11 Months!

Henry is now 11 months old.  It’s crazy how sometimes I think this year has flown by and other times I think it is taking forever!  I guess it just depends on the days… henry has mellowed out a lot since he was born.  He takes about a 2 hour nap daily and gives mommy some down time in the afternoon.  (Thank god) he is still rather clingy and prefers mommy to anyone and everyone else.  Henry has gotten both his bottom middle teeth and all 4 in the middle of the top have been coming in together for the past 2 weeks.   They have finally broken through within the last 2 days. 

Henry is crawling around like a fool and can pull himself up to anything.  He recently just discovered how to climb stairs as well.  This little man has developed an attitude and now I know how mike feels sometimes when he has to deal with me J  Henry does not like to be told “no” and will crawl after me and try to hit me when I won’t let him do things he wants to.

Henry has started drinking whole cow’s milk today.  He seems to be taking it great and didn’t even seem to notice when I swapped it out for his formula.  I am sure it tastes better!  He has also been on a Sippy cup for about 2.5 weeks now too.  We have done away with nipple bottles except during bed time.  Mostly we only keep them then because the Sippy cups we have don’t hold enough milk for the hungry man before bed.

Language has been a difficult thing with henry.  He is making tons of sounds, continues to growl, but he won’t vocalize any real words and doesn’t even seem to try.  I think most of it is laziness. I know pretty well what he wants now that he doesn’t even need to ask for anything.  I’m sure with time he’ll get sick of waiting for me and finally speak up!

Figure Skating

Autumn has started figure skating this year.  We decided to join the Norwood Norfolk figure skating club after a child in daycare had started.  Autumn has been having some ups and downs when it comes to skating.  There has been a few times where she has spent the entire time on the floor or ice screaming her head off.   Most of the time she loves it though.  I am hoping it continues to get better and we fewer episodes as time wears on.  Within the first lesson she had managed to get up off the ice on her own and even let go of the wall a few times.  Since October autumn has begun to push off from side to side with her skates and will spend most of the time on the ice without throwing a fit now.    In fact… at the last session she didn’t want to get off the ice!  I can’t wait to see the ice show in March!

Autumn

Pictures of Henry

9 Months!

Henry’s nine month well-baby appointment was October 8^th.  He is getting to be such a big boy.  He still comes in small on the baby charts but he is growing every day!  Henry doesn’t babble a lot but he can do it, since we hear him from time to time.  The doctor said not to worry and that he still has plenty of time to develop those skills.  Henry can pull himself up t things now and will slowly work his way around furniture but has a tendency to fall a bit.  His poor face usually always has marks now.  We are still waiting for henry to crawl.

Henry’s first sick visit:

Henry went to the doctor for his first sick visit on OCTOBER 1^ST.  The poor little guy had a cold the week before and a fever throughout the entire weekend.  Turns out that henry had developed an ear infection.  The doctor gave us some antibiotics.

Henry’s first teeth:

Henry finally got some teeth the other day.  The first one was the bottom right on September 28^th and the bottom left followed suit on October 2^nd.  He was a pretty miserable guy for about two weeks while they worked their way out but his grin is awfully cute with his big boy teeth!

Autumn-isms:

Autumn picks up one of my bras this morning and says: "mom, are you going to wear these boobies today? these boobies are gorgeous!" LOL

Henry’s Broken Arm:

On July 11^th when henry woke up in the morning in his crib his arm was stuck through the rails.  Throughout the morning he wouldn’t use the arm and seemed to be in discomfort.  I called mike at work and had him come home so I could run henry out to the doctor’s office to be checked out.  Unfortunately Dr. Benardot wasn’t able to see us and we were stuck with another provider in the office who was horrible (DR. Mannis).  She thought he seemed fine but after insisting on a x-ray his arm turned out to be broken. 

So… our next stop was the ER.  We waited over an hour while everyone stood around and gave us dirty looks as if I had purposely broken my child’s arm.  He was given a temporary splint and we were told to follow up with the orthopedics office the next day.

The next morning at the orthopedics office we were told is was a “clean’ break, would heal fine, and that it didn’t even need a cast.  The put a new splint on because the one from the ER wasn’t done well.   We were sent home to follow up with them in 2 weeks.  

After returning home from our vacation the following Wednesday we had  a million message on our phone telling us we needed to go to a new pediatric orthopedic in south Burlington.  They had me freaking out till I could get ahold of someone the following day (since it was after closing hours when I got the messages). 

 Turns out our awful substitute doctor (Dr. Mannis) thought it would be a good idea to drive 3 hours with a small baby to get another opinion… we canceled the appointment.

Two weeks go by and we go in for another x-ray and follow up appoint

ment at the orthopedics.  We are told it is still completely broke, no new healing is seen, but since henry is using the arm it must not hurt him.  So, they take the splint off and say he’s fine.  They tell us to come back in 2 months for another x-ray just to make sure it has healed.  I am completely shocked and worried about the healing of the arm without any protection on it.

We are seeking a second opinion just to be sure.  We go an appointment at an orthopedics in Potsdam on august 10^th and he will also have another x-ray.

Deer Fence:

Our latest home renovation has been a 7 foot tall deer fence around the back acre of property.  This year we hope to not have to fight with the deer for rights to our vegetables.  We have expended what we planted this year since we hope to have a great year for production with the natural pruners… we planted strawberries, asparagus, corn, radishes, cucumbers, raspberries, and turnips.  We still need to plant our potatoes and pumpkins.  It’s getting to be late but we can only get so much done at a time with Henry man.

Henry Update:

Henry is now 5 ½ months old.  Last night he rolled over from his back to his tummy for the first time.  He was so angry about it.  He hates being on his tummy.  I thought it was a fluke but he rolled over to his tummy again today. 

Henry has started eating a wide variety of baby food.  So far he has had sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, peas, bananas, prunes, peaches, and pears.  He hasn’t even been eating baby cereal lately because he loves the regular food so much.

Henry is still quite fussy and loves to be held.  It will probably always be that way.  He loves to watch the other kids play and is very quiet when he’s happy.  When left alone during happy times that when he starts chattering away.  Around a crowd... he falls silent. 

I still have to schedule his 6 month well baby appointment.  We are still trying to find a time that won’t waste a whole day and will work around Henry’s schedule.  He really doesn’t like things to be different. 

Recently I purchased “the fussy baby” book by William and Martha sears.  It has helped deal with Henry’s neediness.  It doesn’t make his fussiness stop but it helps me understand how he feels and is also reassuring knowing that other moms have been in the same place.

Talking about death:

Autumn asks me "mommy, am I going to get really really old and die? I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!" 

-this stems from a conversation with Calvin about autumn’s great grandpa for father’s day.  Calvin told autumn that his great grandpa was dead because he got old, and that everyone dies when they get old.  Thanks Calvin…

Autumn:

after having dropped a Diego toy in the upstairs toilet earlier in the day Autumn forgot about it and went to use that potty later in the day.  Within a few minutes she came storming back down the stairs all huffy.  i asked if she went potty.  

Autumn’s Response?  “no.  I’m not using the freaking potty because there’s a damn diego in it!”



mike was cutting autumn's toast and she says "I'm watching you to make sure you don't cut your finger off"



Autumn's famous line "don't worry mom, i won't do it... i promise"

Rice Cereal:

i have started giving henry rice cereal.. i am hoping to keep it up daily as long as i can fit it into our crazy schedule.  the last two days have gone great and he seems to really enjoy it.  i don’t know if he loves the cereal or all the attention he gets while he eats it.  i hope both!  i first tried it a few weeks ago and he wanted nothing to do with it.  how things change from day to day...

Henry Update:

henry just had his four month well baby visit.  he is still small for his age and the doctor can’t seem to get over it.  he finally got a prescription for some vitamins since i told the doctor that i am now giving henry one bottle of formula at night to get some iron and vitamin D in his system.

henry is less than third percentile for weight and fifth percentile for length.  i must just be destined to have small babies.

the doctor seemed concerned about henry’s “lack of communication.”  i think he is just a quiet and serious little boy.  henry does smile a lot now and even giggles from time to time.  he doesn’t smile as much as some other babies but each baby is different.  i guess we will just wait and see.  

henry has finally started to calm down a  bit.  some days he even goes with hardly crying at all.  he definitely still has fussy days though.  henry has even started to like his bath a bit, as long as it doesn’t last too long!  henry will play on his floor mat at times and even likes to sit in his aquarium bouncer from time to time.  he likes to sit up as much as possible and gets frustrated when i lay him down too much.  sometimes henry just wants to be left alone.  he must be getting over stimulated sometimes because he likes to just be put down and left alone.  during these times he will just chatter away to himself and his toys and pull at his toes.

Mother’s Day:

we spent mother’s day morning at the greenhouse helping out with customers, as usual.  at lunchtime we went up to great grandma and great grandpa’s house for a picnic.  after about an hour mike returned to the greenhouse for the afternoon to help out while henry, autumn, and i stayed at the picnic.  

autumn got a bunch of rides on the “mule” and loved it.  we also got to play with uncle andy’s little gator and shared rides with the other kids.  autumn also loves grandpa’s very large sandbox and had a blast getting filthy in it.  later in the afternoon we took out the new parachute we bought and played with aidan, aunt tiffany, aunt gisele, grandma, and papa.

Henry was a really good boy today.  he even let daddy carry him around in the morning without having a meltdown.  at the picnic he smiled alot and even “talked” to aunt tiffany.  henry just loves being outside so i can’t say that i’m too surprised by his behavior today.  when we got home i put henry in the bouncer seat on the porch and he just giggled and giggled at mommy.  it was a nice ending to the day!

Henry Rolled over:

henry rolled over for the first time on wednesday may 9th.  it was the night before his four month well baby check up.  not only did i get to see it but when i called dad in henry rolled over again so dad got to see it too!  this was rolling over from his belly to his back.  he can get about ¾ of the way over from his back to his belly as well.  i don’t think he will be very happy with himself if he does end up rolling all the way over to his belly though since he hates tummy time so much.

Nail Biting:

Autumn has been biting her nails lately.  Mike and I are constantly telling her to take her hands out of her mouth.  I think she is doing it out of nervousness.  Whenever she gets in trouble or does something wrong her hands go straight into her mouth.  It’s been happening for about a month now and it seems to slowly be progressing into a full time habit.  We are going insane trying to break the habit… which might be making it worse.  We’ll keep trying…  I don’t want her to grow up with the nasty habit I developed in childhood.

Henry Update: 16 weeks

Next week Henry will be four months old!  Sometimes I am shocked that it has been that long, then Henry starts crying and I feel like it’s been even longer than four months!  The Zantac is still doing a great job of keeping Henry happy.  The other night I ate some dairy again figuring the Zantac was working well and I could probably start eating lactose again.  Boy was I wrong!   He spent the day with tons of gas, crying, and screams.  It wasn’t pretty.  Needless to say I am back off dairy.

Henry still hasn’t fully laughed again since the first time.  He did give a small sound that kind of sounded like a laugh last night but it was very low and small.  He also doesn’t “squeal” in delight much. In fact, we have only heard it once... this weekend… to papa in the greenhouse.  Must be Henry thinks papa is funny with all that facial hair!

I continue to get frustrated with the development books telling me what Henry “should” be doing by now.  He is such a serious little man.  He doesn’t smile, laugh, or squeal much at all.  I think it’s just his disposition, but I can’t help but wonder…  Henry has also not rolled over yet.  Due to Henry’s acid reflux issues and constant fussiness and gas we haven’t been able to put Henry on the floor much at all during the first few months of his life.  Not only is he not on his back on the floor much but he is practically never on his tummy.  Whenever we try his stomach he has a meltdown, spits up, cries, and gags himself.  He probably won’t be rolling over anytime soon. 

On the other hand… Henry can hold his head up almost completely by himself for long periods of time.  Because we are always carrying him around upright he has had a lot of practice.  He can also keep his upper body very steady while being held.  When pulled to sitting he can keep his head level with his body most of the time as well.  So, Henry is lagging in some areas but is excelling in others.

Easter 2012