Learning New Things

He is facinated by my computer. I was letting him touch it & touch the keys, so I thought it ould be cute to take some pictures. Then his sister wanted to type and then they started to fight over the keyboard. Oh! It starts already!

Unlike his sister, Henry does not like to stand. We are having to work on it with him and distract him so that he stand a little longer each time and starts strengthening those muscles. So, after reviewing some pictures of his sis, I remembered how I put toys for her on the ottoman. I also got out one of the activity tables and figured he would get intrigues by the toys and want to stand. Worked!

New Foods

A favorite new food of his is graham crackers. He is picking it up and feeding himself and gums it nicely. This picture was take today. Today, he also tried peaches for the first time. His first taste of it was canned peaches pureed with rice cereal, but then later he was eyeing my whole canned peaches, so I cut up some of that & fed it to him. Loved it!

This was Sunday lunch when we were at Bd's Mongolian. Daddy is feeding him some of my white rice. He loved that too. I know we didn't feed Isabel these kind of solids this early, but we were new parents and were so sure she would choke on anything not pureed.

25 Weeks Old

I picked up matching jammies for them from Gymboree. Isabel was so excited that she & Henry were "twins". They actually got another matching set as well. The best part is that as long as Isabel doesn't wear hers out he will get them as a hand-me-down when he gets old. Although, at the rate he's growing he'll be wearing these in a year. :)

Next month he turns both 26 weeks and 6 month on Friday. On Thursday he will have his 6-month well child visit and will get a couple more vaccines.

Mid-Week With Henry

Well, this week is Earth Week and a lot of the activities involve sister, so poor little Henry doesn't make as many photos. So, while we were playing outside today I took some pictures of him. He loves swinging.

24 Weeks Old

Pulling off his socks is one of his new favorite things to do. And no, he isn't wearing a diaper in this picture. I like to let him have some diaper-free time for a couple of reasons, one is that is helps prevent diaper rash and two is that he moves around A LOT more if that diaper comes off. I don't think the diaper is that restrictive, I just think he thinks it's party time when the diaper comes off. He is going to grow up to be one of those kids that removes his clothes & runs around the house naked all the time.
He has gotten really good at sitting up all the way on his own unaided. The only thing he struggles with is controlling how fast he can pull himself up from picking up a toy. He usually pulls himself up way too fast and then keep heading backwards.

Ok, this is actually a tame picture of how his sister dresses him up when she plays dress up. Seriously, tame. This boy is so tolerant of her dressing him up. He doesn't care and doesn't rip anything off his head or face. He just keeps on concentrating on what he was playing with and keeps on playing.
Speaking of concentrating on toys, I just gave this toy to him yesterday to explore and he has the shutting the pieces thing figured out. Watching him play is different than when Isabel would play. She was a studier and would observe for a while and then try it out once she knew she could do it, that is still how she is when it comes to learning new things, if she watches me do it first she's got it and it's easy-peasy, but make her do it without seeing it then she gets nervous. But Henry, his style seems to be different, the style that seems to be emerging is, IF I want to do it I will jump right in and do it, and do it and do it and I will keep doing it until I get it figured out or you take me away. And if my sister tries to get in my way I will work faster so as to not let her do it for me, oh! And I will probably pound, pull & smash things to see if that makes it work.

It was hilarious watching him push the characters down and have his sister come try to help him. He started frantically slapping at them trying to get them down before she could touch them.

Here is Henry's 24 week picture.

Last Day in the Dells

Henry threw up early this morning, so we had a low-key morning and went over to the waterpark at lunchtime. He didn't appear sick before or after throwing up, so I don't know if it's anything like what I had. We had a good time in the Waterdome. The sun was shining and we were all slathered in sunscreen and got to enjoy the water. Henry napped & ate much of the time we were there, but he did get in the water.

Trip to WI Dells

Henry is doing well sleeping in a new location. They had a pack & play for us to use and he & sister are sharing a room (which we weren't sure if one or the other would wake each other, but they did good last night and hopefully will tonight too.) The only issue is with a baby who doesn't sit up on his own, we have to do a lot of holding and he gets bored of laying under the table playing with the toys attached.

Someone took this picture of us while we were waiting for our shuttle since we only stayed an hour & daddy & sister were staying 2 hours.

On the way here we stopped in Sparta, WI at McDonald's so we all could have lunch. Henry was just in a trance looking at all the bright colors at the playland.

WI Dells: Wilderness Lodge Waterparks

Henry made it to three of the four waterparks. He hung back earlier this morning with daddy while sister & I got one in.

The first one we went to was the Wild West Waterpark. The music was loud and it was very crowded and the water was slightly chilly. He didn't spend too much time in the water. He also hated all the water squirting everywhere.


The Wild Waterdome Waterpark was where he & daddy joined us on day two. He nursed & fell asleep right away and got in a short nap. Then we played in the water at the edge of the wave pool while we watched sister & daddy out in the waves. It was a bit chilly (the water) but the air temperature was quite warm. He didn't like being in the waves too much. He enjoyed that pool much better when the waves stopped.

After naps, we went to the Cubby Cove Waterpark. This was one we never made it to last year. This one was perfect for our kids. The air temp was warm and both pool areas were warmer. With Henry we mostly stayed in the pool with the basketball hoop & open swim area. He really seemed to enjoy swimming with us when there were no bells & whistles. The other thing that we liked about this one was no loud music that seem to be apparent at the other three. The only thing that sucks about this one is that it's located really far away and we have to take 2 shuttles to get there and if their timing is not coordinated, you can wait a long time. But I think it was worth going for if you have little ones like us.

23 Weeks Old

Henry is such a cute little boy. He's so happy and smiles so much. He is such a charmer. He will smile at everyone and it just makes them smile & giggle because he has such a great smile. He has become such a fun baby. He loves to take a bath with his sister & vice versa. He's begun rotating on his back by moving a leg/foot to one side then picking up his butt and scooting it over and then moving the other leg . It takes him a little while, but he will rotate in a circle.

Today he grabbed a couple puffer snacks and put them in his mouth by himself. That's pretty good. He is really developing his fine motor skills. He also LOVES blowing raspberries. He now also finds it fun to pull off his socks when he is grabbing his feet, which is different from his sister who didn't realize she could really take off any clothes on her own until she was three (it's not that she couldn't, she just thought only mom or dad got her dressed & undressed.)

Henry loves Larry, well he loves grabbing Larry. This is another way his sister & him differ. His sister didn't care either way about the cats, but Henry loves to feel & touch them. He also loves the touch & feel books, which Isabel didn't get into until much older. She used to look away when I would make her touch things. I think it was just too much stimulation for her as she was such a sensitive baby & is as a child now (but she handles over-stimulation better & better as she gets older). Henry, on the other hand loves to feel everything and will reach out on his own. It is amazing to me just how different two children can be. But one thing is for sure is that they both do love each other very much. I have been so amazed that she has never once asked to send Henry back and has never said she didn't want him or like him. She is a very proud sister and very helpful.

This Week with Henry

They were watching Chuggington. Isabel was never into TV (except Classical Baby) until she was around 18 months, but Henry is drawn to it and if he hears Chuggington on and he's nursing, he pulls off and cranes his head to watch. Probably gets me a bad mom award, but it's only a few minutes that I let him watch.

Henry's First Easter

Not sure if you can tell, but I can, he is stuffed up in these photos. He has a head cold right now.

The first picture is when we were outside watching his sister search for Easter Eggs. The second picture is of Henry with his presents from the Easter Bunny (bucket & shovel, 2 nerf balls & 2 books.) The third picture is of Henry eating his Easter dinner (ham & apples & cereal) and wearing his First Easter bib from his great aunt Dawn.

Happy First Easter Henry! We love you so much!

22 Weeks Old

These pictures were all taken at Sarah's house for the MOMS Club Easter Egg Hunt. Henry was 22 weeks old on Friday.

This picture is of him feeding himself. A few days ago he first grabbed the spoon from Andy & stuck it in him mouth (because he was holding a spoon full of food out but not putting it in his mouth since he was telling me something.) It was amazing to see him do this. And since then he is always grabbing at the spoon and putting it in his mouth. And tonight he started trying to pick up his puffer snacks. We put some on the tray in front of him and them feed them to him, but now he is trying to figure out how to pick it up. He is trying with his whole hand.

He has also started stringing together constanants and vowels with repetition, but has not used them for any meaning yet.

So, he is definitly working hard on those communication and fine motor skills. The gross motor skills are coming along as he does more large motor movements with his hands & arms. He really pulls on his toys. He is very strong. He has also learned to bring his leg/foot up to help push a toy hanging out of reach closer to him so that he can grab it. This is what he does instead of rolling over. He does push his legs so that he moves his body in a circle while staying on his back. So, he is scooting that way.

I recently read an article that they need to master large muscle groups in a particular order (head control then arm control then trunk control then leg control.) He doesn't like to put any pressure on his legs to practice standing at all. I mean NOT at all. Sometimes I can get him to do it for a few seconds and lately if his sister is distracting him he will do it for a few seconds longer. So, I guess he will roll over again whenever he is good & ready. He is working on trunk control and his frog sitting is getting better and he soon may be able to do it with out leaning to the side.