Henry Updates

Well, I have been a poor blogger lately.  Life has been so crazy that this blog is at the bottom of my priority list.  But I want to make sure I have a way to remember what Henry was up to at this stage of his development.  So, some updates!

ABCs and 123s

Henry started a little preschool program!  It is only one day a week for four hours each time.  But he does not really get much social interaction with other children, so I think it's important for him to learn how to share, communicate in group settings, and learn!

I suspected that Henry would love school, and I was right.  On the first day, every other kid in his class of 10 was crying.  Henry, meanwhile, marched into the classroom like he owned the place and started throwing sand out of the sand table.  (Part of what I hope he learns from school is proper sand-table etiquette!). When I picked him up at the end of the day, his teacher said he smiled ear-to-ear the whole day except the last ten minutes, when he was getting sleepy.  He missed the second week of school because he, of course, picked up a cold at school the first week.  But he loved last week, too, and got a great report at the end of the day.  And I love having a bit of time to myself during those four hours.  Win-win!

First day outfit and backpack! 

Enjoying the sand table and wondering why everyone else is crying.

The hook for Henry's backpack and coat!

Development

Henry's language skills improve daily it seems.  His newest words are up (which he says oftentimes while holding his hands up for you to pick him up--so cute!), duck (du), good (guh), and all done (ah duh--although it is hit or miss as to whether he will say this).  If you say "Yay!" Henry will respond by clapping his hands.  

Henry has the cutest cheese smile.  He does it sometimes when he knows he is getting away with something he shouldn't!  But he also does it to "flirt," especially with relatives and visitors.

My goals for now, if you can call them that, are to try to get Henry to recognize a few colors and numbers.  I picked up a set of flashcards for babies that have the numbers 0-10 on them and corresponding numbers of objects.  When we look at them, I point out the number of objects and their names and colors.  Who knows if anything will stick, but I am hoping Henry will learn a few colors and numbers in the next several months. 

Henry loves to read!  This makes me so, so happy, because reading his been one of my favorite things to do for as long as I can remember.  He will grab a book, bring it to you and plop himself on your lap to settle in for storytime.  Henry definitely has his favorite books, though, and becomes a wiggleworm very quickly if you choose something not on his approved reading list.  This can lead to a bit of boredom on the part of the reader, but anything to keep him enjoying reading!  Plus I have heard that reading the same books frequently helps kids learn to recognize words and begin the stages of reading themselves.

Henry has started to spin around in circles to make himself dizzy and fall over.  I have memories of doing this as a kid, so it is strange to see him doing it!  Strange but cute!

Henry "flexes" when asked to show his muscles!  It is so cute!  He adds the grunting sound as if he is lifting heavy weights.

Sleeping and Eating

Henry's sleep schedule is fairly predicable, at least in terms of the number of hours he sleeps each day.  He goes to bed around 8:30 and gets up between 7:00 and 7:30 typically.  Then he will take a morning nap of about 1.5 hours.  His afternoon nap varies more widely.  Sometimes it is only an hour.  Sometimes it is 1.5-2 hours.  We are all more ready for bedtime on the 1 hour afternoon nap days! 

Henry's standard breakfast is multi-grain cheerios, 1/2 of a banana, and milk.  I tried to give him a waffle with pumpkin butter instead before school this past Monday, and he refused to eat it!  Creature of habit.

Henry eats adult food now pretty much all of the time, with the exception of kids' whole milk yogurt and veggie/fruit pouches of baby food.  Henry can be a bit picky when it comes to vegetables, so we sometimes sneak more in by giving him the baby food pouches, which he sucks down in no time.

Henry's favorite foods right now are: blueberries (LOVES them.  Can't get enough), bananas, cheese, crackers, peas, black beans, pasta with butter and cheese or marinara sauce, ground turkey, Chickfila grilled nuggets, and anything sweet!  Henry is picky when it comes to meats and pretty much turns his nose up at chicken (other than Chickfila) and deli meat.  Henry also rejects a lot of vegetables but will eat them better if they are mixed in with other foods. 

Photo Session

A few photos to appease the grandparents:

Playing with his flashcards and sporting major bedhead.

Cheesin' and wearing my rain boots.

Daddy gave me a mohawk!

Life Lately

Whew...things have been busy, busy, busy around here lately.  Lots to update on!  But for now I will stick to Henry's latest developments.

Henry took his first steps on July 4th!  Truly an "Independence Day" for him!  He took several steps a day after then but was not consistently walking until the end of July/beginning of August.  It was a pretty organic process and it seems like one day he just picked it up and started walking as his only mode of transporation.  Once he got the hang of walking, he was off!  No more crawling for Henry.  He now moves so quickly he's nearly running.  And he has a new-found love for parks and the playground because he can run around, climb on the equipment, and watch other kids!

Henry also has made great strides in his verbal and receptive speech development!  Henry's first word was bath (which he pronounces without the 'th').  It was appropriate because it was one of his all-time favorite activities!  Ironically lately he has developed a fear of bathtime; he cries and cries when we put him in the tub and tries to stand up to get out.  I read that this is common around this age and one technique to try to ease toddlers' fears is to get in the bath with them.  So, for the past several days, Henry and Daddy have been sharing bathtime (Daddy wears his bathing suit, of course!)  Henry loves this and is totally relaxed and happy in the bathtub.  Now my concern is how to break him of this habit!

But back on topic, other than bath, Henry says several words: ball (bah), dog (dah), down (dow), banana (nana), more (mah), achoo (ah-soo--as in fake sneeze!), shoes (soos--and it's so adorable, because Henry loves, loves, loves shoes.  I think he is destined for a life as a shoe designer or a Nordstrom salesman!), and his latest, baby (bah-bi).  And mama and dada, of course.  Henry is fond of 'b' and 'd' words, apparently!

And Henry's receptive language skills are amazing.  He will retrieve things on command (shoes, ball, book, etc.), look for things when you ask (when you ask what's outside, he'll look out the window, he will look for Rowan when you ask about the dog), and he knows several body parts: head, tummy, and toes. 

Henry also dances (moves his feet quickly up and down as if he were running in place), claps, and blows kisses!  I worked with him for awhile on the blowing kisses.  So, so cute.

Henry finally learned to point with one finger rather than with his entire hand.  And he loves to do it, especially when he wants something!

It seems as if Henry really took off in the last couple of months and is now a  full-blown toddler, not a baby.  More updates (and pictures!) to come!