Up, Up and Away!

Our nanny actually took this photo and the next two with her phone.  Maybe I should get an iPhone just for the awesome camera!

 There's a great playground near our house with lots of fun equipment for kids.  Because we're eager first-time parents, Henry has already tested out the baby swing and one slide (he sat on our laps, of course).  Henry loves the swing.  He's recently figured out he can shriek (watch out restaurant-goers, we're now those parents), and he shrieks in happiness while swinging.  He also loves watching the other children at the park.

I can't wait until Henry can try the other equipment.  I'm not-so-secretly hoping he'll be a daredevil like me and enjoy climbing up slides, going across the monkey bars, and doing flips on the hanging rings.

Mom, I'm bored.  HIGHER!!

King of the Hiller Lair

Henry was a very scary lion for Halloween! 

A few days before Halloween, our neighborhood had its annual Halloween party.  Henry was, by far, the youngest kid there, so it wasn't very exciting because the other kids were all old enough to play together.  But, it was fun to dress him in costume and hear the oohs and aahs of the neighbors.

Then, on the day of Halloween, Mark worked from home and I came home early.  We dressed Henry in costume again, but opted out of Trick or Treating, since it was cold and any candy we collected would obviously not be consumed by Henry.  But I'm not one to miss an opportunity for a photo shoot!

Next year, Henry will be able to enjoy the holiday a bit more, so we will take full advantage and go Trick or Treating.  I'm already thinking of costume ideas!

Everything.

Henry,

Do you know

That you are

Everything

I ever wanted

I love you

To the moon

And back

And then some more.

Four Months!

So in love with this picture!

There was a wardrobe malfunction with this pair of overalls, so we had to do a quick change.

Henry turned four months old on October 26!  Here's what he was up to in his fourth month of life:

• The biggest change for Henry (and his mama!) is that I returned to work on October 16.  I am working a 60% schedule, which means I go into the office three days a week.  We found a great nanny, which is the only reason I was able to return.  She takes good care of Henry while I'm gone, sending us pictures and text messages updating us on his day.
• So far the biggest challenge of working is definitely pumping milk for Henry to have while I'm gone.  It's a doozy of a process!  I pump three times a day when I am in the office, and it takes about 20 minutes for each session.  I am able to work while pumping, thank goodness.  Hopefully one day Henry will appreciate the lengths I went to give him a healthy supply of breast milk!
• Henry's four month appointment was rescheduled because of Hurricane Sandy, so I won't have his stats until November 12.  He seems like he is growing at a rapid speed, though, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's shot up to a much higher weight percentile.  He is also still really long, which is proving to be an issue when dressing him, now that it's fall and he needs long pants!
• Update: Henry, at 19 weeks, weighs 16 lbs, 2 oz. and is 25.5 inches long!  66% for weight and 60th for height. His head circumference is 16.8 inches (46%).
• Perhaps the most major milestone Henry reached this month was rolling over from back to tummy!  He first did it on October 22, and now he does it within seconds of you putting him on his back.  He has great neck control once he's on his belly, and he enjoys looking around or sometimes sucking on his fists in front of him.  He does get fussy after awhile, and he apparently isn't interested in rolling back over onto his back.  He's only done that once, I think.  Because he is a rolling machine, we took the bumpers off Henry's crib this month.
• Henry also laughed for the first time on October 4!  He loves to laugh during his favorite game, which is to be lifted into the air from a standing position on his changing table!  We lift him up and he smiles like he's having the time of his life.  Often, we'll play "helicopter" by swirling him back down to stand on the table.  Playing this game never gets old because he loves it so much.
• Another activity the whole family enjoys is to have a dance party in Henry's room while listening to Disney songs/musicals on Pandora!  We have a great video of Mark and Henry dancing to an Aladdin song that I'll upload soon.
• Sleep is going much better (knock on wood) than it used to.  Henry now sleeps between 5-7 hours on average before waking up for a late-night snack.  One night he went 8 hours and I got nervous that something had happened.  Nope, just progress (and some extra baby chub to keep him full!)
• Speaking of sleeping, naps still take place in the swing.  That will change beginning next week,when we start working on getting him to sleep in his crib during the day.  I'm hoping that if he's tired enough he'll go down without too much of a fight.
• Henry is much more interested in toys now.  He will grab toys if you put them on his lap or in his hands.  He has reached the stage where everything lands in his mouth, which means we have to keep said toys off of the floor and away from the dogs!
• Henry enjoyed his first trip to the park this month.  He's now an old pro at the baby swing, and he loves to sit in it and watch the big kids play!

Each month just keeps getting better, as Henry is more and more interactive.  Can't wait to see what month five brings!

How Do You Measure a Year?

Here's one way:

October 20, 2011

October 20, 2012

And what a year it has been...(the best of my life!)

Babies Don't Keep

Lately, Mark has been kind enough to handle Henry's middle-of-the-night feeding by giving him a bottle and letting me sleep.  Last night, though, I decided to feed him when he woke up at 4:15.  We had left Henry with a non-family babysitter for the first time that evening (in fact, with our nanny, but I'll save the back-to-work story for another day), and I wanted some extra snuggles.

After he was fed and changed, we sat in the rocker together for quite some time, nestled close.  At one point, I looked down at Henry and he was staring at me intently, with his mouth slightly open, as if to say, "Hi, Mama.  I feel so safe, cozy and loved right now."  So, I told him I loved him, too, so much.

As we were rocking, I couldn't help but think of the famous poem:

Mother, O' Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth.

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

 

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due,

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek - peekaboo.

 

 

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew,

And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo.

But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.

 

 

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow,

But children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

~ Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

 

Henry and the Giant Pumpkin

Recently we took Henry to a local farm so that he we could choose some pumpkins for our front steps!  This farm also offered a corn maze, hay rides, a giant slide, and various autumn treats, but Henry was a bit too young to appreciate all that we could do.  I have a feeling next year will be a different story!  I did have an apple cider donut, and Mark bought a couple of apples, so we got a little more out of the $20 admission fee than just selecting pumpkins.  Other than that, the point of the outing, as I told Mark, was to indulge my need for a photo session with Henry all decked out in his adorable fall outfit, which Mark's mom so graciously purchased for the occasion.

Without further ado, pictures from our trip:

Doesn't Henry look thrilled to be at the pumpkin patch?!

I love his expression here!