5 Months, 12 Days

Brr, today was our first day of real Chicago fall weather. I believe the high was right around 60 but it was also quite windy-- clear but a bit chilly. Of course this allowed us to exploit and new snuggly outfit and hat combo which Henry sported when we went to meet JT at the train at the end of the day.

Henry also played in his teetertot for the first time today. As you can tell i did a fair amount of padding to make it comfortable and "safe" for him although as only a 1950s toy could, the exposed springs require it to be a highly supervised toy.

We have our first neighborhood play group meeting tomorrow afternoon. Henry will get to meet several of the recent arrivals on the block.

5 Months, 11 Days

It was absolutely lovely weather for a good part of today-- sunny but cool-- i think the high was right around 70. We continued to marvel at how long Henry's getting-- fitting into clothes that just awhile ago swallowed him. When we got home he impressively sat up on his own for long enough for me to click quite a few photographs before tumbling over.

He enjoyed playing with a simple toy i made him over the weekend (you can see a tiny bit of it in the photo). I filled an empty plastic bottle with glass beads, glitter, and water and then glued the cap on. Right now he primarily liked to watch me swish all the glitter back and forth but when i put it in front of him while he was on his stomach, he went nuts-- kicking his feet up and down and squealing.

I found a number of good ideas for homemade toys online the other day. It's not so much that we're trying to cut down on expenses (although with my craigslist.org addiction, it doesn't hurt), but it just seems silly to spend a lot of money when he's completely happy to play with a large plastic spoon. If you ever come across reasonable ideas for homemade toys, let me know.

5 Months, 10 Days

Today after Brenda's we went over to the park. It was cool enough that i was able to put Henry into the fleece sling which i haven't used since he was a tiny thing. It was nice because now i can sling him on my hip which is how i tend to carry him anyway. We played on the swings and watched all the other kiddos. Henry didn't really smile much but his eyes were gigantic as he followed all the action around. The playground is just a few blocks from our house which should definitely come in handy as he gets older.

We came home and played a little bit and then he got tired in about 15 seconds while in the bath. Of course he had just spit up in the bath water, so it wasn't a bad time to get out. Last night he woke up at 9 pm and cried for quite awhile until i finally fed him and he went back to sleep. Hopefully we won't repeat that tonight.

5 Months, 9 Days

Today was the first official cool day of Autumn. I'm looking forward to being able to branch out into the warmer half of Henry's closet. I'll be sad when he starts to exert independence in his clothes choices, because it's fun picking out his wardrobe-- somehow more entertaining than picking out my own.

We rebooked our tickets for the New Orleans wedding we were planning on attending in mid-October. The wedding has been rescheduled for DC which works for us because 1) the tickets were a good deal cheaper, 2) we have plenty of places to stay while we're there and 3) we have built in babysitters so we can fully enjoy the evening wedding!

The picture is from Helen's visit this weekend. Helen might be able to take Henry on size alone-- but he's pretty wiley; clearly planning his escape moves in this photo.

23 Weeks

It was really nice to have run all the errands and gotten most of the chores done yesterday so that today was reserved for fun. We had friends over for brunch this morning while Henry took a 2 hour nap. Then i went to pick up the coolest new toy for Henry. Of course i found it on craigslist.org; he's going to have to grow into it, but i thought it was quite a find.



Later in the day another friend came and brought her baby daughter over. It was fun to watch Henry and Helen eyeing each other and entertaining to imagine them growing up friends.

Finally we spent some late afternoon time just playing and hanging out. Here he is modeling his new handmade baby sweater (thanks Karen!)

5 Months, 7 Days

As a friend pointed out recently, "having a baby means becoming obsessed with their sleep patterns." In a nutshell, yes! I realize that much of this blog has focused on the minutiae of Henry's sleeping patterns. I'm sure that there are plenty of other parents that don't agonize over their children's sleep, but for us, sleep and sleep problems became an overarching focus of our life with Henry. It makes sense if you think about it though; you crave sleep and miss it like you've never missed anything before. Also, babies need a lot of sleep, so if they're difficult to get to sleep or don't sleep well that's about 50%-60% of your day right there spent dealing with sleep problems.

I'm happy to report that as time continues to roll on i think my obsession with sleep has lessened, because i'm pretty well rested and Henry manages to get the sleep he needs without bringing us both to hysterics.

I spent the majority of the day running errands while JT kept the home fires burning with Henry. Right now while Henry's so little and naps somewhat unpredictably, it works out really well to have JT enjoying being a homebody and me eager to get out. That way i can tackle all the shopping and errands and JT can keep the boy on his routine while puttering around the house. It's a win-win really, except for the craziness one has to endure in the Trader Joe's Parking lot on a Saturday.

We enjoyed a bite out to eat at one of local restaurants and managed to eat later than 5:30 pm with Henry.

5 Months, 6 Days

I believe Henry was fussy last night because he has developed a mild cold. When he woke up this morning he was quite congested but it seemed to mostly clear on its own. By the time i used the saline spray and suctioned his nose out (such a fun task!) there really wasn't anything in there to bother him. Brenda said he did just fine and dandy during the day-- chattered almost the whole time.

We had a nice walk home in the fall cool, and Henry enjoyed playing in the bath for quite awhile tonight. He's starting to sit up and grab at his toys quite well. He was pretty stuffy again tonight and has woken up off and on after going to bed so we'll see how the night goes. I was in the process of trying to discontinue his 10 pm feeding but i think i'm going to postpone it a bit longer until he's over this cold.