Super Nanny Must Take Her Leave Now, Children

this is our last week with my sister, erica, watching henry. she is moving on to her real job and henry is moving on to full time daycare at the baby mill. we are all *sniff* prepared for this *sniff* transition.

it's been really nice having her here for a myriad of reasons, but one of them is that she updates me and sends me pics all throughout the day. some are seeking advice or talking minutia of baby upkeep, some are sweet, and most are really funny.

here are some examples of henry update texts. this is just a small sample of them. and does not include all the millions of texts where she's asking me what she should shop for/cook for dinner. (awesomeness).

8/31/11 (sarah's first day back to work off of maternity leave)-

"he's happy now. 3 diaper covers and 3 outfits later. :) i think auntie is failing to cover the tiny bum well enough. lol."

9/1/11

"hey, uh, auntie e? will you please quit taking pictures and remove the fresh shart from my pants please? hi?"

9/15/11

"he's good good! he really loves tv. more than eating. i had to turn it off so he wouldn't be distracted from the bottle."

9/22/11

"deep in thought."

10/4/11

"just walked to two grocery stores and back and this dashing young fellow did not cry once."

10/13/11

"just leaning back, watching "the office." i feel like one of his hands should be in his pants like a true man."

10/18/11

"he had a super mega buttsplosion so he got a mini bed bath lol."

10/26/11

"he's pretty inconsolable and a little hot. poor little guy. :( "

"sleeping it off."

11/2/11

"you know how deer scratch their antlers on trees? deer antlers is to henry claws as trees is to couch."

11/10/11

"just answered the door to Jehovah's witnesses (oops) and henry was wearing his monster suit and let out 2 big farts. proud?"

11/16/11

"concentrating on something."

11/18/11

"i just stuck out my tongue at henry and he grabbed it. with both hands."

"and it's the last thing the camera ever saw..."

....and there are many, many more like these. we're so thankful for the time we had with auntie e. she's been a blessing! we love you and will miss you!!

Henry Now Plays Peekaboo and Can Put His Entire Foot in His Mouth (Not Simultaneously, That Would Be a Choking Hazard)

it freaks me out a little to have published a youtube video entitled "peekaboo," since i assume there are less savory videos of the same name out there in the ethers. like one involving a sweaty, hairy 60 year old man wearing nothing but a lady godiva wig, gardening gloves and a smile? something like that.

but this one is just cute. and henry mcmonkey mcbean is just getting more and more fun every day. he had a GREAT week/end all over the state visiting family. he was a total rock star being passed around for everyone to squeeze on and he slept in the car in his chair of pain every time we went anywhere! (ahhhhhhh- choir of angels singing hallelujah). he also seemed to make some big developmental changes this week. he is almost sitting up entirely on his own now. also grabbing and manipulating things with both hands and making rudimentary tools/weapons/musical instruments out of everything around him (like a monkey). he is also putting everything in his mouth all the time (like a monkey) and making lots of new calls and coo noises (like a...).

and without further ado....

So Much to Be Thankful For

our here and HEALTHY happy baby monster. love all the moments we've had with him so far, and excited for those to come. so many blessings. such a great God!

happy thanksgiving to everyone! we pray you're warm and well-fed today and surrounded by people who want to hug you.

If Your Baby Jumped Off a Bridge, Would Mine Have To, Too?

it's been a looooong week. work has been hectic and i was on call overnight on tuesday and ended up not going to bed until almost 4:00am. this, after lots of nights in a row of monkey butt getting up several times and being very difficult to go back to sleep in his crib. on our chests? oh, yes. he'll sleep upon us. but in his very own bed where there is white noise and music and all sorts of pro-sleep devices designed specifically for tiny men? not so much. i think he likes the thread count in our bed.

and so we ponder how to help him sleep. i turn to my friends, the intertubes, the books. and you weigh the research over your instinct. of course, you get a handful of different answers. feed him! a full tummy helps a baby sleep. but the literature doesn't really support that and we wanted to wait 'til 6 months to add anything beyond breast milk...swaddle him! don't swaddle him! let him sleep on his belly! back is best! he should be having regular naps right now, not all willy nilly sleeping like he is!

argh. are we ruining his tiny life by not being more regimented? too regimented? i don't think so. but all these little decisions seem huge when you're making them for this little dependent bean. i try to stick to my guns with the decisions i've made, but i admit that i am swayed with what my friends are doing with their babies. and i get weirdly paranoid and competitive over silly things. (how much milk are you producing? oh, i only made this much/how long does he sleep without waking up? oh, mine only goes this long...etc, etc). it's rough. and God forbid one of my friend's kids hits a developmental milestone sooner than hankenstein. as positive as i am that he's healthy and perfect, i always worry briefly that somehow he's behind....

the things i'm trying to remember are that 1) every baby is different, most a variant of normal and 2) everything is a phase. he's teething and had a cold last week AND we were out of town for the weekend where he slept in my bed pretty much the whole time cuz he had to be quiet for the room full of people...consequently, his sleep has been off this week. but last night was a good night and maybe we'll turn a positive corner now. we'll see.

we haven't done much of the 'crying it out' thing. it may be inevitable some day, but i just haven't had the fortitude to do it yet. and i don't feel like i've done enough research (ack! there it is again!) to feel totally confident in doing it. and i know it will not only be painful, but also it will fail if i'm not 100% behind it.

so...we're just kind of winging it. he turns 6 months in a few weeks and i think we'll start some oat cereal then. or possibly start with veggies instead. unsure on that so far. even that little debate- although in the grand scheme of things, whether the kid first 'The Exorcist-style' spits up oatmeal or squash, it really doesn't matter, but because it's a FIRST, it seems critical.

anyway...we have this weekend to relax and regroup. and henry is happy and sweet through all of these "issues," so, really? how stressful can any of this be?

Ooh, Baby, You Thick!

we have caught on and are now aware that the following words are all synonyms for "cream-filled baby chubster." we hear all of these regularly: stout, stable, sturdy, solid, and hefty. as in, "wow. what a sturdy little man you have there. he's certainly eating his wheaties isn't he? (and everybody else's, too, apparently)."

he's just a pounds away from people calling him "big boned" or for him to start receiving hefty underwear for Christmas presents.

makes me think of this snl fake commercial for baby spanx (i know i've posted it before).

he's growing just like he should be. babies should be chunkers. he'll slim out once he's walking. probably. maybe. perhaps. i wonder what it would take to make diet breast milk? :) for the record, if that requires me NOT eating 4 types of fried potatoes in 1 weekend, i'm out.

and anyway, i think he's perfect the way he is. i don't know what everyone is talking about.

Five Months Old and Feisty!

(sorry i tend to dress you like a grandmother, henry. your pants probably don't need to be THAT high. but all the other babies are wearing cardigans these days, aren't they? no?)

monkey butt is 5 months old officially. he's rolling over and throwing himself around like a whirling dervish. he laughs a lot and is still a really happy guy...despite the 2 front teeth that are searing through his gums and the head full of snot.

he's sleeping meh, since he's not feeling so hot, but still wakes up all smiles, so whatchagonnadoboutit, right? and he's eating pretty well through all of this. we're still just breast feeding, but it's closing in on the time that we'll start cereal and veggies and such. (just when you think you have this baby thing down, they go and throw in some developmental milestones and you're clueless once more!).

this is a (blurry) picture of his 2 front puppy teeth...also this is what it looks like from my perspective when i'm nursing him. terrifying. i risked my life to shoot this quick pic on my cell phone. he's like one of those belligerent drunk people who try to constantly start fights with you but then just as quickly are sobbing and slobbering all over you saying that they love you.

Henry, What Big Teeth You Have! The Better To Monster You With!

munchkin got his first tooth this week. it's been a long time coming with drooling and gnashing on everything.

it's a sharp little puppy tooth in the very front bottom. and the one next to it is working its way out, too.

in addition to the drooling, he's delighting us with a nose full of snot, too. so that shiny slick stuff he's dropping on everything/everyone- it's snot spit soup.

he's waking up a bit more at night and not taking great naps or eating quite as well as usual. and he's been on the fussier side of cheerful. but from what i understand, the pain of teething is so bad that if i was toothing i'd be hysterically demanding a morphine pump, so i think he's handling himself pretty well. still full of smiles. a tiny trouper.

and i guess this is his first cold, maybe. no temp or anything, just the congestion/snot and a dry cough- although, that might be from trying to keep on top of all that drool. in the middle of the night last night i broke out the nosefrida snotsucker and, contrary to my fears, it does give a pretty good clearance suck for him but i didn't end up with a mouth full of it.


we'll see how he feels this week. poor little love.

500+ Orphans No More!!

great cause! check it out if you're looking for some charitable giving or neat Christmas gifts. this is an organization that helps match special needs children (especially those with Down's Syndrome) from all over the world to their 'forever home' families. they do amazing work and have saved a lot of lives. we plan to give, i hope you do, too.

Grab This!

Happy (Better Late Than Never) Halloween!

pure joy. henry and robb are rolling around on the bed next to me right now both belly laughing. heart.

anyway. halloween.

we couldn't decide on a costume for hj, so we did several. our original plan was to make him "the creep" from snl, but i worried that if i eye-liner-ed a mustache on him it might leave a red mark behind and daycare would call the people in suits. or, that having a pencil mustache even for a small time might make him into a cat burglar or, worse, french.

so we skipped that one.

but we did make him...


a baby monster!!


a baby cow (veal)!!


a baby giraffe!! (in his natural habitat)


a baby PA!!


and a baby mob boss!!

i think next year he's going to be a baby "the dude."

we had a pretty quiet night passing out candy and relaxing. butterball will have a much more stimulating halloween next year, i suspect. :)