6 Months, 14 Days

Henry's first Halloween left a lot of room for future years of improvement. He was an aviator and i made him a set of biplane wings to turn his stroller into his own airplane. I'll hold onto them for when he's older and can appreciate them a bit more. Clearly this year was all about me enjoying making his get-up, but the weather, traffic, and timechange all conspired to make Henry's trick-or-treating experience incredibly short-- read one house. I decided things weren't going to get any better so we went ahead and packed it in and came on home. He lit up when he saw JT so we had a bit longer to enjoy him before he had his milk and i just laid him down. I have a feeling it might be another difficult night though so i think i'm off to take a shower and get an early start on bed.

I did manage to take some pre-Halloween pictures yesterday-- thankfully because i didn't get any taken today!

Remember, if you're reading Henry's blog and haven't already-- post a comment to let us know who you are and how you know us!

28 Weeks

Henry enjoyed a nice quiet day at home after all the excitement yesterday. After eating this morning at around 6:30 he went back to sleep until about 8:30. We both appreciated the late morning and the nice quiet long naps later in the day. I put the finishing touches on Henry's Halloween get-up and we laid in for another week's worth of baby meals.

Henry finished the sweet potatoes today and i believe they are a bit um... binding for his own good. So, from now on i think i'll mix them with something a bit less dense. For this reason we're going back to yellow squash for a few days and then will either try yellow bell peppers or eggplant.

I'm going to poach an idea i read on another parenting blog. Many of our friends and family have shared with us that they enjoy reading about Henry's day and seeing new pictures. I print these entries (including comments) out to save in Henry's baby book. If you could use this week to post a comment about how you know us, why you read all the petty details of Henry's life, and anything else you'd like to share, we'd love to print it for posterity. Not that you have to be profound-- i certainly am not.

6 Months, 12 Days

Today was a big outing day for little Mr. Henry. After a bit of a fuss (and not too wonderful of a night) he took a short nap and then we were off to the pumpkin festivities. As today was a gorgeous day, and the last Saturday before Halloween, the park was mobbed. We walked around and took several pictures in the "pumpkin patch," watched a gaggle of baby goats, sheep, a llama, donkey, baby pig, chickens and a rabbit co-exist in a pen way too small for all of them, not to mention the 50 parents and children running around in it as well. It looked like a lawsuit waiting to happen, but everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time. We just watched from the outside and Henry had his eyebrows up the whole time.

After re-grouping at home with a nap we headed out to Oak Park, did some shopping and browsing, and met friends for dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant in the area-- Khyber Pass. We hadn't been there since before Henry was born and it was definitely nice to be back. The three couples of us have been going there since we first moved to Chicago and were all childless. Tonight we needed three high-chairs and none of them were for me!

6 Months, 11 Days

The sleep demon's little brother visited last night. Henry went to sleep pretty easily but woke up crying around 2:30. It wasn't nearly as severe as the night before but it still took quite a bit of doing to get him back to sleep. Tonight he went to sleep without a peep so i'm hopeful he'll get back to his good sleep patterns.

Tonight we went to our second neighborhood playgroup. There were seven moms and their babies that all live in just a few blocks of us. Henry was actually the oldest baby and one of only two boys. There was one other little girl that was just a few days shy of six months and the rest were between 3 and 4 months. Of course Henry wasn't the biggest, but he was sitting up the best, so we'll take it. It was fun to see so many moms that might turn into prospective winter buddies. The woman i talked with the most (with almost 6-month old daughter Patricia) lives just down the block and works from home as an attorney with her own practice. She was really interested in my experiences with making my own babyfood and was psyched to start making some of it herself.

We got a few pictures of Henry in his "baby's first Halloween" outfit next to the pumpkin we carved last night. Tomorrow morning we're going to a Chicago Park District Pumpkin Patch. There will be hayrides and face painting and pumpkin decorating-- all kinds of fun stuff for Tabitha and I (i mean the kiddos!) I promise to tote my camera along.

6 Months, 10 Days

Something possessed Henry last night and i just hope it doesn't come back tonight. He woke up and cried for a few minutes about 8:30 pm and then around 10:30 he woke up again screaming. He was basically inconsolable for about an hour. I tried giving him tylenol, oragel, his zantac, holding, walking, nursing, laying in the crib, and NOTHING worked. Finally he did nurse and eventually went to sleep. This was exactly at the time that the sox WON THE WORLD SERIES, so my enjoyment of it was somewhat distracted. Unfortunately the waking repeated again at 3:30 this morning. He was a little fussy this morning but Brenda said he was just fine and chipper and took three good naps today. He fussed a bit going to sleep but i'm keeping my fingers crossed that he stays asleep and the evil sleep demon doesn't come back.

Tonight he had sweet potatoes and it was hysterical to watch. You'd think i had given him salt water taffy to chew on based on the amount of mouth action he had going on. I carved our pumpkin tonight with friends so hopefully we'll have some pre-Halloween pictures tomorrow.

6 Months, 9 Days

Henry slept quite a bit today and got in 3 full naps. I'm assuming he was sleepy from all the shots he had yesterday. He had fun with Brenda and we had a good time playing when we got home. He is just too funny with his dinner. He doesn't try to put his hands in his mouth or grab at the spoon he just strains with the essence of his soul to get that food in there faster, faster, faster. He ate 2 cubes of zucchini and 2 cubes of peaches and i think he was full. JT got home just in time to take a bath with Henry and they both enjoyed playing around in the warm water.

Here's a picture of Henry in his carseat that i took yesterday. You can see Ralph the stuffed monkey in the picture too. I'm trying to get Henry to attach to Ralph or his stuffed doggy. Personally i'm attached to both of them and love to cuddle with them. I've been sending Ralph to daycare each day for his naps and he sleeps with his doggy. I'm not sure Henry would miss them but he did have his arm around the doggy while he slept last night.

6 Months, 8 Days

This afternoon Henry had his 6 month appointment and was a real trooper during his shots. This nurse was very quick and let me hold Henry while she gave him his shots so he barely whimpered. He's grown another inch to 26" but just gained about a quarter pound. The Dr. said he's just not a fast gainer but he looks fabulous developmental wise.

Here's a shot of Henry and Brenda-- i thought you'd like to see them together instead of just hearing about her!