Henry's Happy New Year Developments

We had a low key New Year's Day. Henry got up around 7AM, I think. He had a bottle, and then he went back to sleep in our bed. I propped him up on my pillow, and we snuggled for another couple hours. It had been a late night, so we were all very tired. Napping with Henry was a fantastic way to start off the New Year. Around 10AM, we went for a long walk around the neighborhood on the Owl Ridge trail, which took us through a wash; the walk was about 3 miles. We played in the afternoon. He weighed 14 lbs 11.5 ozs. Henry discovered his head and felt it quite a bit. In the evening, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for dinner and to finish watching a continuing episode of Law & Order that we had started the night before. Henry's voice was doing better, but he was still coughing quite a bit, so we decided to have him sleep with us and kept his head propped up on the pillow. Jeff had to hold Marley back from flopping on Henry. Everything worked out well.

Yesterday (1/2), Grandma and Grandpa both came over at different times during the day. Henry was pretty active. He discovered his right ear at one point and kept grabbing it. He weighed 14 lbs 12.5 ozs. He slept in his crib during the night.

Today (1/3), Grandpa came around 10:45AM to spend an hour and a half with Henry, while I was on an NAES conference call. He said that Henry had worn him out. They had played in the bouncy seat, played in the bassinet, played on the floor, and spent some time in the swing. After Grandpa left, Jeff and I took Henry out for a mid-day stroll during the lunch hour. Henry weighed 14 lbs 12 ozs today. Grandma came in the afternoon to spend a couple hours with Henry. He was pretty active, but I think that he took a couple naps here and there on her watch. Henry was incredibly loud today. He rediscovered his squeal. I guess he really missed his voice. His squeal has reached new decibel levels.

We went on another walk in the evening. We stopped by Nick and Janice's house to deliver our belated holiday and thank you cards. We usually see them a lot around the neighborhood, but we hadn't seen them in weeks. *** NOTE: If you gave Henry a present or sent us flowers/food when Henry and I were in the hospital, please let us know if you didn't receive a thank you card from us. See our post entitled "Oops!" from October 28. Only one thank you card was returned to us by the Post Office for our failure to have the appropriate postage; we missed out on the 2 cent increase when we were in the NICU and sent out the thank yous with 39 cent stamps. We very much want everyone to know how much we appreciate their generosity. So again, please let us know if you haven't received a thank you card. We really hope that the cards arrived at their destinations. Feel free to email me if yours didn't arrive. I'm about 8 months behind on my social emails. So to facilitate a quick response from me, I suggest putting something like "KATE, YOU INGRATE" in the subject line to get my attention. I am hoping to get my email sorted in the next couple weeks. We are slowly putting some order back into our household, but it has been a very slow process. ***

The huge news of the evening is that Henry grabbed his toes tonight! He's been reaching toward his feet for awhile. He first realized that he had feet the weekend before Thanksgiving when Aunt Carolyn was holding him. He's tried to reach toward them several times. And he's touched them when he's sitting and leans forward. But tonight, he was on his mat, and he kicked up his legs and grabbed his toes. He did it several times. He also is rolling over and not having to work hard at it.

I forgot to mention on my previous post that he made another developmental step on New Year's Eve when he started opening his hand out fully when he does tummy time and presses his palm to the mat. Before, he'd keep his fingers curled as he pressed upward with his arms.

DEVELOPMENTAL RECAP:
12/31: Learns to spread out fingers as he presses his hand on the mat to push upward during tummy time
1/1: Discovers his head
1/2: Discovers his ear
1/3: Grabs his toes

Tomorrow, we have an appointment with the massage therapist and Tara. Tara is going to come, while the massage appointment is happening. Also, I received a call from Cuyler Romeo, his OT, today. She'll be starting back up with him on Friday, January 11th. Cuyler is the one who works wonders on feeding issues, so we are very much looking forward to her insight.

Happy New Year 2008!!!

Happy New Year!!! 2007 was an amazing year. Although the circumstances under which Henry left the womb were far from ideal (to put it delicately), we feel blessed to have such a cheerful fighter in our lives. Our #1 New Year's resolution is to be the best parents to Henry that we can possibly be.

Jeff worked today, so it was just me and Henry hanging out in the morning. Henry didn't have his voice back, but he made several attempts at squealing. He weighed 14 lbs 10 ozs. Grammy came around 12:30PM and stayed for a couple hours. Then, Grandpa visited. Jeff, Henry, and I went for a walk around 5PM with Marley and Roger. It was cold, but not as cold as it has been. After our walk, Henry had a bottle, and we got ready to go over to the grand parents' house to celebrate New Year's Eve. We had planned to watch the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie, but we ended up getting sucked into a Law & Order marathon. Henry wasn't interested in Law & Order, but he was very interested in spending a good deal of time on his Jungle mat. He was inching every which way on the mat.







Henry took a short snooze with grandpa on the bed in his room (my old room, Henry's new room). When the fireworks from one of the nearby resorts started up at midnight, Henry came out and watched them for a little while. He didn't make it through the whole show (it was a little nippy outside), but he watched for a few minutes and enjoyed them. He then sat with his daddy near the Christmas tree in the living room and had a bottle. His food intake was up significantly (860 mls compared to 549 mls the day before). During the day, he had two 120 mls bottles in the afternoon and early evening (a 120 ml bottle is approximately 4 ozs). Oh, and we started the fortification up again with Neocate, making the bottles 22 calories per ounce instead of 20 calories per ounce. At different points in the evening, he began to make noises that sounded like he was beginning to get his voice back. He's still coughing, but I think that he's on the mend. We left around 12:45AM, and Henry fell fast asleep in the car.

Happy New Year to everyone! We hope that your 2008 is filled with as many blessings as our 2007!

Sleeping Away His 8-Month Birthday

Henry turned 8 months old today (December 30). It is hard to believe that so much time has passed.

Yesterday (Saturday), Henry's cold got worse. He was hoarse and then lost his voice. He would try to squeal when he was happy or cry when he wanted food, but nothing but a little air would come out. So we've had to really pay attention to his nonverbal cues. Jeff and Henry spent the afternoon watching sports (football, I suppose), while I ran errands. Despite not feeling well, Henry is still upbeat, even if a little tired. He weighed 14 lbs 7 ozs.

In the evening, we went over to my parents' house for our belated family Christmas dinner. The party included my parents, Carolyn, Chris, Erin, Brian, Uncle Jim, Jeff, Henry and me and our furry family members Indiana, Ramses, Schroeder, Marley, Roger, and Wembley (the newest member of the family). It was a full house. As several family members said, "Henry's made out like a bandit." He has new toys, books, clothes...the works. Henry again really liked the wrapping paper. It was his favorite part. Erin and Brian got him a monkey toy that makes monkey sounds that he liked a lot...and so did the dogs; they were fascinated by it. I kept close tabs on it when Henry wasn't playing with it, because I thought that Indiana (border collie) would walk off with it if given the chance.

My mom gave Henry several Baby Einstein books. She was going to get the videos, but I'm not encouraging Henry to watch television. He gets enough just by seeing snippets of Law & Order in the weekday afternoons (which he ignores) and watching weekend football games (which he appears to like). Basically, I've read some studies, which suggest that children shouldn't be watching digital media until age 7. The researchers claim that watching digital media at early ages changes people's brain wiring (and not for the better). I buy their argument and evidence. However, in this day and age, it is unrealistic to think that I'm going to be able to keep Henry away from the television until age 7. Plus, by the time he reaches kindergarten, I don't want him to have no television experience (and end up being the weird kid who doesn't know what a TV is...elementary school can be hard enough as it is). I'm shooting for minimal television viewing for the first 2-3 years though. 90% of brain development occurs in the first three years of life.

Henry ate quite a bit yesterday, which was good.

Today (Sunday), we took Henry to my parents' house in the morning. It's been a while since Henry has had a Sunday with the grandparents. Henry's still hoarse. Before we headed over there, Jeff weighed Henry at 14 lbs 11 ozs. I stayed at my parent's house during the day and got work done (course prep); Jeff went home. For Henry's 8-month birthday, he decided to sleep the day away. I was a little concerned. My mom pointed out that babies usually take naps. It's just odd to see my baby take a 2-hour plus nap, because he doesn't do it at home. Jeff came back in the early evening. We stayed until 10:20PM. Henry didn't eat much throughout the day. In fact, it's the lowest total that he'd done in a long time. I don't think he consumed even 20 ounces. He came home and is still sleeping. I'm hoping that his body is just sleepy, because it's fighting off the cold.

Our New Year's Eve plans are rather simple. Jeff has to work (yeah!). I have to take a defensive driving course online (from a ticket back in September...that is bogus); I tried taking it today, but the system wouldn't let me register even though I talked with someone about it the day before and she said it would work. So I'll do that after Jeff gets off work. Then, I think that we're headed back over to my parents in the evening to watch the last of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, which Jeff and I missed when Henry was in the NICU this summer. At some point, we need to give Mr. Henry a bath. He hasn't had a bath since Thursday when Aunt Carolyn helped give him one. And, hopefully, we'll get one of our digital cameras working, so that we can start taking more Henry photos again.

Still sick (sniffle, sniffle)

We are still sick. Thursday night Kate sounded like she was going to cough up a lung. Henry has continued to be congested and has coughing fits himself. I think I'm now coming down with a second cold. Kate's Dad is sounding much better but is still working off his cold. I think Kate's mom is finally better. How miserable.

Henry's cold seemed to be moving to his lungs, which is where he is most vulnerable right now. We took him to the doctor Friday afternoon. He said that his lungs sound fine and that it is probably in his trachea, not the lungs. That was a huge relief. They did take a pulse oximeter reading and he was at 93%. That is what he was at last time. That is acceptable, not great. Although I find it suspicious that he came up with the exact same number both times. Reminds me of Kate's blood pressure readings while she was pregnant, which at the doctors office, always came back 120/80 despite testing significantly higher everywhere else.

I believe Henry enjoyed his doctor visit very much. He still loves to kick at the tissue paper on the exam table. He was a bit perturbed by the doctor trying to examine his ears. I think the doctor was surprised at how strong Henry was as he resisted having his head turned from side to side. He eventually had to roll Henry on his side because he couldn't make him turn his head.

At the doctors office he weighed 14lbs 10ozs. At home we weighed him at 14lbs 7.5ozs. I hope their scale is right. After gaining more than an ounce a day for a long time he has gained only 1 ounce in the last 20 days. That is a bit concerning. The last 10 days he has been sick which probably explains a good part of it. He is also still considered a bit chubby for his height/weight. My hope is that he is continuing to grow in length and head circumference despite not gaining weight. We don't need him to keep getting fatter, we need him to get longer. Unfortunately it is extremely difficult to measure length on a squirming baby with any accuracy.

On Thursday and Friday nights Kate's parents came over and brought dinner. That was very nice. Kate and I haven't been able to get out of the house for some time and the cupboards are getting bare. Kate's dad also came over Friday morning and her sister Carolyn visited in the afternoon. It is funny to see Carolyn with Henry because she is so small it makes Henry look gigantic. Maybe the lesson is that Kate and I should lose some weight to make Henry seem larger. Sounds like yet another weight loss new years resolution.

We are going over to Kate's parents tonight for a belated Christmas dinner and gift exchange. I'll try to get a Christmas video posted. Hopefully I can find the firewire cable somewhere.

Henry's First Christmas

We had a quiet, but fun Christmas with Henry yesterday. We got up in the morning and fed Henry. We went for our usual morning walk. We also made our first attempt at giving Henry "solid" food. It actually wasn't very solid at all; it was 1 tbsp of rice cereal mixed with 4 tbsp of breast milk. We were going to wait until he hit the 6 month mark (adjusted age) before trying food, but he has given some signs that he might be ready for food. Henry has made a few attempts at lunging for drinks. He has also been sitting up well (assisted of course) and often uses his abs muscles to propel himself forward. And, if he smells food in the living room, then he insists on having a bottle, while food is in his presence. So one of us eats dinner, while the other one feeds him, and then we switch. Although he's only 4.5 months (adjusted age), we decided to give it a whirl. We don't have a high chair yet. Carmen has graciously offered her sons' chair. So we used his BebePod seat to feed him. I'm not sure that he actually consumed very much. He still thrusts his tongue outward and managed to drool a lot of it out of his mouth. He also managed to throw his right arm under my left hand, which was holding the bowl, and spill a good deal of it onto his tray. He got a little fussy when not much of the food was getting into his stomach, so we ended up giving him a bottle. But it was a small step forward. At least he has a sense of what food is. We have it all on digital video.

After his bottle and some clean up, we opened presents. As predicted, his favorite part of the day was the wrapping and tissue paper. Jeff and I very much appreciate all of the thoughtful gifts sent to Henry. He now has much needed clothes in sizes bigger than 3 months, some bath towels and lotions, and toys. Henry did a good job opening his gifts. While Jeff was holding him, I'd tear a piece of the wrapping paper and then Henry would grab on to it and pull. He was much more engaged with unwrapping the presents than I would have anticipated from a baby his age. Jeff and I managed to put together his Caterpillar "Learning and Discovery Station," which he played with in the afternoon. Basically, it is toy that sits over the baby with things to pull and dials to turn. When he turns the dials, it makes animal sounds. When he hits a ball through a hoop, some music and lights go off. He managed to figure out all of the gadgets within a few minutes.

Aunt Carolyn came in the late afternoon, right before I was going to give Henry a bottle. Carolyn tried feeding Henry the bottle, but he ended up smiling at her with the bottle in his mouth the whole time she held him. He was quite enamored with her.

Henry was up a few times during the night. He was congested. I had particularly sensitive "mommy hearing" last night and jumped out of bed several times to check on him. He managed to turn himself onto his stomach in his sleep at least twice that I'm aware of. We decided to let him sleep on his stomach, because the Angelcare monitor was on. It did go off once when he pushed himself to the side of the crib where the monitor couldn't detect his movements. This morning, Jeff got up when Henry started fussing. Apparently, Henry was upset to find himself on his stomach (given how much he dislikes tummy time).

Jeff worked today, while I took care of Henry. In the afternoon, we went to Meagan's Place, where my sister Meagan is buried. It requires a little bit of hiking to her spot, so Jeff and my dad waited on the well-kept trail with Henry, while my mom, Carolyn, Erin, and I went off the beaten path. From the hill, we could see Jeff walking Henry around the trail at the bottom of the hill. At one point, Henry got annoyed and let out an "I'm Hungry!" holler that reverberated around the rocks on the hills.

After our hike, Jeff and I drove around and picked up some dinner. When we got back home, we took the dogs for a walk. Jeff had Henry in the Baby Bjorn as usual. Henry discovered that he could look up and back and realized that his daddy was back there holding him. He spent the last part of the walk turning around and flashing Jeff his wonderful smile every 15 seconds or so. It was very cute.

Henry ate a little bit more when we came in from the walk. He spent some time on the floor playing with his Caterpillar. I forced him to do a little tummy time, which he wasn't happy about. He ate a little bit and then crashed. He's sound asleep now. I'm signing off to catch a few Zzzzzs while I still can.

237 Days of Henry

Saturday marked the end of Grandpa Kenski's streak of visiting Henry every day. That's 237 days of Henry since Henry was born. Unfortunately, Grandpa Kenski came down with a cold on Sunday, and it persisted today. Given Henry's still fragile state when it comes to his lungs and immune system, he can't be around anyone who shows any signs (however small) of illness. Grandpa had the longest run out of everyone in the family (including me and Jeff) of visiting Henry since he was born. I miss out on seeing Henry 5/15 through 5/17 when I came down with the flu. I recovered quickly, but I didn't want to chance being a carrier and passing the germs along to Henry (or anyone else in the NICU for that matter). Jeff stayed away 5/16 and 5/17, because he was afraid of being a carrier flu having been around me. There were a couple other days when he couldn't make it into the NICU, because of work and managing the household when I was spending my days there. So long story short, the streak was finally broken yesterday. I know my dad wasn't happy about it. Incidentally, our dogs aren't happy about it either...they were getting used to my dad sneaking them treats when Jeff and I aren't looking.

Today was a quiet Christmas Eve. Henry got up quite a few times during the night. I suspect that it is because we still aren't fortifying the breast milk, which means that it goes through his system more quickly than it did when it was fortified. We went on a mid-morning walk and a late afternoon walk. Henry weighed 14 lbs 6 ozs.

It was a relaxing day. However, it doesn't feel quiet like Christmas without our big family celebrations. With my parents being sick, one of my sisters being sick last week, and Jeff and Henry in cold recovery, we decided to put off Christmas dinner until Saturday. That's when we'll exchange gifts with my sisters, their significant others, and my parents in our round robin gift exchange. We moved to the round robin exchange about 10 years or so ago, when we all came to the conclusion that we didn't really need that many gifts and decided to temper the materialistic side of the season's festivities (at least for the adults in the family).

We spent this evening watching "It's a Wonderful Life." Henry fell asleep during it. Jeff is currently wrapping presents for Henry. He did some shopping the other day for Henry's first Christmas. Henry's growing so fast that he needs larger clothes and new toys that will stimulate his development. I suspect that the biggest hit tomorrow morning will be the wrapping paper. Henry really loves going to the doctor's office, because of the tissue paper on the examination table. Henry squeals with delight when he kicks the paper and makes noise. Even though he can't understand the holiday yet, I'm sure that he'll be happy with the novelties that the day will bring.

The Art of Manipulation

On Friday at dusk, we went for a walk, even though it was rather cold. Henry had been passed out in his bassinet, but we got him up, because he hasn't been getting out of the house as much lately (with the mornings being way too cold to take him for walks), and we want him to be able to observe an environment other than our living room. He woke up once he was outside. We ran into Swanee (and her dogs Annie and Luke) and Evonne (and her dogs Chocolate, Banjo, and Precious). We had Roger and Marley with us, of course, so it was quite the gaggle full of puppy dogs. We live in the boonies on a dirt road, so we had all of our dogs off leash. Henry had a good time watching the canine posse.

He fell asleep rather early in the evening (around 8PM, I think), which resulted in him getting up around 2AM, as alert as could be. Jeff tried putting him down after his feeding, but he spent the time playing in his crib in-between feedings. Henry makes a lot of happy noises when he plays. The end result was that neither Jeff nor I got much sleep.

My dad came over mid-morning on Saturday and stayed for a couple hours. Henry wasn't settling down, so I ended up trying to get him to nap in the back. Basically, Henry wanted to be in his crib, but he wasn't content with being there alone. He would yell (as though in pain) until I came to the edge of the crib, at which point he would smile and squeal. Then, once I knew he was OK, I'd try to lay down on the bed, but he'd yell again. I'd come over again, and he'd smile. I think that he's learning how to manipulate me.

Henry managed to roll over from back to front, while Jeff was watching him. Unfortunately, I was pumping while this milestone was occurring. Henry grabbed the leg of the bouncy seat to pull himself onto his stomach. Jeff weighed Henry at 14 lbs 5 ozs. At some point, we measured his length at 24.5 inches and his head circumference was 42 cm.

Henry ate and slept while Jeff watched the Wildcats game in the afternoon. I was out running errands. We went for a walk in the late afternoon, trying to get out before it got too cold. Henry had a good time as usual. Henry ended him evening with a bath, which he very much enjoys.

The other thing that was significant yesterday was that Henry's food intake was up. He ate 944 mls of milk. It isn't a record, but it has been a month since he's cracked the 900 ml mark. We decided to cut out the fortifier for a few days and see how it affects his weight gain and intake. We think that adding fortifier is actually making him intake less milk. Formula doesn't move through babies' systems as quickly as breast milk, and the nutrients in it don't get absorbed quite as well. We calculated his calorie intake. Yesterday, without fortifier, he actually exceeded (slightly) his average calorie intake from the past few weeks with fortifier.

Today, Henry weighed 14 lbs 6.5 ozs. Jeff told me that Henry rolled from back to front in his crib, while I was sleeping. Henry then proceeded to get upset, realizing that he was on this stomach. I took care of Henry for most of this morning, while Jeff helped my sister and brother-in-law move items to their new house. Henry had an active morning. We spent some time on the tummy time mat. We spent some time squealing at each other to see who could make the loudest squeal (Henry won). He ate quite a bit too. He took a short nap right before his dad got home. Presently, Jeff is feeding Henry while watching the Cardinals vs. Falcons game.

RECAP ON THIS WEEK'S EVENTS
* Henry rolled front-to-back and back-to-front.
* Henry is increasing his milk consumption.
* Henry is trying to hold his bottle by himself. When he doesn't hold his bottle, he grabs onto our hand that is holding the bottle and tries to push and pull our hand so that the bottle moves in and out of his mouth.

Synagis (Round 2)

Yesterday, we had a packed morning. Grandpa came in the morning. Then, Tara visited. We warned her ahead of time that Henry, Jeff, and I had colds, but she said that Henry was her last appointment before a couple weeks of vacation, so she'd chance getting sick. She wouldn't have taken the chance if she had other DDD kids to visit. Tara was very impressed with Henry. She said that Henry is the "most motivated" baby that she's ever worked with and that he has a lot of "want" in him. He looks like he wants to crawl (and walk for matter). He showed Tara how he can transfer objects from one hand to the other. He was fascinated by a red ring that he was holding and was staring at it and his hands during her visit.

Grammy came in the afternoon. I headed to school for a meeting with my TA for spring and also had to fill out some paper work. While I was gone, Henry was trying to hold the bottle on his own and apparently got annoyed at Grammy for holding onto it while he was. Jeff weighed him at 14 lbs 4.5 ozs.

Jeff and I took Henry for a walk before sundown. We ran into Swanee and Evonne. They got to admire Henry in his snowman suit.

It was a nice evening at home. Jeff went to Costco with my parents. Henry ate, played, ate, played, etc. I don't think that he went to bed until 11PM or so. I think that he's becoming a night owl. Jeff and I stayed up getting some things ready for Christmas.

This morning, we slept past the alarm and didn't get up until 7:40AM! This was a problem, because we had a Synagis appointment across town at 8:30AM. Somehow, we managed to make it across town by 8:35AM. The office staff was still setting things up for the day. The nurse weighed Henry at 14 lbs 6 ozs. Henry got his shot. He cried for about a minute. It is a more painful shot than the other ones. It contains quite a bit of fluid in comparison to typical vaccines.







On our way back home, we stopped by UMC to pick up some breast milk fortifier that Dr. Tsai had acquired for us and to drop off some holiday cards. We then swung by my work, so that I could grade a retake of an exam (long story). While I was there, I told Nancy, Ellen, and Carey (department staff) that Henry was down in the car with Jeff. So they went down stairs and got a peak at Henry through the window. It was fun being able to show him off. He really is adorable. Ellen said that seeing Henry made her holiday season.

We popped into Lovin' Spoonfuls (a vegan restaurant) for a quick breakfast. We felt safe going there, because it isn't crowded for breakfast. Except for one couple in a corner, we had the whole restaurant to our selves. Henry enjoyed looking at the lights and objects in the restaurant. I wish that we could take him out more. He really likes to observe new things, and I think that our living room is boring him.

When we got home, we changed his outfit and weighed him to see what the difference between the scales was. We weighed him at 14 lbs 5.5 ozs. Not much difference.

Grandpa just arrived. That's about it for now.

Henry Has a Cold

The past few days have been a bit of a blur.

Henry's Weight
Monday: 14 lbs 6.5 ozs
Tuesday: 14 lbs 6 ozs (doctor's office)
Wednesday: 14 lbs 6 ozs

Can't remember much about Monday day. On Monday night, we noticed that Henry was definitely coming down with a cold. He was very congested.

Henry woke up around 4AM. He was upset. In fact, while I was getting him a bottle, Jeff was watching him in his crib. Henry rolled over back to front and front to back, because he was so upset.

On Tuesday morning, I called the doctor's office. They said to bring him in. Dr. Bianchi listened to his chest. His lungs sounded OK. His ears were OK too. His pulse-ox was 93%. It's just a matter of monitoring Henry. Luckily, the cold that we have had doesn't have croup symptoms (never Jeff nor I have become hoarse). Fingers crossed. This will just be a congestion cold, and it hopefully won't travel into his lungs. Given that he is sick, we've decided to hold off on the flu booster until next week or the week after. Jeff called the secondary pulmonologist today about the Synagis shot scheduled for Friday; they said to bring him in, even if he has cold symptoms. Jeff took off Tuesday from work. I had to go into school Monday and Tuesday afternoons for a conference planning committee that I'm on. On Tuesday night, Grandma and Grandpa came over and brought dinner. Henry slept a good part of the time.

Today, I had a nice morning with Henry. Jeff fed him before taking the dogs on a walk. He woke me before he left. He said that Henry was sleepy. As soon as Jeff left the room, Henry started to make noises. I brought him to bed with me and propped him up on a pillow, which I figured would make him more comfortable because of his cold drainage. We ended up taking a nap together for over an hour.

Grandma had arrived while we were napping. She took care of Henry for a few hours once we got up. Grandpa came in the afternoon. He went on a mid-day walk with me, Henry, and the dogs. Henry got some good naps in during the day. This evening, Henry slept, watched basketball, and had a bath. He is still congested. The congestion is annoying him. At one point in the evening, Henry was eating/chewing on his bottle. I could swear that I heard him say something that sounded like "I love you" to Jeff.

Rolling Over

This weekend Henry has been trying to roll over from back to front. He gets his legs and hips turned over but the problem is getting the arm through. I'm sure he'll get it soon. Grandma has pointed out that once he gets turned over onto his stomach we should expect some crying, because we know he doesn't like being on his stomach for tummy time.

Yesterday morning, I was able to spend a significant amount of time with Henry. Kate was feeling sick and slept in, so it was just the boys. We had a great time. Kate came out to find Henry plopped over face first in my lap. She questioned why Henry was on his face? He had become very wiggly and so I let him sort of crawl around and reposition himself on my lap and he eventually ended up the way he was. I explained to her that he had to figure things out for himself. She laughed at my male parenting style.

I'm still sick at this point but getting better. Kate has felt like something was coming on a few times, but it hasn't blossomed into a full cold yet. Hopefully it won't. Henry has had some sneezing but nothing more yet. I really hope this one passes him by.

Yesterday evening and today, Henry visited his grandparents. I had to work in the morning and ran late, as usual, and so we didn't make it there until the afternoon. We were just in time to watch the Wildcats beat up on Fresno State and then see the Eagles beat the Cowboys. A good sports day.

Henry spends much of his time at his grandparents on their jungle mat. It has lights and music and animals he can grab and look at. He spends long stretches on it and really enjoys it. He seems to be becoming a bit more independent, wanting to spend time doing other things besides being held. At home, he is now spending more time on a mat we have rather than lying in his bassinet or wanting to be held. Guess we need to enjoy snuggle time with him before he outgrows it. I think we still have a while before that happens.

Today, he was 14lbs 7ozs. That is his best gain in a while. However, he didn't eat much at all today, so tomorrow is likely to not be so good. I think we are going to take him off the Polycose Powder that Dr. Hassan, his GI doctor, prescribed. It is a sugar that is supposed to help with regularity. We haven't seen any difference in his output, and we believe it might actually be causing him some discomfort.

We went for a walk with his grandma and grandpa tonight along with our dogs and their dogs. It was quite a gaggle, 4 adults, 1 baby in a stroller, and 4 dogs. I think we are going to start having to take him out earlier for his evening walk. He seems to want to take a nap around 5pm every day, which is his typical walk time. There was a beautiful sunset, which isn't uncommon here in AZ. We got a good picture of Kate and Henry.

This coming week he is due for a flu shot and Synagis shot. We might put off the flu shot if he comes down with the cold I have because the flu shot really wiped him out for a few days last time.