All About Henry- 18 months

Let me just start this off by saying I wrote a super long post summarizing our last 6 months and then Blogger deleted the whole thing. So I'm pretty mad about it... That's all.

Happy Half-Birthday Henry!!

I can't believe this guy is a year and a half old. Before I know it he's going to be 2. Where has the time gone??

Since I haven't updated for so long, I will try to include the major highlights/milestones from the last 6 months.

Henry started walking around 13 months, so he's a pro now. He is getting really fast and is almost able to run. He is really big into climbing. Anything really. He climbs onto any chair/couch/bench- you name it, he can climb it. He especially likes climbing over mom and dad. He likes to perch himself on our throats chests and be king of mom/dad mountain.

We weaned from breastfeeding around 15 months. Long story short, we cut out one feeding a day until we were only nursing morning and night. We cut out night time and for a month or so we only nursed right when he woke up in the morning. Morning nursing was very optional for a few weeks and then one day I realized I hadn't nursed in at least 2 weeks and that nursing was officially over! Henry probably would have been fine going cold turkey, but I was the one who dragged it out. But I'm happy I did and also happy it's over.

On a normal day, Henry sleeps from 7pm-9am and takes a 2 hour nap around noon. He is such a good sleeper; I have no complaints. He occasionally wakes up at night to get a drink of water, but then he goes right back to sleep. He really is such a good sleeper. He didn't start sleeping through the night until around 14 months or so, but now it's heavenly.

We went to Utah for two and a half weeks in July and Henry slept for maybe 2 of the 17 nights. We're never traveling again. But really though, we had a good time. We spent a few nights in my mom's new house in St. George, a few nights in Sandy with my grandparents, a week in Orem with Cam's grandparents and a few days in Park City at a time share. Cam joined us midway through, so I didn't totally lose my mind, but I got close.

Henry has never co-slept in his life, but on this trip, he would wake up at midnight in his packnplay and just scream forever until I brought him into bed with me. It was hard on everyone. My theory is that the pack n play was too uncomfortable/hard/small. But who knows. When we finally got home, we were nervous how he would transition back into his crib, but then he immediately got his very first ear infection, which was really bad. He still stayed in his crib, but it was a rough couple weeks back. We have been home a month now and things are back to normal and he gained a few new molars along the way.

Henry is seriously the happiest little guy I know. He is constantly giggling and smiling. He is almost always trying to play games with you, usually peekaboo or some sort of hiding game. One of his new words is "Boo!" and he uses it quite frequently.

The last few weeks, Henry has gone from mute to like 10 words (if you can call them words). Here they are: Weee (for slide), Bow Wow (barking like a dog), Whoa, Ma (mom), Boo, Bye, Hi, Neigh, OO-EE (like a monkey), Moo, Night. oh and I can't forget his constant RAWR.

Okay so most of them are animal sounds, but they are so stinking adorable. He has been obsessed with his stuffed animals recently. He's had most of them his whole life and he's never noticed them and now they're all he plays with. From elephant to Nemo to giraffe. He loves all of them.

So earlier this year, we bought him a baby doll, which has loved from the start. Back 6 months ago, he would just give her kisses incessantly until her face was dripping wet with his slobber. But now, I find him holding her up to his shoulder and patting her back. He also loves to put his baby to bed. He finds a pillow, lays her on top, and then finds a blanket to drape over her. He then goes and finds a book for her to read. Sometimes he gets a little carried away and puts all the pillows and blankets on top of her and smothers her big time. I try to show him that she needs to breathe, but he's not quite there yet... Hahah

Alright well that's all I can think of to add right now. Enjoy a few pictures! (I didn't take any pictures during our Utah trip, so if we saw you and you took some, could you please email me?! Thanks!)

18 months!

From Cam's phone-

1st movie- The Good Dinosaur

Happy 18 months H!
We love you!

Henry- 6 months

Henry is 6 months old! Can you believe it?!

We are officially allowed to start introducing solid foods to Henry, which is awesome! We are so excited to let him explore a variety of different veggies/fruits, and cross our fingers that he is not a picky eater...!

We went to Utah for a week and a half (plus 2 days driving there and back), and we had so much fun. It was jam-packed with family time and we were pooped when we got home, but we are so glad we were able to introduce Henry to so many family members and spend time with them. We spent the first few days up in Park City with my side, where my mom had rented a cabin. We played lots of games (the Christensen love language), ate yummy food, rode the Alpine slides, went on hikes, swimming, hot tubbing, and just hanging out and talking. It was a blast.

For the next week, we spent time with the Brown side of the family, which was also a lot of fun. We were also able to squeeze in some friend time with a few college friends, and tried to see everyone we could in such a short amount of time. We enjoyed time with grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, and made sure we stopped by sodalicious enough times to fill out an entire punch card... :) We even made it up to Salt Lake for an afternoon and strolled around City Creek, and after we left, we realized we forgot to walk around Temple Square, which was a major bummer. How did we forget to walk across the street and see Temple Square? I'm not sure, but I think Henry's poopsplosion  at the mall had something to do with it...

All in all, we had a great vacation and are glad we made the 14 (or maybe 16..17..18?) hour there-and-back road trip. We will hopefully be able to make another trip next summer, but I want you to know that you are very welcome to come visit us in Kansas in the meantime!

At 6 months old:

Henry is 28 inches tall (95%), 18 lbs 15 oz (76%), and head circumference is 80%. We are so happy that he is back on track with his weight! When he got sick at 3 months old, he dropped from 80% to 39% and the doctor thought he might stay on the skinny side, but he has plumped right back up and is at 76%, so we are very happy to have those thunder thighs back :)

He cannot roll over yet. Or sit up. The doctor (we had a substitute since ours is on maternity leave right now) seemed concerned and gave me a packet with a bunch of questions I'm supposed to test Henry with. Blah blah blah

He's just fine.

He's happy and content and just doesn't want to roll over yet. Thank you very much. He's not interested. He spends all day on his tummy and plays with his toys. Why would he roll over? Plus is rolling over really an important life skill? Pretty sure adults don't roll around at work all day. Anyway...

His favorite toy is the new toy he got for the road trip. It has four balls that are different sizes and textures and connected by little ropes. He sucks on it and swings it around and sometimes his himself in the face with it. Which is hilarious.

He did really great while on vacation. He didn't get very many naps throughout the trip because we were going nonstop the whole time, but he was a trooper! He let everyone hold him and gave them lots of smiles. And at night time, he would sleep through the whole night without a peep since he was so exhausted! A lot of times we would actually have to wake him up after he was asleep for 14+ hours since we needed to get going. Poor guy just wanted some sleep.

He is still swaddled during naps and nighttime. I dread the day we stop swaddling him. He has a strong tendency to gouge his eyes out during his sleep and/or pull his binky out and then cry because it's out. Pretty sure he's going to be swaddling until we potty train...

He is really good at grabbing things, really anything within reaching distance he will grab. Especially hair.

He loves to try to drink out of my water bottle (which has a straw). It's very cute.

We are still breastfeeding and that's going well. We're excited to officially start solid foods!

He wears some 3-6 mo and other 6-9 mo clothes and size 3 diapers.

His carseat is starting to get snug, so we'll be looking into getting a bigger one pretty soon.

Basically, he is growing up so stinking fast and it makes my mommy heart so sad. Where did my baby go?

Happy half-birthday Henry bug!

Now for some pictures:

7.11.15

Tandem Bikes are hard...

7.14.15 ChickfilA Day!

Henry got a little sleepy..

The carnival came to town! We ate a delicious funnel cake. 

Baby Mohawk 

First time in stroller without carseat 7.25.15

Oh hello there, cousin Ollie

First time meeting cousin Oliver, Aunt Christine, and Uncle Logan

Snuggles with Aunt Ali

Dinner with Aunt Jody and family

Henry loved spending time with his Grandma and Grandpa Christensen

8.9.15

Grandma Brown could not get enough of Henry! She spent most of the time on the floor playing with him.

Rita's with Uncle Dave

We sure miss living close to these fun guys! Cousins 8.11.15

On the way back to Kansas, Henry got a hotel bed all to himself. 

8.27.15- 6 Months Old!

8.31.15 First Food= Ice Cream :)

For some reason I cannot find a single picture from our Park City trip with my family... I'm hoping someone took some pictures? And maybe could share them with me..?!

Hope you enjoyed reading!

Henry 5 Month Update

At 5 months old, Henry is such a joy to be around. His personality is starting to shine, and he is such a fun kid to hang out with. He sleeps well, eats well, and is generally content wherever we are.

Henry still loves to be swaddled to go to sleep. A couple weeks ago, he kept waking himself up about every hour or so at night because he is getting so strong and was breaking out of his swaddle and hitting himself in the face. He can't fall asleep without the swaddle and he couldn't stay asleep because he kept escaping, so I was desperate to find a new solution. I consulted with good old youtube and found a new "super swaddle". I know none of you probably care about this, but it has revolutionized our sleep. It is physically impossible for him to escape!

His favorite toys are his orange rattle ball and crinkle book.

He sucks on anything that comes near his mouth and is drooling up a storm at all times.

He is really good at grabbing, especially my hair, which is one reason I recently got it cut.

He can't roll over (either way) yet, but is super close.

He babbles and coos all day long and is very smiley. He has recently started to giggle, which is the best sound on the whole earth.

He loves hanging out with his mom and dad and follows us with his eyes all over the room. Especially Cameron. Whenever Cam talks, Henry stares at him and won't look away until Cam stops talking. This is super cute except when he is trying to nurse. He will be eating so peacefully and then Cam starts talking and he pops off and stares at his dad until he stops talking.

He still loves his quilt by his crib and talks to it everyday.

He loves storytime and holding onto his books.

He loves his carrier and going out on the town.

We went to the local splashpad last week and he got to play in the water for the first time and he loved it! (Today, he wasn't a fan, but we're working on it ;)).

He is still exclusively breastfed and eats about every 3 hours during the day and only wakes up once to eat at night. This kid loves his sleep. He usually goes to bed around 8pm (sometimes earlier if need be) and doesn't get up until around 9am, sometimes later.

He gets to start solids in one month!

He is getting very excited for our Utah trip and can't wait to meet all his cousins and new friends for the first time!

Now here are some random pics from the last month:

Grandma Laura came for a visit!

-Anna