Henry's First Halloween

Ok, I am going to cave and totally steal a brilliant idea from a friend! She writes her blog as if she's writing to her baby girl, and since Henry seems to be the ONLY thing I talk about, I might as well be saying all of this directly to him. Right?

HENRY! Oh my goodness, look how BIG you are! I can't believe how much you have been changing the past few weeks. To my surprise, you dont have any teeth that are actually showing yet! They are still JUST below the surface. I feel when they finally come through, you'll probably get many of them within a short time. You've sure been active lately. Maybe its all the solid food that you've been eating! Avocados are your favorite! I haven't given you any citrus fruits or meat yet, and I don't plan to for the next couple weeks (you'll get them once you're 6 months old). You had bananas and liked them but, the first time you threw some of it up, the second time you had a mild diaper rash, and the third time you got a rash on your face!! Not trying those things again for a couple months!

We went to Murrieta with Daddy to visit your gramma, grampa, and all your aunties. And Charlie, your cousin, of course. You had so much fun and gave Aunt Gracie BIG kisses. Aunt Lexie and Aunt Gracie were helping you learn how to crawl. You were pushing off Lexie's hands to get to Aunt Gracie. It was very cute and you were so happy to have people on the floor playing with you. They did such a good job that now you have been picking your entire torso off the floor, so that you're up on your hands and knees!! It shocks me EVERY time I see you do it! Its still hard for me to believe that my tiny little baby is now strong enough pick himself up.... Its only a matter of time until you teach yourself how to move your arms and legs so that you're able to crawl. Tonight you were on the floor with Daddy showing him how strong you are, scooting backwards! I think you were trying to go forward though.. you'll figure it out eventually!!

Today we went to the pumpkin patch because it's Halloween. We went with your friend Mathew Rippey. He is a month and a half older than you are, and you seen to get along pretty well. His mommy and I took LOTS of pictures of you boys, and he tried on your Halloween costume so that he could get some pictures being a dragon too! Look how funny you look in your costume :)

We had a good time. You were a very good boy, even though we skipped a nap! You are so lucky to have a mommy and daddy that love you as much as we do!! But I must admit, its pretty scary how strong and determined you are getting! You also have very long limbs for a baby.. I just can't imagine what it will be like once you start crawling all over the house. We're going to have to get a very tough baby gate for the top of the stairs and permanently attach it, so mommy doesnt have to put the other gate across the entrance to the hallway and hop over it a million times a day!

Love you so much, Hankymuffin, and I will be blogging again soon about all our adventures to come.

Cry it Out

After many, many nights of sleeping with my wiggly baby pasted against my back in my & my husband's bed (he is under water in a submarine), I decided to try the Ferber method, aka "cry it out," because I need Henry to start sleeping by himself in his crib. The transfer from bassinet to crib has not been easy... My goal is to be done with this by the time my husband gets home in a couple weeks. I am hoping to have Henry sleep-trained by then so that I can at LEAST put him to sleep at a decent time! Even if he still wakes up in the middle of the night, it would help if he went to bed at a normal baby bedtime instead of 10 or 11 or sometimes even midnight! Lately he has been going to bed between 10 and 11.

Yesterday was the first night of "cry it out" at the Dwyer house. It went better than I thought it would!! He cried for a total of less than 30 minutes and fell asleep before 10:30pm! I checked on him 4 times, and the 4th time he was sleeping! Tonight we will do this together... I will document what time certain things occur! Here you go:

9:36pm - i put him in his crib & gave him goodnight kisses
9:41pm - finally realized I wasnt coming back & started crying
9:46pm - crying stopped... afraid to check on him!
9:54pm - still quiet. checked on Henry - HE'S ASLEEP!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!

Holy crap! I am in complete disbelief... I am wondering if he will wake up and start crying again in the next couple minutes. I am going to finish this episode of The Office and check on him again... if he is still asleep I will re-cover him with the blanket (he kicked it off, didn't want to take a chance) and go to bed myself! WOW. Who knew!? I feel like this is too good to be true.

If he wakes up in the next few minutes I will take care of him and then edit this post!!

5 Months Old Already??

This is an email that I sent to my husband (he is underway right now). Copy & Paste is so much easier than writing an entire blog about what I just wrote in an email!

Enjoy!!

"Cant sleep! Writing another one...

Our little boy is officially 5 months old!!! Well actually.. not for another 16 hours... but anyway, I just wanted to go over some accomplishments with you! Hank has grown so much going from 4 to 5 months old.. it just really amazes me every day!

Lets see, he did lots of "firsts".. first flight (and second too), first wedding & reception, first tooth.. but i actually dont know if it counts because you cant see it! I can feel it every time he bites on my finger but its just a corner of his tooth and its barely poking through (he hates when i try to look at it)... anyway, he also has had several play dates and made some baby friends, he now likes Sesame Street and The WonderPets (as opposed to JUST yo gabba gabba), he can roll from back to tummy AND from tummy to back, he can almost SIT by himself!! I can prop him up and he can sit by himself for a few seconds until he decides to go for a toy or wiggle when he is excited! I cant wait to show you how close he is to sitting by himself! Its amazing (and scary, we might need to do more baby proofing)! He can even scoot and rotate himself on the floor. He can easily transfer toys from one hand to the other. He can jump in his bouncy jungle thing for like, 30 minutes and not get frustrated or tired! He can munch on his toes (and he does.. ew). He is very strong. He can support all his weight on his legs easily, he stands up holding my hands several times a day, it has become part of play time. He LOVES to hear me count slowly to five! even if I dont do anything when I get to five! Lol. Loves being tickled on his sides & ribs! Loves to play peek-a-boo when he is in his jumpy thing and "where's mommy" when he is in his crib (i duck down where he cant see me). Loves being "super baby." First turd! I know talking about baby poop is weird but he has been pooping actual turds (stinky ones)! And thats because he has had his First Solid foods! He has eaten rice, peas, squash (his favorite by far), and today avocado! I am going to have to find some organic squash somewhere! I took a video of him eating avocado today, its cute. First story time at a library (that was fun)! First time being babysat by someone he didnt know at all (jenn when i went to the casbah). First time getting sick :( First time going to the ER :( (hopefully the LAST! ..yeah right). He can say more consonants and can blow spit bubbles. He only eats about every 4 to 5 hours now! Its pretty awesome. I can get several things done sometimes before he is hungry again! Took his first bath with other kids in there with him (aunt gracie and aunt libby). And now I HAVE to give him an interesting toy when I change his diaper or else he will get very upset with me for blocking him from his toes. He also tries to roll off the changing table now. He has a "bedtime routine."

His bedtime routine:
- eat dinner (baby food)
- quiet play time (we sometimes skip this one, depends what time it is)
- bath time, then pajamas
- mommy milk
- crib for the night

Well, you got a pretty good Henry update! I think you now know about as much as I do! I just feel like I need to tell you a lot because "just turned 4 months old" Henry is so different than "just turned 5 months old" Henry is!! I need you to be prepared when you get back, or at least I want you to know what to expect. We both love you so much. Goodnight sweetheart. I am up way too late now..."

And an update on myself - I have lost all my pregnancy weight with the exception of like, 3 pounds. But pretty much all my old clothes fit, so yay!! I am just picky about shirts since I am still breastfeeding my little one. I started training as a DOULA!!! I am REALLY excited about it. I really think I will be good at this. Maybe I shouldnt have said I'm "training" ...I am reading. Just reading. But in November I have some classes and after that I will be a "trained birth doula" and can start attending births to get my certification! It feels good to be working toward a career goal. Especially a flexible one like becoming a doula. I have always been spontaneous, I think I can handle being "on call" for pregnant women all the time, just as long as I have a babysitter! I will update you on my doula stuff once I've taken the workshop classes.