticklish.  My favorite thing to do with you is hold you and snuggle you and tickle and kiss you until you laugh. It's the best laugh...

  
You have a few quirks that make us say, "Oh Henry."  First of all you are OBSESSED with rugs.  You are constantly pulling up the corners of area rugs in our house or others.  You also like mommy's toes.  I think it's the nail polish on them that makes you go after them.

Hurray for your bottom two teeth!!!  They finally popped through your gums and are now visible.  It is so cute to see two little white chompers when you smile :-)

    
You've started eating Gerber Puffs.  I have to feed them to you, as you are still working on you're pincer grip.  You're so close though and I know if we keep practicing you'll get it soon enough.  You're also working on drinking water out of a sippy cup.  You know how to hold it and get the spout in your mouth, but haven't figured out the concept of tipping the cup up so the water goes in your mouth.

Spending my summer off of work together has been so much fun so far.  We have our daily routine and have a few outings throughout the week.  I look at you and am amazed about how big you've gotten and how time is going so fast, but I'm just trying to cherish every moment together.

At the end of the day, the first thing daddy and I will both say to each other is, "I love him so much. He's so awesome.  He's the cutest. Isn't he the funniest..." And then we lay in bed and still look through all the pictures and videos of you, trying to remember what it was like when you were so teeny and new.  We love you so much and not a day goes by where we don’t feel beyond blessed or lucky because we have you with us!

Love,
Mommy & Daddy

Knox Farm & Delaware Park

--------------------

Swim Lessons

Henry completed his first session of infant swim lessons at our local YMCA.  He was in the Shrimp/Kipper Level.  I was in the water with him while he worked on, blowing bubbles, floating on his back and belly, kicking, pushing off the wall, jumping in, catching rubber duckies and singing songs.   

Round n Round

I put some sneakers on Henry and he was NOT happy with them on his feet.  He went at it round n round trying to get them off.  He's like a dog chasing his own tail. I love how he's defeated at the end and puts his head down.

Army Crawl

Here's a glimpse of Henry army crawling to his little ball last week.  He's now scooting all around the house from room to room!  I keep trying to put him on all fours so he'll start to use his legs, but he wants no part of it.  Instead, he just drags his legs...lazy boy.  He's gonna have some pretty strong arms if he keeps this up.  Apparently Edward did the exact same thing.  He never really crawled just did this and then went right to walking. 

July 12-July 17

 July 12 - Everyday I dump my toy basket over and take out each toy one by one.  

July 13 - Sporting my new outfit from Korea that Grammie brought me from their trip.

July 13 - Dinner.

July 14 - Bootie in the air!

July 15 - Going for a ride with Daddy!

  July 16 - I've been army crawling all over the house looking for these.  I am OBSESSED with the heating grates!

July 16 - Reading books on the porch.

 July 16 -  Eating books on the porch.

July 17 - I have lots of toys, but I pulled these two dirty washcloths out of the hamper and played with them for a half hour. 

July 17 - Today was a hot one! Played on the porch where there is a nice breeze. 

Fever

Henry went to bed at 8 PM on Wednesday and woke up crying at 2 AM.  When I went in his room and got him out of his crib he was on FIRE!  I took his temperature and it was 102.3.  It was his first time having a fever.  I gave him Tylenol and a cool cloth.  We were up most of the night together.  The fever continued until Friday, along with a runny nose and cough.  The doctor said to alternate between Tylenol and Motrin every four hours.  Needless to say, we had a cranky baby who only wanted to be held and sleepless nights threw Sunday.  My poor baby.  Then... Henry's first tooth finally popped through his red, swollen gums.
Oh the teething, it's awful.  I feel so bad and there's nothing I can do.  Now we are waiting for the tooth next to it to come through.

First Beach Trip

Grammie and Henry (with his face covered in war paint aka sunscreen). Grammie and Mommy LOVE the beach and were so glad Henry did too.  Many more beach days to come.   

Blue... 

Henry playing with his beach toys in his beach tent.

Me and my beach bum!

Henry even took a little nap in his tent.  The sun pooped him out.

Our beach crew.  Henry was looking at the seagulls swarming us. 

Toes in the water!

Henry had his first visit to the beach.  There was A LOT of gear and it was A LOT of work, but totally worth it! 

-Beach tent (Great Amazon purchase.  So glad we got one!)

-Beach chair (Which I don't know why I even brought...there's no more relaxing on the beach anymore with a baby. Haha). 

-Giant beach bag filled with sunscreen, two sun hats, extra outfit, diapers, wipes, changing pad, snacks/beverages for adults, beach toys, and regular toys.

Food tote (in the beach bag) with Henry's bottle, jar of baby food, container of Puffs, bowl, spoon, and sippy cup of water,

-Towel bag containing beach blanket and two towels.

-Henry 

I loaded up the car and meet my mom and sister at Woodlawn Beach.  First of all, what a nice beach! It was close enough to us that we could drive there in 20 minutes and spend a couple hours there. I learned we needed a wagon ASAP  to haul all the gear from the car to the beach (Already ordered one on Amazon!).  Henry lasted from 11:00-2:30 before he had enough, which I think is pretty good.  He liked to put his feet in the water, but he wasn't too sure about the sand.  He would touch it and then cry so we mostly played in the beach tent on a towel. Overall it was a good day at the beach!  Next stop is Crystal Beach at the end of the month.  Can't wait!  Lovin' my summer days...