On The Move!!

I keep putting off posting anything because I've been intending to make a little movie of all Henry's latest accomplishments, but the longer I wait the more things I have to add to the list! So, here's a quick little update.
Henry is 8 and a half months old and continues to amaze us with how happy he is. Praise the Lord for that attitude, I sure hope it continues and that it rubs off on mom and dad! He's really good at keeping himself entertained, I enjoy watching him talk and play. He sure doesn't like to be woken up from naps though, and he will gladly let you know if he hasn't had enough rest!

He's been eating like a champ and really seems to look forward to it.. we call that his "Conrad" side ;) . He's had all sorts of baby food plus whole green beans, cottage cheese (I just found out from the pediatrician that I started him on dairy a few weeks too early, but thankfully he seems to be tolerating it fine) cheerios, cheese puffs..

Last month he got his first teeth, I think it almost made me a little sad because he sure doesn't look like a little baby any more. It also made me sad because I think that was the start of our sleeping troubles at night! At first I blamed the teeth, then he had a cold, then I thought my milk production was low, then another cold, now he's just broken through some more teeth on the top.. So, that makes for about 2 months of broken sleep. He seems to be doing ok during the day though, so other than me missing those 10 hour stretches at night, it's not the end of the world.

He's crawling all over the place and is now starting to get a little more adventurous around the house. This week he's even started pulling himself up to standing. Time to lower the crib again, I saw him pull up in there today. 

Last weekend Chad and I made our first official "Pumpkin Patch" visit, thanks to Lindsey for getting us all there! We managed to make it out of there without an actual pumpkin, but did get a few photos.. 

Hmmm.. I guess that wasn't particularly "quick".  Oh well!

Slow Down, Little Buddy!

 So, I hear this phrase all the time as Henry plays with one of his latest favorite toys. He seems like such a big boy sitting there playing with his little car.. "slow down, little buddy" it says, and I so agree! These past few weeks have been packed full of changes. I think that in the first few months babies may do the most "growing" but the past few weeks may have seen the most changes in "development", at least that's how it seems to me.  At 7 months, he's trying to crawl, much more "vocal", got his FIRST TOOTH a few days ago, loving solid foods, balancing himself sitting up, and was caught in the sitting position after being left laying down, so although I haven't witnessed him pulling him self up to sit, I guess he can do it.  We continue to be thankful for how happy and content he seems to be most of the time. I am so anxious to see his little personality unfold and pray every day that God guides us and gives us wisdom as parents to do the best we can to raise him to be a godly man.

                     

We had a great time at the river a few weeks ago with some friends from church, I think we had 10 little boys out there and ONE sweet little girl (ok, one and a half if you count Lorelei). 

6 Months.. What happened to my little baby???

It seems like we are constantly trying new things around here.. a few weeks ago Henry was just learning to sit up, now he's eating, using a sippy cup, sitting up in the grocery cart and just plain seeming all grown up!  At his six month check up today he weighed in at 16 lb 3 oz (29%) and was 26 inches long (50%). I'm guessing his weight has slowed down because he continues to spit up what seems like half of everything he eats! Maybe this will improve some as he starts taking more solids.

I have kind of been dreading the "solid foods" stage for some reason, but at the same time was excited to see how he would react to it. It's just been so convenient to travel with all the food we need for him "on board". But, as we approached six months and he continued to just not be satisfied with only milk, I figured we'd give it a go. He was a little unsure at first, but has gotten used to it and does pretty well. For the time being I'm actually enjoying his little meal times and it seems like he gets better and better at it every time. We've tried a bit of water in a sippy cup and he's still not so sure about that, but he's certainly cute holding it and chewing on it. He sort of grimaces whenever the water comes out. Chad says when he takes a bottle he always grabs it and opens his mouth as wide as possible and tries to cram it in sideways, which is kind of what he does with the cup. 

love that sweet face!

Such a big boy!

Although he's not "crawling" yet, he certainly is never in the same place that I leave him in his crib, so he's sure got methods of traveling around.  There is a little toy hanging from his swing that I always thought was sort of stupid because I didn't think he could even see it and it doesn't move or anything, but the other day I saw him actually arched up with both hands way above his head trying to grab it. Go figure.

Salt Springs Reunion

A few weekends ago we had our annual "Salt Springs Reunion". This is an annual getting together of my mom's side of the family (my aunts, uncles and cousins) and although we call it "salt springs" we actually stay on Lake Kerr, across the street from the Spring and usually just hang out at the lake and pool the whole time. We had a good time again this year and Henry enjoyed some more pool time and visiting with all of his little cousins. 

not so sure about this thing!

Steven, cooking us some delicious BBQ!

Now he's overseeing while his brother and my dad do the dirty work of chopping it up..

Cousin Faye and Essie, possibly with some newly painted nails :)

My brother and I, discussing something very important I'm sure.

Addy and her daddy

This is a very dangerous thing to do with our baby who constantly spits up!

Henry and Papa

The family, eating and celebrating Uncle George's 75th Bday. There were 50 of us!