Halloween

We were excited for Henry's first Halloween but knew that, like all the holidays for his first year or so, he'll enjoy it even more when he's a little older. I've been waiting to have kids to enjoy Halloween - I've never big a big fan, but I always thought that it must be a lot more fun when you can see how much fun your kids have with it. Henry was pretty cute in his monkey costume, though, so that did make the day more fun for me. I was asked a few times what Henry was going to be and I just had to brag each time I answered that he's a monkey because we got the costume 75% off the year before, back before Rob and I told anyone we were pregnant (the first people we told were Rob's family - on Halloween. Rob and I dressed as a Baker and an oven with a bun in it, respectively.)

 Grandma's porch is always decorated for the holidays with lights and other beautiful decorations. I love this picture even though Henry isn't looking and Linda is hidden because Henry is loving the decorations.

 Isn't it beautiful?

Family costumes: Monkey, Monkey Tree and Jungle Explorer. Even our trunk got into the theme for our ward's Trunk-or-Treat.

 Henry thought it was pretty cool that he got to be outside for a little over an hour during the Trunk-or-Treat. I'm going to try to be a little picky about my kids' costumes, one requirement is that they are warm. Henry's costume was warm fleece, it was perfect!

 Henry and Grandpa

 We spent Halloween night with these two witches. Leah was the Black Witch and Clara was the White Witch. Natalie, their mom, said that calling them the good and evil witch made Leah feel bad. :)

 Rob's second costume of the holiday.

 I like this one.

Henry's first solid food

The Farm

Our favorite (perhaps only) Halloween/Fall tradition is going to The Farm. It's a pumpkin patch + petting zoo + hay ride + perfect place for a photo session. We were excited for Henry's first visit to The Farm, even though he didn't really know what was going on. It meant a couple hours of being outside, which is his favorite thing to do, so he was pretty happy. This year it became more apparent how much of a yuppie activity this is - families dressing up in the requisite boots, scarves and knit hats. Carrying their children in their baby carriers or wagons, taking pictures with pumpkins. I like to think we're different from all of them because we've been going for so many years, prior to it being as busy as it has become... but maybe we're not.  Here are some pictures from the day.

 cider donuts

 petting zoo - next year Henry will enjoy this more

 my boys

 We missed Natalie & Monica - only two Farrar sisters went this year

 It's impossible to get two babies to look at the camera

Oh pumpkin, Henry loves you

 Mmm.

 Henry & Xander

faces

About 6 mo old

Henry is 6 months old

I just noticed that the last time we posted anything was Henry's five month post. Oops - not doing very well at this blog thing these days!

This month definitely seems more significant than other months - half a year old! I think the main reason why it feels significant is that I always figured by six months I'd have this baby thing figured out. Ha. I'm happy to report that a lot of things, most things even, are a lot easier - but we're not out of the woods yet. And now I'm starting to see the possibility that it's not ever going to be "all figured out." He's almost a new baby all the time in so many ways. Here's a picture of the kind of baby he is at six months:

• We always start out these posts talking about sleep (our lives revolve around how to get him to sleep better) - he is doing really well going to sleep at night. For a little while we were putting him down awake, and these days we're putting him down pretty much asleep, which feels like a step-back. I don't even know how that happened. He sleeps until 4am-ish when he wakes for his only feeding at night. We worked hard to get him from waking up every four or three hours. Working hard = a night or two of letting him cry. All three of us hate those nights.
• Henry is a nap champ! I backed off on trying to get him weened from the swing and the swaddle. He rarely cries when he's put down. We'll tackle getting rid of those things in the future. The third nap of the day only happens on occasion and depends on how the first two naps go.
• The kid is mobile - he makes his way all around the living room floor. He either grips the carpet or blanket with his hands and pulls himself forward or uses his arms and ab muscles to move forward. I don't know how to describe it - but it's not really his legs at this point. It's fun to see him get everywhere and he's pretty happy when he's playing on the ground. The only problem is that he still spits up, but since he's able to leave the blanket we put him on we're using a lot of carpet cleaner these days!
• Not only is he moving his whole body, but each little limb is always going. He prefers to be on his stomach, and he just kick, kick, kicks his little legs all day long. At night when he wakes up we now hear his legs kicking along with his waking cry. When he's nursing he waves his arms back and forth and he's always "scratching" with his fingers - either scratching me or whatever is near him that has an interesting texture. It is so clear that his developmental "job" at this age is to learn about the world around him!
• Henry is talking all the time. A couple of weeks ago he started some CVCV or reduplicated babbling. That's speech-pathology terms for saying that he goes "ba ba ba." It's really fun to hear his voice but the first time I heard it I didn't know what baby was in the car with me - it was so strange to hear him in this way!
• We started solid foods about a week and a half ago. His reaction was a little anti-climatic - not surprised, disgusted or excited. A little, "yeah, I've been wondering when you guys were going to give me some of this stuff." We started with rice cereal and he has now had zucchini, pear and carrot. With the onset of eating solids, I now have to deal with cloth diaper messes that can't just be thrown in the washing machine. Yuck.
• Henry is currently battling a cold. His first time being sick, the poor baby. He's a trooper, though. After the first night of refusing to nurse and screaming, causing Dad to do a late-night Sabbath Day run to the store for medicine and to my sister's for a humidifier (we were not prepared for this), he has been happy and smiling despite the goopy eyes and stuffed nose.
• I reported in the last post that Henry was out of his 3-month clothes. The next few days after that I realize that I was too early with that announcement. But now I think he really is just wearing 3-6 months. We go to his 6 mo check-up in a couple days to find out if he has "moved up" on the growth percentile charts. He was in the 6th %ile for weight and the 11th for height at 4 months. Last night during his bath we noticed that his legs actually might have some chub on them! update: After Henry's 6 month checkup - 14lbs 13oz (7th%ile), 2'11'' (3rd %ile)

We love our little baby boy. Yesterday I watched him scoot himself across the living room floor after a ball that kept rolling off just as he would reach for it. That scene, with recent scenes of him eat food that doesn't come from me, plus feeling a little sad for him with being so sick - all made me a little weepy. We're proud parents of our big six month old but do miss our tiny baby boy.

You can imagine the small bit of tears that came when viewing this latest video by Rob. It's snippets from all of the footage of our boy thus far and a document of him growing up:

Henry at 5 months

It's Conference Sunday and I've been reminiscing all weekend about how, during the last Conference, Rob and I were getting the baby's room ready in anticipation of his arrival. At that time it was hard to imagine that by the time we had conference again, we'd have a 5 month old. And now here it is, six months later, and all of the sudden we have a 5 month old.

Henry is getting to be a busy little boy, which is the biggest change. He's still our sweet, happy baby boy, but not quite as docile. There have been a few other changes for our little baby boy:

• Henry is able to fall asleep on his own at night pretty consistently. Nap times are not as consistent but still okay. Henry goes to sleep around 8pm and wakes up twice each night - at about 2am and 5am. We wake him up between 7-7:30am to start the day.
• He has finally noticed some animals - meeting his first dog and a group of ducks in the last month, all of whom wanted to eat Henry's toes.
• He learned to turn over! This is his first big movement-milestone. It makes things a little more inconvenient for his parents, but it sure is fun to watch. Henry can't seem to help turning over when he's on his back and then gets frustrated soon after. Along with the turning over seems to have come an awareness that his toys are just barely out of reach which is the source of some of that frustration.
• In the last couple of days Henry is constantly sucking on his lower lip. This and some other seemingly signs of getting his first teeth have increased in the last month, but still none have appeared.
• Henry still isn't eating anything other than breast milk. However, he really likes to watch Big Cousin Xander (9 months old) eat - so I wouldn't be surprised if he knows just what to do when we finally start on solids closer to 6 months.
• It is so fun for us to show Henry off to friends and family because he is such a smiley boy!
• Henry enjoys car rides - what a change from just a couple of months ago! We have a mirror in our car now that lets us watch him, so we are enjoying car rides more now too! He is so funny, he looks out the windows with curiosity, sucks on his Sophie giraffe or other toys, and babbles to himself.
• He has managed to pee on our sheets and blankets multiple times. You'd think we learn to not leave him without a diaper on too long - but he's just too quick! Plus, it's so fun to let him play sans diaper - but we have to pay for it with a lot of laundry.
• Henry is quite enamored with his daddy. This is especially apparent during our bedtime routine when it's time for him to nurse and, instead, he has to watch Rob as he's reading a book out loud or follow him with his eyes as Rob comes in and out of room. It's so cute, but most of the time I wish he'd stop smiling at his dad and get on with eating!
• Henry is a skinny little guy but I think he's finally outgrowing his 0-3 and 3 month clothing. We might strictly be in 3-6 month now.

We still spend much of our time with him just amazed at how adorable he is. We feel so blessed that he's our sweet little baby boy.

4 months

3 months

2 months

1 month

Hawaiian baby

Here is how Henry spent most of his time in Hawaii... he is staring at the palm trees. This kid loves to watch the trees and sky. I think that Henry was so happy in Hawaii because we spent so much time outdoors! Even many of the places we ate were outside (this is our first day in Maui, eating at the 808 Deli -yum!)

Not so much of a beach-bum baby. This picture is of the only time we took him swimming in the ocean. He was okay with it, seemed to enjoy the waves on his feet a little, but it's hard to tell. His parents just didn't like it very much - too much sand to deal with if he wasn't going to even enjoy it that much! He did swim at the condo most mornings.

He wore this hat everywhere we went. It was perfect for keeping the sun rays off his head (which we liked) and the sun shine out of his eyes (which he liked). Thanks Lismarie! He has a shirt to match (in pictures below) and the one day he wore them both he got a lot of attention.

This restaurant didn't have space for him other than on the floor. He was not happy about being put in the corner (insert quote from Dirty Dancing here).

And here is another time he wasn't happy. Henry took a lot of naps in the car, and this is right before one of those naps....

... he was made at me for laughing and taking pictures while he was crying...

... starting to be interested in the noise the camera is making...

...All better.

I just love this picture. Henry with his Maui shirt.

Henry says he wants to go back to Hawaii. We're thinking about it.