Category Archives: Second Baby

Half of a Year… and then another month down

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Can I just say that the past 6 months have literally been the fastest of my life? I mean, it feels like I have known Henry my whole life and that he’s been in our world forever, but at the same time, I literally cannot believe that it’s already been half of a year! Mind blowing.

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Even more mindblowing? Another month has passed since I wrote the above statement. Shit, I’m so behind and life is just flying by. Henry is SEVEN months old… practically in college.

Weight: Per his 6-month check up (which occurred at 6 months and 2.5 weeks), he’s 21 lbs and either 5 or 8 ounces! I can’t remember. 95th percentile for our tiny giant!

Height: Big man Henry is 28.25″… WOWZA! I’m 60″… just think about that. 91st percentile for height.

Health Updates: Henry still has constant boogs. I think he keeps them there so I can pick them out. He’s giving like that. Otherwise, he’s been nice and healthy (knock on wood). I’m sure it’s helped that Charlotte hasn’t been in school for over a month now. We’ve been pretty germ-free.

Sleep: Henry continues to be amazing in the sleep department. He had a week or so where he decided he wanted to wake up an hour after he went to sleep. At first, we went in nightly and gave him hugs and smooches and then we realized he was hustling us. Or really that he was just getting into a totally unnecessary routine. We did cry it out and voila! Back to normal. The first night he cried for an hour, then for 15 minutes, and by night 3 it was maybe a couple of minutes.

Henry’s routine is a little different these days. He’s been eating solids at dinnertime with the family. Then, we get him in his jammies/sleep sack and start feeding him his bottle in Charlie’s room while we read two stories. After stories, Mark takes him to his room to finish his bottle and go to bed. He’s typically done with his 8.5-9oz bottle and in bed by 6:30 or 7 at the latest. Typically, he sleeps until around 7/730.

 

In terms of his schedule, most commonly, it looks like this:

7/730: Wake up (we will usually either give him a bottle or I’ll nurse him)

830/9: He typically naps for an hour (sometimes 2 hours if he’s at home)

11/1130: Nap

2:30/3:30: Nap

5:30: Dinner

6:30: Bed

Clothes/Diapers (Sizes): Henry is a tank. He’s pretty solidly in 12-month clothes. 9 fits him most of the time, but 12 month clothes are ideal. Diapers, he’s in a 5… same size as his sister. I do squeeze his tiny butt in size 4’s, but always regret it as I’m cleaning baby shit off of his back and thighs.

Diet: Sir Henry takes down boatloads of milk daily and is also eating 1-2 solid meals a day. I’ve been SO much less calculated with solids for Henry than I was for Charlotte. Here’s what he’s tried so far:

  • sweet potatoes (first food at about 4 months and 1-2 weeks – doesn’t like it)
  • peas
  • apples
  • bread
  • Panera chicken noodle soup (that’s legit, right?)
  • Panera bread (even more legit…)
  • Zucchini
  • Chicken
  • Oatmeal
  • Avocado
  • Black beans
  • Pasta
  • Puffs

That might be all…

Teeth: Henry has two tiny chompers on the bottom and seems to be working on the top. Who knows. Like I’ve said before, he seems to be in a constant state of teething.

Baby Gear Love: Henry’s best friend (besides Charlie) is his reindeer Rodolfo. Other faves: Comotomo Teether (this thing is cheap and awesome!!), Nuby Teether (Nana got something like this for Henry and he absolutely loves it), Edushape Sensory Balls (When Charlie actually lets him play with his balls from Grandpa, he really enjoys them. Perfect for gnawing and reaching and bouncing around). He also still loves his play mat and his exersaucer. Oh! And his Fisher Price car thing.

Milestones/Firsts: Henry is legit rolling from back to belly and all over the place. He also does assisted standing (and bouncing). He’s working on sitting up by himself, but still calls over pretty consistently.

Crap, I don’t know! All the time blends together, but he’s amazing and wonderful! That’s not new though…

Likes: Henry is still my little guy and I seem to continue as the apple of my little man’s eyes. He also loves the “laughing game” as Charlie calls it. This entails Charlie laughing or being goofy and Henry cracking up. They’re definitely little buddies. It’s perfectly sweet and I love it. My little loves.

Henry loves to eat. He makes little happy food grunts and hungry grunts when he wants more.

Henry LOVES to hug, but equally loves to attempt to rip off faces/hair. He enjoys splashing and rolling around.

Dislikes: Being put down when he wants to play. Being overtired…

Hmmm… I don’t know. He’s so dang happy. He’s a lover of life.

Things I Don’t Want to Forget: Henry is my little man. It absolutely blows my mind how sweet he is. He gets the biggest smiles when he sees his momma. And he gives me the best and biggest hugs. I love just laying around with him and don’t want to forget those moments. When I tickle his little belly, when he grabs onto my face and laughs. All of it.

His relationship with Charlie is also just magical. The way he looks are her… it’s just so sweet. He has sparkle eyes and he gives them to her often. He just waits – with a smile from ear to ear – for her to say something that sends him roaring. Despite the fact that she constantly steals his toys, rolls him over, and bosses him around, he absolutely adores her.

The other day, I was thinking about how crazy the past 7 months have been. I’ve found 2 children to be much more challenging than 1. There’s like 5 times the amount of things to do at all moments and there are so many moments where if you stopped me in my tracks and asked me what I was doing at that exact moment, I’d list 6 things off. BUT, despite it all, it’s all so incredibly fulfilling and magical and perfect and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I have so many moments that I want to just bottle up and keep preserved forever… sitting in Charlie’s bed with Mark, Charlie & Henry, reading stories… Charlie explaining the story to Henry and showing him the book, letting him hold it… Sitting at the dinner table, watching both kids laugh hysterically, as Mark and I laugh and love. Everything. It’s just been so incredibly rewarding and perfect. My heart is full.

5 Precious Months

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***here is another post that got lost in my drafts from TWO months ago*

FIVE Months!! Wasn’t I just writing Henry’s 4 month update? How could this be? Time is literally flying by. But, I can honestly say that life with Henry has been absolutely amazing. He’s such a special and loving little man.

Weight: Oh my goodness, he’s gotta be pushing 19-20 lbs now. He’s HUGE! I have legit hip and knee issues lately on my left side (the side I hold him on). Dude ate 17 ounces of milk last night. 17! 8-8.5 at bedtime (6/630pm) and 8-8.5 at 1am. Hungry man.

Height: At 4 months, Henry was 27″ long (97th percentile)! Not sure where he’s at now!

Health Updates: Henry is a healthy dude. Thank goodness.

Sleep: Henry is back to waking

His schedule:

7/8 am: Henry wakes up (typically by making silly noises or you just happen to look at the monitor and he’s awake. Such a good boy.) Usually within 30-40 minutes of waking up, he eats a milk snack.

9/10 am: Henry naps (his morning nap is anywhere from 45 minutes to 3.5 hours). The rest of Henry’s day is dictated by this nap, as he goes down for a nap (most often for about 45 minutes – 1.5 hours) for every 1.5-2 hours of awake time.

430/5: Sometimes Henry will take a little night nap.

6/630: Bedtime for the H pie.

As the day goes on, naps get more difficult; although, his night nap is usually an easier nap and bedtime is a sinch.

All in all, he’s a great sleeper (and baby).

Clothes/Diapers (Sizes): Henry is still in 3-6 month clothing. He might be able to swing 9 month, but we haven’t switched him or even started using any 9 month stuff yet. As for diapers, he’s moved up to a size 3 as of a few weeks ago. Dude’s big.

Diet: Still a milk monster. While we were away, Henry was drinking about 34 ounces of milk per day. Some days, I feel like it’s gotta be more than that. But who knows? At his bedtime feed, the tap runs dry (aka I run out of milk before H is satisfied) and we supplement with a bottle of pumped breastmilk (I pump before bed and first thing in the morning). SO, sometimes he legit drinks everything I have to offer, plus 5-7 ounces of pumped milk.

Henry also enjoys shoving hands/arms/shoulders/necks/shirts/knuckles/etc in his mouth. You can always tell who was just holding Henry, because their shirt is SOAKED.

Paci… still a no go. He likes it for a second, then just gnaws on it until it falls out of his mouth.

As a side-note, I’ve been a little unsure about feeding Henry pumped milk via a bottle versus feeding him directly from the source. I feel like he can eat more when he’s nursing from a bottle (he falls asleep at the boob, sometimes I run out of milk, etc). I’m thinking that a combination of our trip and my 3-night a week workouts (which are now over) screwed up my milk supply. I still seem to have more than enough milk in a 24-hour period, but the problem seems to be that I don’t always have enough at any given time.

Teeth: I feel like Henry has been teething since he was born. In the past few weeks, it feels like he’s gotten closer to his gums actually showing signs of teething and he definitely sucks his whole face into that little mouth, but still no teeth… thank god. Let’s just say he’s a bit of a chomper.

Baby Gear Love: Still loving a lot of the same items. Henry also loves his Little Giraffe lovey blanket. Oh! And his swaddle. We’d be lost without his swaddles. I think the best ones are either the Ergo Baby or the SwaddleMe. The Ergo is nice for nighttime because he can get his arms out, which allows him to self-soothe throughout the night. The SwaddleMe is nice for naps because it keeps him very nicely contained.

Henry also LOVES his play mat. I don’t remember Charlie loving it as much, but MAN does he get into it! And he can play with it for awhile! He loves swatting the little hanging guys and squeals the whole time.

Also, have I mentioned the NogginStik? That’s our fancy shmance rattle, which I actually really love. I bought it on Amazon and had to return the first one I got because it was broken, but since receiving one that actually works, it’s awesome. Perfect size and weight for Henry to hold onto. Lights up and changes colors when he hits it. Makes a rattle noise. Has a mirror on the bottom. All in all, super entertaining.

Milestones/Firsts: Supposedly, Henry rolled from his back to his belly while we were in Nashville, but really, does it actually count if I didn’t see it? No. The answer is no.

His head strength is getting SO good and he’s really discovering his voice, which gets SO high sometimes.

He is still the most smiley, happiest little dude I’ve ever met.

 He’s improving his ability to fall asleep on his own! The other day, I had him sitting in the stroller awake. When I looked back, he was asleep. All on his own. No movement or anything.

Henry gives hugs. He holds onto me like a koala and just gives the best, happy little hugs.

Likes: Mommy, Daddy, Charlie (loves Charlie… except when she’s being a jerk), Rodolfo, smiling, reading books with Mommy, being rocked, being tickled, being held.

Charlie lays with Henry and gives him such hugs and snuggles. Oy. It’s the cutest.

Dislikes: Being put down when he’s not ready. And being overtired. Ugh. That’s the worst. Picture the happiest baby on earth screaming his tiny head off…

Things I Don’t Want to Forget: Just everything. I love my little bumpkins. He has such an incredible personality and is just such a happy love. Even when he’s crying, I can still get him to laugh. He’s just a love.

Also, it’s been so special watching his relationship with Charlie develop. She’s gotten to be so good with him. Every day when we get home from work (Henry and I), Charlie RUNS to the door with a huge squeal and screams, “HENRY!” as she gives him a big hug. The other day, she had set up a blanket on the floor in anticipation of his arrival.

When she wakes up, the first thing she does is ask about Henry.

And Henry… he just adores her. He’s fascinated by her silliness. He loves watching her jump. He loves being on the receiving end of her hugs and kisses. It’s all very sweet.

Melts my little heart.

Happy Holidays! 

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I’m so behind on my posts, so I figured I’d just share some photos from our holiday break…

Chanukah Pajamukuh – Party at Gabby’s School

 

The cudliest little love muffin ever. WAY past his bedtime, but no worries. As long as he could cuddle, he was happy.

 

 

 

Charlie Comes to Work with Mommy & Dinner with the Fam

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Eve Before the Eve Party & Brunch on Xmas Eve with My Highschool GF

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The First Night of Chanukah with Grampie & Grandma Mimi

 

 

 

Second Day/Night of Chanukah with Milly

 

 

SO cute!

Cookie decorating! 4 decorated, only 3 made it… “I wanna try!?”

The best gift ever. She’s blended SO MANY SHAKES.

 

 

Charlie & Daddy Date at Discovery World

 

Tiny GF Gets her Cast Off!!! 

 

 

She’s just the cutest.

 

Random Week/Weekend Snapshots

 

Admiring Momma’s craft project (that fell the next day… damnit!)

Charlie gets a boom box!

Each night we lit the candles, sang a Chanukah song and sang “Happy Birthday” to Chanukah. It’s her favorite song and what else does one sing when candles are lit?

50% gift for Charlie, 50% gift for mommy.

Hours and hours of fun… for mommy

 

Our New Years Eve Dinner Date

Rolling Over

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Little Henry has been working SO hard to roll over lately, but that 95th percentile body has just been too heavy to get a full roll out of… until last night!

And of course, in full “second child” form, he did it when my back was turned. I only knew he did it because I turned back to find him 3 body widths from where I left him. Way to go, Henry!

Time to baby proof! Somehow I’m going to guess that baby proofing will be much more challenging with Henry than it was with Henry. Damn all those Charlie toys with all the mini pieces!

​​Meanwhile, if Henry asks, the reason I was so distracted and missed your first roll is simple… we had just given Charlie her final Chanukah gift: a dollhouse! And not just any dollhouse, but a $50-bought-used, lights that work, accessories galore dollhouse. 
Sorry, Henry Love, you know how I love tiny things.

Henry’s 4 Month Pics

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This post is way overdue, but check out Henry’s cutie pie 4-month pics, which essentially turned into our family photos. It was a bit windy that day and poor babe had a poop blow out about 15 minutes into the photos. Regardless, I like how they turned out!

My sweet boy.
Lovey girl.
My whole heart in one photo.
Smoochies with my girl
Love.
Imperfect perfection.
My boys!
This guy… I swear.
Lovies.
Holiday Card 2016 ❤
This is how I love him.
Henry’s favorite activity: eating momma’s chin.
Love, love.

Tiny Banana Face

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Henry’s fourth food experience was with a banana this morning. He was hungry and I was trying to delay his feeding, as I was waiting on a call, so I let him try my banana.

He was SO happy. It was so surprising to me, but he actually took mini bites and then would chew up the banana pieces. After each bite, he’d get a huge smile on his face.

Snacks & Teeth

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Guys, I’ve been so bad at documenting milestones. So, here are a couple of updates.

  1. Last week, I whipped up some sweetpotato and breast milk purée. It was hilarious. He hated it. We decided to try out solids at 5 months because Henry is such a little food monster. Well, milk monster… Here’s a video​:
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  2. Henry’s also sprouted two tiny, mini, adorable little teefers 💛 Suddenly, he’s just so big. 
  3. Tonight, Henry ate some smushed peas (2 to be exact) from my plate off my finger. He seemed to enjoy this much more than the sweet potato. Such a little cutie pie. There’s something so special about our little dinners with the 4 of us. Pretty in love with my family. 

Happy [Belated] Halloween

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Seriously, where the heck have I been?? I totally forgot to post Halloween pics! And, just for fun, I’ll throw in a few from Thanksgiving, too!

I thought long and hard about Charlotte’s costume, and ultimately, “we” decided to go with Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany’s (aka Audrey Hepburn’s character) and Henry was her Cat.

We had a great weekend of trick or treating, partying and fun!