I'm Back!
So I took another unplanned break from the blog, but have been meaning to get back to it. I really do love recording things here and it is so much fun to look back at everything and see how the boys have grown. So I am back. And in the interest of not getting bogged down in catching up, I'm going to do what I did just after James was born and copy over the notes I've been writing in my phone. It won't be the prettiest blog post, but at least I will be able to remember these special things....Trip to the beach-yelling in the pipe: Toward the end of the summer we headed back to my parents' house at the beach. Henry and James both had a great time playing in the sand and tidal pools. Henry especially loves to dig right now and he and Grammie had a lot of fun digging and "making icecream" with the wet sand. James was content to splash around and chew on a shovel. We took a walk down the beach one morning and they had one of those giant pipes they use to control erosion. It was right at Henry's height and he ran right up to it and started yelling into it, "helloooooo! Anybody home?" It was so cute. He was imitating Winnie-the-Pooh and even the people on the beach around us started laughing.
James at 8 months: This little man just keeps growing and getting more and more fun by the day. At 8 months he was sitting up, and weighed 20lbs. He continues to be our big boy! He was babbling "dadada," has his bottom two teeth with the top two coming in and teething makes him very grumpy. He still hadn't quite settled into his nap schedule yet, but I was hopeful. It took Henry until 9 months to really get there. I'll give James that leeway too! :)
Hopefully done with helmet - nope: The title of this section is sort of funny. Around his 8.5 month birthday, we had another check-up for his helmet. I was really hoping to be done with it, but the orthotist wanted us to go a little longer. I was really beginning to believe that his head was as good as it was going to get, and because he was now able to sit up and sleep on his tummy, I was thinking that things would improve some more on their own. Needless to say, I was disappointed when I left. However, just a couple of weeks later, James' right eye started to swell whenever I put the helmet on him. That made me very uncomfortable. It had done this one or twice before when he slept, but would always go away once he woke up (which my pediatrician said was normal). Now it wasn't going away. I sent pictures and called the helmet place and they had us come back in for another check-up. The orthotist had never had that happen before and he tried to open the helmet up some so that James would have more room in it. He also mentioned that it was "probably fine." Again, I was not ok with that! I did not want to mess with my baby's circulation in his head or his eye! An hour after we left, his eye was swelling again. Matt and I made the decision to just go ahead and be done with it at that point. We couldn't get a good answer as to why it was happening or what it meant, and their attempt to fix it wasn't working. James' head will never be perfect, but it does look so much better than it did. I am glad we did the helmet, but I am also very glad it is done!
Water tower, phone tower, Eifel tower: Henry is very observant and remembers everything. This summer, as we were driving around town, he got very interested in pointing out all of the water and phone towers we drove by. There is actually even a small replica of the Eifel Tower in a shopping center near our neighborhood, so he got to learn about that too!
Pickles: Henry LOVES pickles. He has at least one pickle spear a day (I make him wait until after his nap to have one) and he would eat a lot more if I let him. If you have little pickles, watch out...he will eat them like potato chips.
Naked baby at Miyabi... mommy fail: Oh man, this was a good one....not. I am generally a very prepared person. In fact, sometimes it is almost a fault of mine. Well, one night this summer, Matt and I decided to take the boys to our local Japanese place where they cook right in front of you. The service was exceptionally slow, but the boys really did well. However, just as the food was being served I noticed that James had a dirty diaper. I took him to the bathroom to change him and realized that it wasn't just any dirty diaper...it was a slide up your back, make a complete disaster of things diaper. And of course, that night of all nights, I didn't have a change of clothes with me. I couldn't put him back in his dirty clothes, so I cleaned him up, changed his diaper and wrapped the cloth napkin from the restaurant around him! He was still in his infant carrier at the time, so it wasn't like he was completely naked and sitting at the table. It was pretty embarrassing though. Needless to say, we cut the evening short and took what was left of our food to go.
Falling asleep at his door: Henry's transition to his big boy bed has gone pretty well, all things considered. However, at one point, he realized that he could lay down at his door and peak under the door, watching us as we walked by. Actually, one day for nap, I went to check on him because I couldn't see him on the monitor and I decided to peak under his door myself. There he was, staring right back at me! I couldn't help but laugh. Another time, he actually fell asleep for nap there. That is quite the conundrum because you can't actually open the door while he's laying there without hitting him. Since it was just nap, I let him sleep. Any nap is better than no nap!
Henry and Tripp- shoes, wagon: One of Matt's very best friends has a little boy, Tripp, who is just a few months older than Henry. We see them often, but one particular playdate this summer netted two very cute Henry and Tripp moments. We were outside on the deck and Henry and Tripp kept wanting to take off their shoes. Finally, we told them they could, but they had to do it themselves. Henry leaned up against the wall and Tripp bent down and took off his socks and shoes for him. Then he neatly tucked the socks in his shoes and lined them up right by the door! It was precious. Also, they were playing in a wagon in the backyard. Henry had climbed into the wagon, but couldn't figure out how to get himself out of it. Tripp literally grabbed him in a bear hug and lifted/lugged him out. I am sure those two will have many more adventures in the future.
James at 9 months: James had his 9 month checkup and is 29.24" long and 20lbs 14 oz. He continues to be a big boy and a complete joy to be around. Except for when he is teething, he is very agreeable and easy going. His nap schedule is much better now. If we're at home, he will sleep for about an hour in the morning and then he'll go back down for a 2-3 hour afternoon nap. Sometimes he doesn't get that morning nap - it just depends on what we are doing, but he usually powers through without it ok. At 9 months, he can push himself up on all 4s, but isn't crawling yet. He gets frustrated and likes to let out a little yell, but he is very good at rolling wherever he wants to go. He might not be crawling, but he is very mobile. He is also now saying "mamamama" along with "dadadada." He is sweet and amicable, but he doesn't let you forget that he is around! He also still loves to eat, and at preschool they sometimes have to take him outside when they are giving another child a bottle so that he doesn't get too upset.
James at 10 months: James weighs 22lbs now and officially started crawling just a few days after his 10 month birthday. It is hard to believe he will be 1 in just two short months. He is fast now that he can crawl, and Henry definitely takes notice of him more. I can tell Henry is trying to figure things out, because one minute he seems really excited and happy that James can get around and play a little, but the next minute, he is mad when James crawls over to one of his toys and starts to play with it. I pray they will be good friends and play together more often than not, but sharing is always hard for a 2-year-old...or at least it is for mine! James has a great laugh and will bounce/dance when he hears music. We still put him in the jumper from time-to-time and he generally likes that. He's eating like crazy. He's probably consumed more Cheerios in this past month than I have my entire life! They are good because they keep him busy though! He also eats peas, carrots, green beans, sweet potato, Stove Top dressing, bananas and other soft finger foods. He can devour a pouch of food in under 2 minutes and he will still let you spoon feed him. If you are eating in front of him, you better have something for him to eat too! I generally take a banana and Cheerios in my purse whenever we go out to eat anywhere! He is a great sleeper at night...usually going to bed between 6:30-7pm and he will sleep until 7am or so. Sometimes, I think he would sleep later, but my alarm and Henry wake him up. Henry still likes to get up around 6:30am, but will play in his room. James is trying to pull up, but mostly just makes it to his knees. We haven't lowered his crib mattress yet, but probably should do that this weekend.
"Mommy, our house looks nice" (after decorating for Halloween): Ok, last one for now. While Henry and James were napping one afternoon, I brought out our Halloween decorations. I don't have a lot, but just some pumpkins and a ghost that lights up. Henry really is starting to understand holidays and decorations now though, so when he woke up and saw them he exclaimed, "Mommy, our house looks nice!" He then proceeded to call them Christmas decorations for the next day or so, but it was so sweet. I don't want to ever forget it!
Well, that was super long, disjointed and without pictures, but better tackle the beast of catching up than be paralyzed by it, right? I'll try to do better about updating and maybe I'll do a post with just pictures next. The boys are growing and changing so much. They crack us up daily and I just love having them in my life!
