Two Month Well Visit

Henry is two months old! We went to his doctor's appointment on Monday and weighed in at 14 lbs. 11 oz. He is 25 inches in length, which places him in the 97th percentile on the growth curve. He was such a good boy for his exam, cooing at the doctor, and endured the shots as well as can be expected. I haven't seen his head turn that red in quite some time -- I don't know that I could work in a pediatric clinic with all that noise all day long!

As a result of the shots, he was a little cranky Monday night, but he is now back to his charming self. As a matter of fact, he slept for 6 hours in a row last night. If these keep up in frequency, it won't be long before Momma catches 6 hours in a row for herself...

A Beautiful Butterfly

Last weekend we had a nice visit to Grand Rapids to visit the Meijer Butterfly and Sculpture gardens. Mom, Dad, and Jessica came over, so the Sanford house was packed with people. We really lucked out with the weather and enjoyed a gorgeous weekend with sun and warmth. We were able to enjoy the outdoor sculpture park, have a picnic, and in general, hang out without our coats on!


Can you see the cocoon in this picture? Maybe she will one day turn into a beautiful butterfly. :)



Here is a link to a few more photos of the weekend, courtesy of Jessica's camera. The videos at the end need a little explaining:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jesscaps/April08

1. Grandma and Julia wrapped up the weekend with a quick game of Wii bowling. Unfortunately, Julia has had a little more practice (and apparently was feeling lucky) and won the game, with the help of a turkey. Final score: 196 to 95. Grandma will await a rematch.

2. Our only casualty for the weekend occurred during a rough-housing game of "stork bite" -- initiated after we were talking about some birthmarks and realized that several of us have a red mark on our neck, commonly referred to as a stork bite. Of course, this became a game similar to the common "horse bite" or "snake bite" tag and wrestling. Julia mistakenly made a quick dash directly into the door frame to escape a stork bite and probably has the black eye to prove it. Naturally, this is all "Aunt Charlotte's fault."

Parent Lesson #4: Crying is contagious.
Example: if a child is injured and crying during a game of stork bite, other children in the room will express their sympathy in the same fashion.

Found: 2 fists

Just another quick update about this week (Henry's 8th week). He found his fist!! He was looking at it, and then putting it to his mouth, over and over. Exciting times! Oops. Henry's waking from his nap -- blog time is over!

Mover & a Shaker

Whew, its been rough keeping up with things around here because we're all still struggling with colds. George has been coughing up a storm, my throat continues to hurt, and Henry still has gunk coming from his nose. Week 2 of this crud, and I hope its the last.

It is quite a challenge taking care of Henry and keeping him entertained when energy is low. Therefore, I've been trying to teach him new tricks so he can keep himself occupied. Here is a video of Henry after I've placed a rattle in his hand. He still has that strong grasp reflex, which helps my cause!

Also new this week: we've entered a new size realm - breaking into the 3/6 month clothing. I remember when Julia was wearing this Iowa sweatshirt and she was learning to sit up on her own. Its a little big on Henry, but its been chilly in the mornings, despite the warm afternoons this week!

Jibber Jabber

Henry has really stepped up the jibber jabber this week. Now that he's feeling a little bit better, he's found his voice again. Rather than a little voice, however, at times he's using a bigger one! I was laughing the other morning as I laid him on his activity blanket and he was talking to his animals. I sort of think that the congestion has gone to his ears a little, so he has to speak up in order to hear himself! It is truly entertaining to hear him gabbing away at his animals all on his own. Which means I'm also happy that he doesn't need me to be there to constantly interact with him.

Another one of Henry's favorite pastimes this week has been reading books. I've found that he's finally interested in glancing at the pictures of the book we're reading him. Either that or he just likes hearing our voices. We have a couple of Dr. Suess books that are fun to read -- and I think he also likes the tongue twisters we find ourselves in when we read aloud to him. That Dr. Suess is no joke! In fact, quite a challenge at times!

I'm happy this photo captured one of his good smiles. He's been giving them out even without asking lately!

Also, he looks more like a real person with those clothes on! Not just hanging out in his sleeper pajamas all day long.

Crummies

George and I learned exactly what people mean when they say "I was up half the night with my sick kid" -- and half would actually be an understatement. We had a rough weekend with Henry as he developed a cold and congestion (probably a byproduct of my sore throat) as well as pink eye (a parting gift from the cousins!)

So just when I thought things couldn't get any worse than waking every 2-3 hours for feedings, he was waking almost every hour and just screaming. You know its bad when the best trick up your sleeve, nursing, doesn't calm him down. Plus, he'd have to make the difficult choice between eating and breathing, given the amount of gunk coming from his nose. And this is a tough choice! So we're wrapping up the warm weather weekend wondering what this night has in store for us (we now dread the night-time...) We did manage to get out for a walk, but that's about it!

Parent Lesson #3:
Always have coffee on hand, for those difficult mornings after a hard night with a crying baby.

Parent Lesson 3a: (especially if you've neglected Lesson 3)
the phrase "sleep when baby is sleeping" is not just for newborns...

Video of Henry talking to Charlotte

Here's a little clip of Charlotte talking with Henry on Thursday. Too bad the last couple of seconds got cut off, since he kept talking. He's so funny when he's chatty! He's just past 6 weeks in this video.

TUMMY TIME!

Henry isn't a huge fan of tummy time, but he is certainly good at it! (for short periods of time). The pediatrician recommended starting tummy time around 3-4 weeks, which helps babies build their neck and back muscles. Easier said than done. Babies at that age last around 1-2 minutes before their face is buried in a blanket and they get super frustrated.

But Henry is such a strong boy, and loves to lift his head and look around. I just love this picture! He is really starting to look around and pay closer attention to us.

We were at a baptism this past weekend and were amazed at all the other babies that were present. There was a 9 month old girl that was just cruising along and pulling herself up near furniture. Its hard to believe Henry will be doing those things in such a short period of time! Woah!