8 Weeks Old

My, my, he is a big boy. This is a 3-6 suit borrowed from my friend Rebecca. This will be the last times he wears this. He is stuffed in there. I have a 6-9 month Vikings suit I was given for Isabel that she never wore because she was in 12-month stuff by time it was cold enough to need it. And I think the 12-month suit was dk blue w/ teddy bears, so a nice gender neutral item. I am sure we will need the 12-month size before winter is over.

Anyways, last night he has his first 6-hr stretch of sleep. But of course, it was the first stretch & I was up for half of it. It was also his first night in the pack-n-play w/ bassinet insert. And so he was a few feet away from me rather than right next to because because of the size/placement of the pack-n-play.

Merry Christmas Henry!

Henry's presents were once again opened by his sister. Next year it will be totally different when he over a year old. So, Henry just watched his sister open his presents for him. Santa brought him 3 hand puppets (lion, tiger & zebra) and 2 finger puppets (monkey & frog), 3 books, a stuffed animal, a fleece sweatshirt, and a boy prince doll.

Really, what Santa needed to bring him was a stocking full of D-cell batteries. I haven't been able to figure out the secret on how to get him to stay asleep for a nap once I lay him down. He will fall asleep in my arms and wake up within minutes of me putting him down. He only naps in his carseat (which then I leave him in that & carry him in when we arrive), his swing (which is where he is napping now), in my arms or laying next to me in bed. So, I have to figure out this nap thing with him before he gets too big for his swing.

Mommy & daddy both got their stocking filled by Santa as well. Mommy got a bunch of candles & bubble bath & fancy chocolates. Santa thought mommy could use some relaxing baths, which is where I am off to now.

Christmas Eve

Henry had his first Christmas Eve. We opened presents at home and then went to church. Now, the children are all snug in their beds (it took some work though, especially this one) and Santa has come and we will open those presents tomorrow.

Henry was very alert while we opened presents. Isabel opened his for him and showed them to him. He recieved a couple of homemade presents that I made (mittens & fleece-tie throw pillow {matches his blanket}) and a homemade snake that Isabel made (with my help) for him and a car/key holder that Isabel made for him with grandma's help. He also recieved some Christmas pajamas, a couple books, the chitter-chatter telephone, a stuffed animal (from the Borg's), and a little tikes tractor/wagon/farmer/animal set.

Christmas Snuggles

This Week

Well, Isabel's Advent calendar a couple days ago said she got to play dress-up, but she decided to dress up Henry. He is wearing the black & pink cape I made Isabel for Christmas last year, a bandana and a cowboy hat and she called his the Super Hero Baby Cowboy. She always comes up with names for her combined costumes.

Here are just a couple pictures I took with my phone the last couple days. The one of both kids is from this morning and the other is from yesterday morning. One thing that he is similar to his sister on is that he does like to be held & snuggled.

I took him in to the Amazing Newborn Clinic yesterday and he now weighs 15 pounds 4 ounces. This boy is sure growing fast. Oh! And he is 25.25 inches long, which put him at a gain of 3/4 inch since he was measured 5 days ago. Daddy came home the other day when he had worked and held Henry and said "Wow! What did you do? Grow 6 inches?" That was Monday.

He is seriously growing out of his 3-6 months clothes already. I knew he would be in 6-9 months stuff by the first of the year. I am pretty glad I got most of his clothes used because I was thinking he would follow a similar growing pattern as his sister, but he started out a little bigger than her and remains heavier than she did each week, so he fill out those clothes more. She was always around 75th percetile for weight and 100th percentile for length. He is 100th percentile for length and 100th percentile for weight as well. You wouldn't think it would make a big difference (a couple of pounds), but it does when it comes to these little clothes.

I think he's in size 2 baby shoes now. His feet were never small enough for size 0's (like Isabel's were) and I am sure the size ones are too small for him now. I think he wore one pair once. He has a couple pair of slippers we put on if he needs something on his feet.

Anyways, about the clothes. I had thought he might be in 12-months summer clothes, but I am thinking he might need 12 months the first couple months and then be in 18 months by July. Yikes! I bought a bunch of summer stuff in 12 months, but now much of it might not get worn. But then again because it is shorts it might be fine too. Guess we'll have to see.

I still have a couple more new 3-6 month outfits for him that I better get on soon. It's crazy how fast they outgrow things. It's weird that he seems to be going through another growth spurt, He had one at 6 weeks (like he was supposed to) and then the next was supposed to be at 3 months. Oh well.

It's really a good thing that his sister is so nice to him because he is going to be bigger than her before we know it and them getting along will be to her advantage.

So now he is outgrowing his bassinett a little quicker than his sister did. Darn it. I think I am going to bring up the pack&play with bassinett attachment in our room & set that up. It takes up so much room, but I am not ready for him to be out yet. The nasal congestion bothers me and I want to be able to listen for any breathing troubles. Plus, he hasn't quite started getting longer stretches of sleep. It sucks as it is to get up a couple times, but to have to get up and go in his room every time would suck even more.

The other night he had three 4-hour stretches and that was nice. But then last night is was 4.5, 2.75, 2, 1.5 and there was an hour awake period in the middle.

I am not sure how tonight will go because he napped like crap today and then I had a hard time getting him down tonight. He kept sleeping so lightly and then his paci would fall out & he would get upset and sometimes I could stick it back in & other times he need to be rocked or nursed.

Let's see - what else. Well, he is starting to get good head control. I think he's about ready to use the BebePod seat. That will give him a different perspective. He continues to enjoy his swing and loves looking at those fish on it and he loves the animals on his mobile in his crib.

He had his first laugh at 6 weeks. We have had a few since then and they are starting to increase. I think we will see more laughing soon. He smiles so much already and was a VERY early smiler.

7 Weeks Old

Yesterday he was seven weeks old. He now weighs 14.5 pounds and remains 24.5 inches. He is more & more alert and gets more interactive every day. In general he is a pretty happy baby and loves to smile.

I signed us up to take a Baby & Me class in January & February. His sister will go to "gym class" (it's really sibcare in an awesome gym with a whole climbing/slide/bounce house ensemble that she loves, but she wants her own class, so we call it gym class.)

Henry went to see his first play at Stages Theatre. He slept through all but 20 minutes of it. All four of us went to this. It is kind of a tradition now for us to go see a Christmas play. I think that's a nice tradition. This winter I plan to take the kids to see the play of The Snowy Day.

Holding Hands

Isabel wanted to hang out with her brother & hold his hand. The poor little guy has congested nasal passagesand is not feeling the best. Lots of holding & cuddling is necessary.

Weekend with Grandma & Grandpa S.

Mommy's parents came for a visit this weekend and to meet Henry. Henry really likes his grandpa S. He couldn't help but smile at him all the time and the two of them would just have conversations together. It was very sweet. Sister Isabel really kept them busy. She & grandma did crafts together and they both played hide & seek with her. She really wore them out. And they watched Isabel on Saturday night so that we could go out for a date night (with Henry along since he would need to nurse while we would be gone.) We had a very nice visit with them.

6 Weeks Old

Today he is 6 weeks old. I had him weighed yesterday at Baby & Me class and he was 14 pounds. I am going to try & measure his head & length in the next couple of days.

Today we went to a playgroup and did a cookie exchange. I think this might have been his first MOMS Club playgroup.

His little friend Molly who was born 10 weeks before him was there and she just was measured & weighed and she is 16 pounds and 23.5 inches long. So, it will be interesting to see how long he is, because he was 23.6 inches 2 weeks ago, he quite possible could be longer than her already.

Henry came with me to my 6-week post partum appointment and I had a chance to talk to our doctor about the alternative schedule we will do for vaccines for him. I just have to type up our schedule and call in with the specific shots I want given at the end of this month. There were specific brands of some of the vaccines that I wanted given to him and the doctor said she would order whatever I wanted. I like it when a doctor listens to you.

St. Nick's Day

Daddy & Henry look on as Isabel open Henry's St. Nick presents. She was concerned that she got more presents than Henry, it was only one more, but she noticed.

This is from yesterday when Isabel asked me to take a picture of her & Henry.

Five Weeks Old

He is such a smiley baby and has a great big smile. I love it! I was playing our face game (something I made up when Isabel was a baby) and he loves it and couldn't help but be ear-to-ear grin.

Isabel & Henry with Santa #2. At least one more Santa visit before Christmas.

First Time Meeting Santa

This is my favorite picture off all the ones I took of this visit to Santa. It is the only one I took of both of them and it turned out great. Henry is wearing a little onesie that says My First Christmas and has a Christmas stocking on it.

Here is one just of Henry with Santa.

One Month Weight

I know it's 3 days late, but I was finally able to get a weight. He is 13 pounds. WOW! I knew he was a champion nurser and this confirms it. He fit perfectly in his 3-6 months clothes right now and I imagine he will be onto 6-9 months by the new year. So, if you are purchasing him clothes for Christmas, best buy him 6-9 months or larger.

Today we went to the BabyStop class in Frbo. It's for 0-8 weeks (but because of the holidays we can go until 10 weeks.) I didn't learn a whole lot new, but I might in upcoming classes. And there were a lot of first time moms there that wanted to hear first hand experiences from veteran moms. The class is free AND they have free sibcare, so Isabel was able to go to their gym where they have lots os stuff to play with and an indoor climber & slide. She had a great time.

This afternoon we plan to take the kids to Cashwise to meet Santa.