Eating and such...

Congratulations Henry! You've grown to like solid food! Henry has had a couple of days now of eating his rice cereal like a big boy without any terrible faces or shudders. I even made him seconds a couple of times! It took him two weeks, but he finally got it figured out. Now we venture into making solid food, and trying different tastes. We're very proud of him and we've entered a new phase. He even got it figured out in the midst of a cold and ear infection, which has left him stuffy and with lots of congestion, and a runny nose. It's hard to see him sick, but thankfully we think that he is on the upswing and seems to be in a better mood.

In other news, Henry and I have been hanging out and trying to beat the winter blues, all the while looking forward to spring and summer and some new activities. Lately, we've been taking walks at the mall, running errands, attending a lapsit program at the library, and playgroup. We can't wait for the snow to melt and the sun to shine. I have been keeping a mental list of fun things to do in the summer, and I really can't wait since Henry will be a little older and we can do some different things. Hurray for walks outside and swings and swimming!

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Valentine's Day

We had a wonderful Valentine's Day! Henry celebrated his six month birthday on Valentine's Day, and did so in style. His Grandma Barbara and Granddad Jay were here to help celebrate, and they happily babysat Henry while Gabe and I were able to go out to dinner and a movie. Quite a treat! Henry saved up a few new tricks to show the grandparents while they were here. He tried his first bites of rice cereal, which make him shudder and make funny faces. It's pretty cute to watch. He still doesn't think it is all that wonderful, so we'll move on to try some other foods. He does like rice puffs though - banana flavored, and he likes to lick bananas from Granddad! Henry also lunges forward a little bit on his tummy starting an army crawl, and he learned how to say "ba ba ba!" He's a talented little boy. We had his six month check up today and he is still a string bean, measuring 29 inches (98 %tile) and 15 pounds (20%tile).

Happy Six Months Henry! :)

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Under the Weather

We've all been feeling sick these past weeks here at the Brown house. Gabe and I have each had a nasty virus with high fevers and tons of symptoms that knocked us each out for a week (fortunately, different weeks - I don't know what we would have done if we had both been sick at the same time). Gabe's turned into pneumonia, and neither of us remember ever being this sick.

Henry fortunately has only had a little cough, but has been extremely fussy because of the appearance of ---- TEETH! He has two little teeth poking through on the bottom. They are really sharp and I feel bad for him, they must hurt as they move up through the gums. Poor little guy. We've tried lots of things to bring him relief, but what seems to work the best are wet washcloths for him to suck on. They are pretty cute and will be even cuter when he smiles when they are fully up. When he laughs or grins you can see them pretty well now. I'm enjoying those last days of goofy gummy grins. In other milestones, Henry is sitting up on his own really well now! It's been a big week for him. He sits and reaches for toys and reaches forwards. Each one of Henry's milestones are bittersweet for me; of course I am joyful that he is meeting his milestones, but each one brings the realization that he is growing up so fast and not such a little baby anymore. I know that growing up is what we want to happen, and it is a good thing, and if he weren't meeting his milestones, then we'd be worried. But it still always brings a little tear to my eye each time he grows up a bit. Sleeping through the night was a big one (of course I'm happy to have a full night's rest but it was hard to hear him cry at night as we were working on it), teething is a big one, and I've been worried about him turning six months for almost two months! We'll be starting solids next week, so I'm definitely excited about that, but that is another hard transition for me to face. I enjoy being his sole source of nutrition. I struggle with letting go of his babyhood, and probably always will struggle with letting him go. Even thinking about kindergarten makes me weapy already! Sheesh! Luckily Gabe is strong (and also surprised by my reaction, someting he says he was not expecting) so that helps.

Sitting up like a big boy

Trying to get a shot of little teeth

We've also experienced the weekend weather warm up that many other places in the country experienced - 50 degrees - Heat Wave! Gabe bundled Henry up as it was still windy and they went for a short walk around the block. It was nice to get some fresh air for them. Much of the snow melted, and Saturday at four o'clock in the morning, we woke up to not Henry, but a dripping light fixture in the bedroom. Gabe fixed the drip, and when we woke up the next morning, our ceiling paint had developed a HUGE bubble and leak! Which spread to another! Finally, the bubbles burst and the water was caught in a bucket, but we're left with hanging paint. At least it's a rental house.



Thankfully everyone is on the upswing now though, and we're looking forward to Grandma and Grandad coming to visit this week!

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Call the Discovery Channel....

....I officially have the dirtiest job.

Let me recount one afternoon adventure of our sweet, precious Henry. The following post contains graphic elements. I'll give you sufficient time and space to decide if you will continue reading or not.













Poop. Henry is a big poop. It all started with a normal dirty diaper change, some wipes and a clean tush. Ready for a new diaper Henry? Oh you're going to grab your toes? Such a cutie! That's when I heard it. The biggest toot in the world. A quick check to make sure no poop with that noise, all clear. Grab a diaper. Mom, you're not quick enough! Just as I reached for a clean diaper from the just filled diaper stacker, poop comes flying across the room. I mean FLYING! On my arm and hand. All over the changing cover, butt pad, soaking through onto the changing pad, on the changing table. On Henry's crib, bumper pads, crib sheet, soaking through the mattress pad and crib skirt. On the diaper stacker. On the diaper genie. Dripping on the floor. On the rug in front of the changing table. Lord Almighty. Everywhere I looked, I found more poop. Surprisingly, Henry was all clear! I quickly moved Henry to the blanket on the floor of his room. Of course, he started fussing and crying, who wouldn't? I changed clothes, took him down stairs and feed him, knowing he would need a nap, cringing as I left the disgusting mess Cry it out? No time! Put Henry down for a nap asleep downstairs and head back upstairs to deal with the mess.

Armed with clorox clean-up and wipes, resolve carpet cleaner, fabreeze, trashbags for dirty laundry and dirty wipes, paper towels, and regular towels I got down to business. Man alive. This called for the super heavy cycle on the washer, and not just baby detergent, but regular detergent as well. FInally, after a half an hour of wiping poop and eighteen trips to wash my hands, the room is back to normal, just awaiting clean laundry.

I love my son to death. I've even said that dirty diapers aren't that big of deal. But I've reconsidered my position on diapers. Luckily for Henry's sake, no expletives escaped. Although an "oh crap" or "holy shit" would have been appropriate. But quite a few strong HENRY THOMAS BROWN's were sent in his direction. Followed by "I love you but not your mess." Tomorrow's another day... but there's guaranteed to be more poop. Gabriel, you better come home quickly tonight and take care of Poopy Pants for awhile.

If you've read all the way to here, I commend you.

Who Me?

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Mom's Story

So we're a little behind on our new blog...life has been keeping us busy! We thought we take the time to get caught up a little bit.

Henry came into our lives after a long delivery with tears of joy and excitement over our baby boy. It is hard to believe that such a small bundle could bring so much love. It seemed like we could spend hours in the hospital just looking at and memorizing every minute detail. The surprise of finding out "we got a boy!" (as Gabe announced to family) made the wait all the worth while. Life would definitely never be the same, and thus far, it's been wonderful!

The past five and a half months have been busy ones. We made it through the first weeks of life with little sleep but lots of love. It almost seems like a blur now, looking back on it. The decision to stay home with Henry has been one of the best decisions that Gabe and I have made, as I wouldn't trade a minute of it for anything.

I could go on for pages about little Henry, but to spare you, I'll give some of the highlights: bringing Henry home from the hospital as a family of three, no longer two; Henry's Baptism; Henry's first smiles (three little ones right at me as I changed his diaper); holding a sweet sleeping infant; hearing his little laugh; watching him grow and change and reach his milestones; and discovering the immense love that comes with motherhood!

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Choosing a name

I don't know if it took us longer to choose a name for Henry or this blog. Anything involving "brown" or "family" or, really anything we could think of, was already registered at blogspot.com. Luckily children's names don't have to be unique.

We want to use this blog to communicate with friends and family who might be interested in our (read: Henry's) life. And I hope that it will help us record our thoughts and photos as Henry grows up in the years to come.

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