Henry is Fifteen Months

You wanna come and read with me?


Stacking is my specialty.


Aren't you going to applaud?


Yeah, I know I'm that cute.

Henry turned 15mo old yesterday. It nearly came and went without our even realizing it. He amazes us every day. His sweet personality is more evident all the time, and he is just so bright. He picks up on things so quickly now, and has a slew of tricks to show off. He loves to gives hugs and kisses. He can easily entertain himself, but is also beginning to blossom socially. He and Amelia have play dates weekly, and Mandy and I have really noticed how they're actually interacting with one another instead of just parallel-playing. A couple of weeks ago, Henry followed Amelia around trying to talk her into playing with him. Last week, the kids were in rare form, running around the kitchen, hollering, and scattering toys everywhere. You can't buy this kind of entertainment!

We went today for his check-up and another round of vaccinations. He weighs 27lbs 4oz and is 32.5inches. I had her double-check his length because that was only 1/2in. gain from three months ago. I was just sure he had grown more than that, especially because I know he's had at least one good growth spurt since then. Maybe the measurement was wrong last time. Anyway, he is in the 75th percentile for weight and length, and is holding steady at better than 95th for head circumference. The kid is well-endowed in noggin. Dr. Miller said he is perfect in every way, and at or beyond all milestones and development for his age. She thinks he's going to be very intelligent and advanced, but she is particularly fond of Henry, so she can't help but say nice things about him. Of course, she might be right. ;)

If I could only share one new cute thing Henry is doing today, it would be his impersonation of Jimmy Johnson. Scratching your head? He was the long-time head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. How, might you ask, is a fifteen-month-old baby imitating an NFL football coach? Well, when Zac and I attended a recent game, we bought Henry a souvenir mini-football. When you drop or catch the ball, it plays one of three recorded soundbites. One is the old fight song from way back in the day. The other two are of Jimmy Johnson's most memorable quotes: "Touchdown, Cowboys!" and "How 'bout them Cowboys?!"

So, now Henry is trying to say, "How 'bout them Cowboys?!" It is SO cute!! *swoon*

Milestone: First Steps

Milestone Alert! On Monday, Henry took his first steps. It was right after lunchtime, and I was on the floor with him playing with toys. I helped him stand up and as soon as he was on his feet he took about three or four steps toward me. I don't even think he realized he was doing it.

We've known he was close. The day before, Daddy watched him take one step. He's been walking all over the place with his push-walker and while holding our hands. Over the past week or two he's been increasing the length of time he could stand after letting go of whatever was supporting him. It's been coming, but I still think it surprised us when he actually did it. I called Daddy immediately to tell him, and when he got home he got to watch Henry take a few steps as well. That evening we practiced some more, and again yesterday. Last night he walked several times back and forth between Daddy and me. He seems to enjoy it - or at least the praise and cheering we give him when he does it. I'm such a proud mama!!

It's just one more reminder that my baby isn't really a baby anymore at all. His first birthday is just three days away. *tear*

Milestone: Crawling!

Milestone Alert! I'm behind, as is usual these days, but I wanted to make the official announcement: Henry is crawling! I don't think I even know an exact date - the transition from an almost-crawl to a real crawl was not obvious, and I think he didn't have it down consistently for several days, until about the middle or end of last week. Even now, his crawl isn't a graceful one; his Daddy calls it a half-crawl, half-bear-crawl. More or less, he moves his right knee, but uses his left foot instead of his knee. It's a crippled-looking crawl, but it seems to be working for him. He can already get around faster than I can believe. The days of disgruntled frustration are over - you can tell he is happy as a clam to motor around the room as he pleases.

Check out this video - and please, ignore my commentary... I wish I would remember how goofy I sound when I'm recording and just keep my mouth shut! It has a little crawling, a little waving, and a little "no" in it! **** Technical difficulties - please check back soon for video!****

Milestone: Waving Bye-Bye (or Hello!)

Milestone Alert! Yesterday, for the first time, Henry waved to us. This is the first really meaningful gesture he's used to communicate with us, other than smiles and putting out his arms to be picked up. We were having lunch after church yesterday at Grammy and PawPaw's house. After he did it the first time, we all broke out in cheer - a reaction I think he liked. He repeated, and so did the applause... I pointed out that we ought to wave back instead - clapping and cooing isn't a normal response to a wave. ;)

This is a skill I've been modeling and teaching for the longest time it seems, but developmentally he just wasn't ready yet. Or, is it possible that he's understood all this time and has just not responded? Who knows! We didn't get pictures of it yet, but I'll post when we do.

I should also take this opportunity to apologize for my absence. I really hope to get back in the blogging habit this week, maybe now that life isn't feeling so hectic. I spent the last week or so preparing for a yard sale, and it managed to take up most of the free time I would have otherwise spent online. Be assured, you haven't missed much. He is still working really hard on crawling, but just isn't there yet. He might crawl a step or two, but I don't think it counts. When it's official, you'll all be the first to know!

Mischievous Monday

Just wanted to share some pics I took just before his afternoon nap today. He was busy being impish and mischievous - two of his specialties. A couple of these shots show him getting ever closer to being officially mobile, so be on the look-out for another milestone report soon. In the meantime, I'll be busy baby-proofing the house!

"Eh, what's up, Doc?"

I just think he looks more like a toddler than a baby in this one. *tear*

"If I can just get my rear end to cooperate with my front end, I'll be on the move!"

Milestone: Pulling Up

Milestone Alert! Over the past couple of days, Henry has been working on something new. I've not posted this sooner because I didn't want to jump the gun, but now I think it's official - he's pulling up.

About two days ago, I was playing with him in the family room. I sat on the sofa, opposite him on the floor. He was flat on his bottom, facing me. I put my hands at the edge of the couch, and gestured for him to grab and hold them. When he did, he started pulling himself up. His feet slid under the bottom of the sofa, so he wasn't coming all the way up to a straight and tall stand, but he went up as far as he could go. He did this a handful of times, and when he was up, I repositioned his feet to steady him, and then encouraged him to take steps alongside the couch to reach a toy or my hand. He's not ready for that yet, but I predict he will be soon.

Yesterday morning, when we first went in to get him, he was up on one knee in his bed, having pulled up on the rails. Throughout the day yesterday, we practiced the pulling up on my hands exercise without the couch. I sat on the floor opposite him, and he pulled up, his feet sliding until they reach my lap. He got up to a better stand this way, without his feet being trapped beneath the sofa.

This morning, during a marathon nap resistance, I walked in to redirect him back to trying to go to sleep and found him standing straight up in his bed holding on to the rails. He had been fussing some, and when I came in, he smiled a triumphant beaming smile - I think he wanted to show off! He's got so many new tricks, he hasn't got time for napping!

He is not quite graceful about it yet, and other than his bed, he's not shown any interest yet in using furniture to pull up, but I expect he'll be trying that next. I'll try to get some pictures when he does!

Nine Months

Henry is nine months old today. He's been here longer now than he was in my womb. That is astounding and yet sobering for me because it means he is growing just so much faster than I can stand. We have a well-baby visit coming up next week where we'll get weight and length stats, but we did make a doctor's visit early this week for an ear infection, and he weighed in at 24.5lbs. He has almost tripled his birth weight. I am anxious to know his length (or can we call it height yet?) too, but not so much that I'm going to try to figure it out on my own before his appointment. I'm going to guess as much as 30 inches - he was almost 28 at six months.

My blog is young - I so wish I had started the first time I thought about doing this - so it hasn't recorded each of his milestones as he's hit them over the past nine months, so I'll do my best to list the big ones.

*He blessed us with first smiles at around 6 weeks.
*He started sleeping through the night at 8 weeks, then regressed at 11 weeks and hasn't consistently done it since. YAWN.....
*He could hold up his head for periods of time without support at around 8 weeks.
*He started to imitate some letter sounds at 3 months.
*He stopped night feedings between 3 and 4 months.
*He could roll from back to belly at 3.5 months.
*He could bear weight on his legs at 4 months.
*He could sit assisted at about 4 months.
*He started rice cereal at 4 months.
*He could roll both ways by 4 months, but only did so rarely.
*He could sit unassisted at 5 months for periods of time - unlimited by 6 months.
*He weaned from the swaddle at 6 months.
*He found his feet at 6 months. :)
*He was a babbler by 6 months.
*He was eating pureed veggies and fruits by 6 months.
*He started saying "mama" and "dada" at around 7 months.
*He started finger foods at 7.5 months, but is still very picky about them.
*He could put in his paci at 7 .5 months.
*He cut his first two teeth at 7.5 months.
*He started rolling for fun and mobility just before 8 months.
*He started showing readiness to start crawling at 8.5 months - pushing up on hands, scooting back end, pushing up on toes, and occasionally getting both front and rear ends off the ground at the same time...
*He could hold his own bottle at 8.5 months.
*He could sit up from a laying position just before 9 months.

I take pictures of him each month on his "month-day", and they're posted over in the sidebar - be sure to check them out and see how he's grown. Here's a few more I took this morning:

Milestone: From tummy to sitting position!

Milestone Alert! Today marks the first official time we've caught him moving from a tummy to sitting position unassisted. I first saw him do it in his crib this morning, but for whatever reason, he seems more mobile in his bed (or on any bed) than on the flat floor, so I assumed he had that advantage and wouldn't yet be able to do it from the floor. Then, at lunch time today, Henry and Daddy were playing with his choo-choo train. He had turned it over to dump the little balls out of it, and rolled to his tummy to attempt to go after them. When he gave up, he used the train to support himself while he pushed up to a sitting position. Still, I gave credit to the train as his support, and doubted he would quite be able to do without it. And then, after Daddy went back to work, he did it twice by himself, with nothing to support himself. My big boy!!! Keep it tuned here for more updates on Henry's milestones!

Self-feeding - when did he grow up?

We've been working with Henry over the past week or so to transition to more finger-foods. It's hit and miss so far. He has always been such a good eater - as evidenced by his robust size - but we're finding with this new challenge, he's resisting foods for the first time.

I started him first on these little puffs made by Gerber designed for baby's first finger-foods. They come in a variety of flavors, but so far he seems to shun all but the banana flavor. We actually started these a few weeks ago, but it was the litmus test for me because I was so worried about the possibility of him choking. These puffs are tiny and melt almost immediately as they go in his mouth, so they were the training wheels we both needed to convince me he was ready to try something more adventurous.


This last week, I've introduced diced pieces of some of his favorite foods, as well as a new food or two. The game is on: Henry vs. Mama and the Big-Boy Foods. After several innings, we're not a lot closer to him being a designated eater, but it's okay because I'm not 100% sure I'm ready for such grown-upness anyway.

Let's look at the loss column:
*He just said no to diced cooked carrots, diced green beans, diced peaches, and diced pears.
*He actually gagged (and threw up) on small curd cottage cheese.
*He seems to have regressed a little on his puffs, with less than 50% accuracy in his aim to get them in his mouth.

And, a look at the win column:
*If I mash up the peaches a little, he might not spit them all out and manages to swallow a tad bit.
*If I mix his cottage cheese in with his sweet potatoes or peas, I can trick him into eating some of it.
*If I leave the green beans on his tray long enough, he'll eventually start playing with them and inadvertently a sliver or two end up in his mouth. And sometimes, he doesn't spit it back out.
*He loves baby yogurt, one of the new foods we've tried this week.
*If I take advantage of his hunger by withholding his bottle until I've first offered the foreign foods, he's a little more likely to sample. And sometimes, he doesn't spit it back out.

That's a final score of 5 to 3, so we'll say we're winning, but it's gonna be a long season. And, on a side note, since starting to offer solids before the bottle, I've experimented with seeing how well he could drink his bottle without my help. He's already in the high chair, so I just tilt it back so that gravity is working with him instead of against him, and he just goes to town. All by himself. Without my help. Doesn't need me anymore. *tear* I don't remember him asking me if he could be all grown up yet, because I'm sure I would have asked for a little more time.