Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

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!


Thursday, October 8, 2015

All About Henry- 7 months

I can't believe Henry is already 7 months old. It makes my mommy heart really sad to think about how fast he is growing. Why can't he stay little forever?!

Henry has been loving trying all sorts of new food. So far he loves: peas, green beans, carrots, apples, pears, peaches, and oatmeal. He has also enjoyed some ice cream, pineapple sherbet, ketchup, and dill pickle.

His very first attempt at solid food was with avocado. And it did not go well at all. I'm pretty sure it's because the avocado wasn't ripe yet, and therefore super bitter. Sorry buddy! He's pretty much loved everything else he has tried, so that's why we think it was a bad batch.

He loves drinking water out of his sippy straw cup. I'm not entirely sure how much he actually drinks... A lot of times I see him suck water up and then it dribbles pours right back out of his mouth and down his shirt. But he has a lot of fun trying and I know he gets some of it down.

Right now, he eats while in his bumbo with a little tray that clips on. I'm not sure how much longer I will be able to squeeze his chubby thighs into it though.. We might need to invest in a real highchair sooner than expected.

I always put a bib on him before we start, but it doesn't always last very long. He isn't used to a bib, so he is constantly looking down, chin to chest, to examine the bib and try to eat it, while simultaneously trying to pull it off.

His favorite toy is his purple teething hand. He also really likes his plastic keys.

No teeth yet. He chews on anything he can find with his mouth, but luckily (for me), nothing has cut through yet.

He loves story time and holding onto his books and putting them in his mouth.

He loves to talk and sing to us all day. It's very high pitched and extremely cute. I sing back to him and we have lots of singing/squealing conversations. I love my job.

He is still obsessed with Cameron's voice. If Cameron is within hearing distance, Henry is looking for him. And he just stares at Cam until he stops talking.

You know how if one baby cries, usually the other babies start to cry too? Well I don't know what kind of sick humor Henry has, but he has been known to laugh when another baby starts to cry. We're going to have to work on the whole empathy thing...

He can officially sit by himself! I strategically always have a pillow behind him since he has a tendency to tip over, but he can last a really long time. When he tips forward or to the side, he's really good at pulling his arms out and staying on his tummy. He usually doesn't get too upset, unless he lands on a hard toy or something. But he seems to love this new-found independence. He can sit forever and ever and just play with his toys on his own. It's great!

Still no rolling over yet. But that's fine by me. When he is on his tummy, he can pivot all the way around in a circle, like the hands of a clock. It's really fun to watch. Usually I'll put him down facing one direction, and when I turn around a few minutes later, he's facing the opposite wall. So, he gets around, even without rolling over.

Some friends of ours recently brought over a jumperoo, which Henry has LOVED. It sings and lights up when he jumps (which is a lot), and he is surrounded by bright, fun toys that are new and so fun to him. He spends lots of time jumping and sucking on the butterfly. He is very good at the spinning toys, as well. He is such a curious little guy.

He gets very focused on things. For example, he will be wiggling and squacking like normal and then all of a sudden finds something interesting to focus on (usually his hands) and then he just zooms in. Doesn't notice or care about what else is around him. Then he just dives in and quickly puts whatever said object is into his mouth to devour. This makes for very fast mom-eyes and hands, as some of these objects are inedible/too small/not for Henry's mouth.

We have recently been transitioning from 3 to 2 naps a day. Our typical day looks like this: wake up around 8:30/9 and take Dad to school. Come back and nurse. Eat oatmeal/applesauce. Play. Nap from 10:30-12. Wake up and nurse. Eat/Play/Errands/Etc. Nap 2-3:30. Wake up and nurse. Eat/Play/pick Dad up from school/Etc. Nurse around 6:30 and down for bed by 7. Sometimes he falls asleep nursing, but if not, he falls asleep as soon as he's swaddled and alone in his crib.

Recently, we have been putting a stuffed animal in his crib with him to keep him company. We rotate between Mickey Mouse, Elephant, Polar Bear, Giraffe, to name a few. He still loves talking to his quilt when he wakes up, but sometimes he wants something different to stare at as he falls asleep. Mickey usually does the trick :)

I have been off of dairy for about 3 weeks now and Henry has been sleeping through the night more often than not. Which is great! Except it sucks. I never realized how much dairy is in my everyday foods until I started reading labels and realized that I can't eat anything. I live off of soy milk now and steer clear of any cheesy or creamy foods (which are the most delicious). Mac N Cheese anyone? Pizza? :'( It's only for a few more months. It's only for a few more months. It's only for... I can do this. Or maybe we'll switch to formula?... Haha. We'll see how long I last.

Basically, Henry is such a joy to be around. He is such a happy kid. As long as he is sleeping well and pooping well, he is content as can be!

Now here are some pics (the real reason you clicked on our blog):

Henry's first flight 9.1.15
I forgot to mention our trip to Texas! Cameron had a conference in Austin over Labor Day weekend, so Henry and I decided to tag along and make a trip out of it. My in-laws live in San Antonio, so Henry got to spend some much needed quality time with Granby and Papa while Daddy went to his conference. My in-laws are in the process of moving, so there was a lot of renovations going on while we were there (bad timing on our part- Sorry!), but Henry was finally able to meet his Aunt Krista, Uncle Paul, and cousins Paul, Michael, and Asher. We had a lot of fun with all the Brown Boys together. We had a really great time hanging out with our Texas family and can't wait to visit again.

Our trip to Texas marks Henry's first flight! I was really, really nervous about timing and air pressure and nursing and sleeping and carseat versus lap and all the things a new mother stresses about for baby's first flight. Well, to our luck, there was extra seats in 3 out of our total 4 flights, so Henry was able to sleep in his carseat just fine for almost all the flights. Our last flight on the way home was full, so he had be be in our lap (and if you don't know, he is NOT a snuggly/cuddly baby. Translation: He Will Not Sleep In Our Arms). Or should I say, MY arms. Cameron, on the other hand, must be a baby-whisperer, because he somehow settled the crying, over-tired Henry and got him to fall asleep and stay asleep the rest of the flight. Which reminds me... Right before he got real tired, he had a poopsplosion, which Cameron also dealt with.

I had just very uncomfortably nursed Henry in a middle seat, squished between Cameron and a very tall man who took up every square inch of his allotted space by the window. And as I was burping him (and trying to block Henry's very persistent attempts at grabbing my neighbor's sleeve), I felt an explosive rumble. I peeked through the top of his onesie and saw the slime creeping up to the brim of the diaper. I elbowed Cam and told him we needed to change him NOW, before it seeped out and got all over. Cam's like, Well, he's just going to have to wait until we land. Approximately 4 seconds later, I peeked into his onesie again to see that it had spilled over the top and it was game over. I handed Cameron the baby, the changing pad, and a new outfit and said, Good luck! It was a good long while before they came out of that tiny lavatory. Apparently it was a sight to see. Let's just say, there was poop inside the diaper, on the backside of the diaper, all up his back, and everywhere else it could go as Cam changed him in this tiny bathroom, where everything is within grabbing distance for a 6 month old. He was royally grossed out and I was put on diaper duty for the next month. Hahaha Oh the joys of parenthood :)

First Carrots 9.2.15
Cam doing his thang at AAMFT
Henry's first trip to the zoo
9.11.15
Jumperoo in his adorable plaid flannel shirt 9.13.15
First time sitting in the shopping cart. He loved it! 9.19.15
6 months 8.31.15
7 months 10.4.15
Now that I'm all caught up, I hope to be more on top of this blog. Maybe I'll even write fun posts, not just boring month to month posts. That's the plan! Stick around and you might see who has the best Oreo Churros in town...

Monday, August 31, 2015

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!