Henry Visits Babies R Us

On Friday, Shirley had suggested that we get Henry some shoes to help straighten and relax his toes when he is standing. So, this morning (Sunday) we took Henry to Babies R Us. This was his second visit to a store. The first being a visit to a Bed Bath and Beyond for about 2 minutes earlier in April. Henry had a very good time watching things at Babies R Us. Henry tried his shoes on this afternoon. He isn't a fan of the foot restraints. But doesn't he look cute?



Henry hasn't been to many stores because we have diligently kept him away from crowds (and that means stores). RSV season is coming to a close in our region, and he needed shoes, so we ventured out. It wasn't particularly crowded. If it had been, we wouldn't have taken him inside. We are slowly introducing him to more people. But come November, we'll have to go back into seclusion (hopefully for the last time).

Henry napped quite a bit this afternoon. One nap was 1.5 hours long. Jeff took it with him. For Henry's sake of course. ;)

Actually, we both think that Henry sleeps a lot longer when he is in our bed. We've only been letting him sleep with us for 3-4 week now. It started on accident. When he sleeps in his own crib, he'll sleep for 7-8 hours straight. When he sleeps with us, it extends his nighttime sleep by at least an hour. This afternoon, Jeff had put Henry in his crib to nap. Jeff then went over to our bed to take a nap, and the incredibly small squeak from the mattress woke Henry up. I believe that the American Academy of Pediatrics is opposed to co-sleeping because (a) parents sometimes roll onto the babies, (b) the mattresses aren't as firm those in cribs (too soft isn't good for baby), and (c) the research shows that babies wake up more often on average when they are in their parents' beds than when they are in their cribs. But there are some doctors who believe that co-sleeping is good for babies (e.g. Dr. Sears).

The verdict is out on whether it is good for us parents. On the one hand, Jeff and I have been getting a lot more sleep since Henry has gotten more sleep. On the other hand, as Jeff has said, "Henry is a bed hog." And the sleep that we get is lighter than when he's in the crib with the Angelcare monitor on.

After Henry and Jeff got up, we played with a new toy. A Fisher Price "gum" ball machine. Henry has learned that you have to push the lever for the toy balls to come out of it. Then, we went for a walk. Came back and played with the Baby Einstein Caterpillar. Had dinner. Henry was hungry. Gave him a bath. And now he and Jeff are sound asleep.






















That's about it for new stuff. I've uploaded a picture from Thursday (when Henry had egg yolk for the first time). You can see Henry's bottom two teeth quite well in the picture.












Henry has had a good week. Just a recap:
*He has improved his sitting skills (moving from stand to sit smoothly)
*He learned how to pull himself up in his crib
*He started making the sign for "ceiling fan" (his favorite object in the house)
*He ate egg yolk (and didn't throw up!)
*He discovered dirt in plant pots
*He is waving bye-bye to people more and more. He even waved bye bye to the cashier today at Babies R Us.
*He started "petting the dogs nicely" instead of pulling out their fur. We've been telling him for a long time that he has to "pet nicely." He started mimicing what I was doing, which has improved the situation for the dogs. I can't say that he never pulls their fur, but I'm sure that they'd agree that things are getting much better.