Henry's 5th Birthday!

Wednesday was Henry's 5th birthday! I cannot believe it's been five years since he was born. From so tiny to such a big little kid now. He has really taken to heart the whole idea of becoming a big kid and has grown in leaps and bounds in the last week simply by deciding he is now old enough to do certain things. Two of the most impressive things he is now doing is that he has decided to ride his pedal bike (no training wheels) and is doing so incredibly well;  and he has decided he does not need to wear Pull-Ups at night any more (also successful). He is so funny and smart and observant and I just love being with him. I am really going to miss having him around all day when he goes to Kindergarten all day next year.

On Wednesday we had family over for his birthday. He's also going to have a "kid's" party next week at Pump It Up. Since his birthday fell during Spring Break we decided to wait to have his friend party until after school was back in session so that hopefully all his friends can come. Of course he wanted a Star Wars themed party so I made him a Star Wars #5 shirt and Mom made his cake which we decorated with Star Wars figures.

On Wednesday morning Henry woke up to find the living room covered in number 5s and his big present from us waiting for him (a Bat Cave toy he's been wanting since Christmas!). Then his best buddy from school came over to play and have lunch with him. Finally that evening it was time for his party. He had a great day and is so lucky to have so many wonderful people in his life that love him so much!

Happy Birthday, Henry!

24 Weeks Old

Yay! The giggling video loaded. It's from last week though.

More big news - Nora got her second tooth! It poked through for sure on Monday but it actually may have come in a day or two earlier. Poor thing has been drooling, chewing on everything and had a stuffy nose for so long now. I hope that once these two come in she will get a break for awhile before the next ones come in. With the new teeth she's also developed a new skill - blowing raspberries which she does with a vigor, enthusiasm and frequency quite unrivaled by any other behavior. I like to imagine she's doing it as a commentary on what is happening around her. So, for example, when we walk into the bedroom and I tell her it's time to nap and she blows a raspberry, I imagine she's expressing her disapproval of my plan.

She's also sitting up extremely well on her own. She every now and then will arch her back and tumble over, but for the most part she's quite steady and able to sit for a long time. She can even reach and lean far over and grab toys and then sit her self back up.

Even with the teething she remains a cheery, happy, smiley, giggling baby. Henry is still the person that can make her laugh the most - including today she was laughing and laughing at him watching him on the swings at the park. He doesn't even have to be trying to entertain her and he does!

My pictures of her this week are sadly lacking...since it was Henry's birthday yesterday (which is also why I am a day late for this post), most of my pictures are of Henry. Stay tuned for a birthday post. Maybe later tonight...but probably tomorrow!

23 Weeks Old & First Tooth!

I have a cute video to upload but am having trouble with it...not sure if it's the website or what, but stay tuned, hopefully I'll figure it out.

 First tooth! So exciting! It poked through a little bit last night and then today it's been going up and down a bit but definitely up through the gum. I looked back at Henry's records and his first came in at 28 weeks (but he was born early, so adjusted it would have been almost the same age as Nora). Henry also got his second tooth within days of his first. So we shall see if she gets her second tooth soon as well. She's been drooling, chewing on things (her hands and her giraffe mostly) for the last month or so. Yesterday she would not sleep for longer than maybe 40 minutes at a time and was pretty fussy in the evening - which I attributed to the napping situation. But then the tooth showed up! After some Tylenol last night she slept really well overnight and has been pretty much back to her normal cheery self today.

She's sitting up better and better by herself. She just needs a pillow behind her (the Boppy works great for this) because she'll sometimes fling herself backwards. Also if she leans too far to either side she'll tumble over. This week we've tried to take advantage of any breaks in the rain we could and have been taking evening (and sometimes afternoon) walks. Henry has been playing outside a lot - digging around in the yard and exploring every inch of it. We took Nora outside and blew bubbles for her (see picture). At first she didn't even notice the bubbles, but once she did she really liked watching them. On Saturday we went to a St. Patrick's Day carnival - the kids both looked adorable in their green shirts and Henry had fun playing all the carnival games (although I think the most memorable part of the event was the cotton candy he got to eat...a rare treat for sure!).

22 Weeks Old

It's a video-polooza! Videos of her trying a breastmilk slushie, "talking" to Wilbur and sitting up.

And officially five months old! Amazing to me how quickly these 5 months have flown by. Nora is loving looking around at everything and trying to touch whatever she can. The other day we went on a walk in the evening and she just stared and stared at the evening sky. I think the light was perfect for her: bright enough to be interested in it but not too bright to hurt her eyes. She prefers to be in a sitting up position (has been like this for awhile) so that she can see and participate in the action. Still has not rolled over yet...well, she did one time but I think that was an accident and it hasn't been replicated. She is, however, sitting up unassisted for short periods of time. We also had her sit in her highchair for the first time this week. She's been so interested in what we are eating and drinking lately. That interest, coupled with her teething, made me finally make her a little breastmilk slushie. She didn't seem to enjoy it very much - not sure whether it was the temperature or the texture she didn't like. After it melted in the bowl a bit, she pulled the bowl towards her and I helped her drink it all from the bowl. It was so cute! Also made me remember to let her drink from an open cup more often. So since then I've been letting her practice drinking little sips of water from an open cup  and (after a few days of "spit backs") now she's doing fantastically. Another funny little thing she has started to do is "talk" to Wilbur. If I put her near Wilbur she will talk and talk to him...but it's not her regular babble, it's more of a scolding, sometimes even yelling at him. After listening to her yell at him this afternoon for at least 5 minutes I finally grabbed my camera. Of course she didn't do the same yelling, but I still captured a lot of her dog talk. 

Henry is continuing his acting and baseball classes and having a great time in both. His school is focusing a lot on St. Patrick's day and he comes home from school full of tales of what mischief the leprechauns have caused that day.  He is incredibly excited for his upcoming birthday and keeps trying to convince us to tell him what he is getting. He is so sweet with Nora and helpful to me. We had a few rough patches while he was adjusting to having a new little sister, but I think he has really blossomed in his new role as big brother. 

21 Weeks Old

 Closing in on 5 months old! The infant stage seems to be quickly leaving us as she is nearly fully transitioned into the baby stage. I was made keenly aware of that fact tonight as I was holding her in one arm and carrying a cup of hot tea in the other hand as she tried to grab the tea. She is so aware of her surroundings now. Her absolute favorite entertainment is watching Henry or Wilbur - and if they are both playing together she will laugh and squeal her delight. She's also very intrigued with watching her own hands. It's hilarious to watch her watch her hands and clasp them together, spread her fingers apart and then inevitably put them into her mouth!

 I realized that I never posted about her check-up after we went in last. She weighed in at 15 pounds, 8 ounces and a height (length?) of 27 inches. That put her in the 66th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for height. It was kind of surprising to me to hear how tall she is because I don't look at her and think she is particularly long, but I guess she is. What a change from Henry! Poor guy could hardly maintain his own curve in weight while Nora is jumping up higher and higher in the percentiles with every check-up! She also got two more vaccines (repeats of the very first round she had). She'll go in again in about 5 weeks for her 6 month check up and get her 4th round of shots which will be a repeat of the second round she did (2 vaccines).  Then I will continue to have to take her in every other month or so for more to catch her up. Just like Henry she will eventually have all her vaccines, just not as early as children who follow the standard schedule.

As this picture shows, she is getting better at sitting up, but still not able to do so unassisted. She reminds me of a queen surrounded by her royal cushions in this picture. Can you guess what is making her smile? Henry, of course!

She's definitely not ready for solids yet - she barely tolerates water in her mouth. She just thrusts it right back out...which is actually pretty funny and I keep giving her little bits on a spoon just to see her do it. But, even if she was swallowing it, I'm still set on waiting until 6 months before starting. We are going to make some breast milk slushies for her though! Hopefully that will help ease any discomfort of teething and let her get some more practice with a spoon and a new texture.

The pictures of Henry are from his baseball class. The blurry picture is of him just nailing a hit - it definitely would have been a home run had it not been a whiffle ball. I so wish it was in focus - it was an amazing hit! The other shot is of him on first base (they all advance one base per hit) - you can just see how proud he is of himself in his expression.