Housekeeping items

Just have to mention a few non-Disneyland-and-Christmas items here:

Henri can now sit up by himself. Just all of a sudden, one day, went from wobbly drunken sailor to full-on sitting up independently. He'll still topple when he gets excited or tired, but he is digging the new realms of play he can engage in.

He had his 6 month check-up on Friday and looks great! He is just under 27 inches long and is 17 pounds, 7.3 ounces. Dr. Unger is pleased with his development and says we are doing a great job with him. The only thing I'm worried about: Henri is still waking up every two or three hours in the night. Honestly, it hasn't really bothered me, I've gotten used to it. But now that his teeth will be coming in soon, he shouldn't be nursing all night long, as it can cause tooth decay. Dr. Unger knows of this concern, and I think that is part of the reason why

he has proscribed Henri a combination vitamin D, iron, fluoride supplement. He also encouraged me to start getting Henri to sleep without his favorite nursing-bouncing package deal. I've been able to get him down when he's still just drowsy, so hopefully we can move forward from there. The tricky part is going to be getting him to accept other forms of soothing during the night when he wakes up crying. Good luck to me!

Okay, I lied, I do have ONE Christmas item - Henri's first Santa picture! Note the tongue - it's his new favorite way to smile. It originated in Disneyland and has become his signature.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

WOW, where has the last month gone? I knew starting a blog was just setting myself up for failure. Can I plead holiday season insanity, pretty please?

It would take a couple hours at least for me to write in detail about the happenings of these past several weeks, so I think I'm going to have to condense things a bit. I could probably even sum it up in one word if I had to: DISNEYLAND! Yes, Nathan, Henri, my mom and I spent Thanksgiving in the Happiest Place on Earth!

Henri did great on the flight down - well, make that flightS, plural, since we flew from Eugene to San Francisco to Orange County. He only fussed a couple of times, but it was more from exhaustion than anything else (we had to get up at 5:00 AM - what a way to start a vacation, am I right?) We went to the park pretty much right away, since we couldn't check into the Worldmark condo until late in the afternoon/early in the evening.

At first, it seemed like Henri wasn't too sure what to make of Disneyland - so many sights, sounds, smells...His first ride was the Jungle Cruise, which he took in with wide eyes and a look of awe. After a few days, we started to fall into a pretty good routine. We'd get to the park by early afternoon and stay until almost closing time (Henri is a good little night owl, thanks to Nathan's graveyard schedule). Every couple of hours, when Henri would need to nurse, we'd make our way over to the child care center at the end of Main Street, U.S.A (the end closest to the castle). It became our home away from home, even though I got more comfortable nursing him in public - with the help of my cover - as the week went on.

H spent some time in the stroller, but by far his favorite way to see the park was from the view of his front pack. Nathan carried him most of the time, and Mom or I pushed the stroller - which pretty much became the pack horse for our bags and camera cases.

If I'm remembering correctly, Henri went on the following rides:

• Jungle Cruise
• Carousel
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Haunted Mansion
• Winnie the Pooh
• Disneyland Railroad
• Monorail
• Peter Pan
• Snow White
• Pinocchio
• Dumbo
• Tea Cups
• Alice in Wonderland

We also visited Santa at the Big Thunder Ranch, went to the Tiki Room and met several Disney characters - among them, Rapunzel and Flynn Rider, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale and Mary Poppins. Ultimately, I would have to say that meeting Mary Poppins was the highlight of the trip for Henri. He took one look at her, held her hand, and fell in love. Seriously, he just lit up and couldn't stop smiling!

The whole trip was one I will never forget. I thought I'd seen everything there was to see in Disneyland, but there's something about being there with a child (no matter the age) that makes you see things differently. For one thing, I came to appreciate just how geared toward children the whole experience is. For another, having to slow down made me notice things I'd never seen before. I came to love just walking around the park, soaking in the ambiance.

Since we've been home, we've been getting ready for Henri's first Christmas. I'm a firm believer in not getting ready for Christmas too soon (ie: not before Thanksgiving), but these past couple of weeks have been a blur, and I'm staring at the calender in disbelief, unable to grasp that Christmas is LESS THAN TWO WEEKS AWAY! When did that happen?! I have to take a deep breath and calm myself - the tree is up and decorated, lights are on the house, all but one gift has been purchased...we're going to be fine. Just keep repeating that: we are going to be fine.

Coming up: Zoo Lights! Based on how much more Henri liked D'Land by night, all decorated for Christmas, Zoo Lights is sure to be a hit!

I don't yet have the Disneyland photos on my laptop (slacker), but here are some links to the albums on Facebook. My mom also has three albums up, which I will link to if I can.

Album 1

Album 2

Album 3

fun with feet

Henri discovered his feet awhile ago, but has just recently become full-on obsessed. He's also figured out how much fun it is to ham it up for the camera. He was sick over the weekend, but is feeling better today, so we decided to bust out the camera and take some silly pictures. Enjoy!

My five month old!

Just had to share these adorable pics I snapped on my phone over the weekend. I love waking up to a happy, smiling baby!

(PS: yes, that is a turkey on his bum - he is wearing his Thanksgiving sleeper now, since he probably won't fit into it in a couple of weeks.)

Happy Halloween!

I may talk big, but I'm really a wuss

...and I'm starting to get annoyed at myself. Yesterday at church I encountered one of those people who has the magical, uncanny ability to know everything about a mother and her baby at first sight. Do I sound sarcastic? Good, I meant to. I had steeled myself against such people during my pregnancy and the early weeks of my son's life, having heard other new moms' accounts of over-eager "helpers" overstepping their bounds. I didn't have any truly cringe-worthy experiences (maybe, if I can be allowed a momentary lapse of modesty here, it's because Henri's so wonderful and I'm so well-read that there's really nothing to criticize) so I let my guard down. As my younger brother in-law used to say while "teaching" me to play chess, BIG MISTAKE.

During sacrament meeting yesterday, Henri made it clear that he was in a "bounce me, rock me, whatever you do don't stand still" mood. Nathan had rolled his ankle on our way out the door that morning, so I wanted him to take a load off. I took Henri to the back of the chapel and stood with him in my arms, bouncing and rocking and snuggling. He did okay for a few minutes, but eventually got bored looking around at all the same things. So I took him into the foyer to look at all the pictures of Jesus. He liked that a lot and I eventually sat down in a cushy chair out there to give my back a break. That's when I was accosted (I mean, almost CORNERED) by a gal with a concerned look on her face. She came up to me and asked, "Are you doing okay?" I answered "Yes, I'm just tired," with a polite but confused expression - Henri wasn't screaming and I wasn't aware of having looked troubled or anything.

"Oh," she replied with understanding sympathy in her voice, "is he keeping you up late at night?" Again, I was mildly confused. Um, he's a BABY. Yes, he gets me up at night. That's kind of what babies do, lady.

"Not an abnormal amount," I answered, just a touch defensively. "He's started being a little restless at night, but nothing crazy."

At this point, the lady held out her arms and asked if she could hold him. It flashed through my head to say no - but I was a little grateful to give my arms a break and, to be quite honest, I didn't want to get tagged as the B*tchy New Girl in the ward. Uncertainly, I handed Henri over. Presumptuous Lady then informed me that she is some kind of herbal healer specialist extravaganza (big whoop). I blinked, and it dawned on me what was about to happen. If I'd had any sense, I would have snatched Henri back right then and lied about having to go to the bathroom or something. PL went on to massage Henri's tummy and inform me that he had "hidden gas bubbles" in his tummy and asked, "What kind of formula do you feed him?"

I hope she felt the temperature around her drop several degrees because I said tersely, "I don't."

"Oh you breastfeed?"

"Yes." (No, he drinks soda out of a can and goes through a bag of chips a day - what do you think I feed him, you idiot?)

"Well, do you eat a lot of chocolate? That will bother babies' tummies." (Temperature drops another degree.)

"Not an unreasonable amount of chocolate, no."

"How about lettuce? Do you eat a lot of lettuce?" (I'm sorry, did I make an appointment with you?!)

"I try to eat a salad once in awhile." At this point, she nodded condescendingly.

"Ah, yes, lettuce can make babies very gassy." (What about you, you windbag, what's your excuse?)

Throughout the Inquisition, she has continued to massage Henri's belly and do little baby sit-ups with him - presumably to help him with his "hidden gas bubbles." He was getting really annoyed with this and started to fuss. That's when my good manners crumbled. "Here," I said shortly, "I'll take him." I picked him up and resumed our bounce-and-rock routine and he immediately quieted. I then got treated to another mini-lecture on how to properly brew a rosemary tea to help keep sickness at bay and when to - and to not - take Echinacea. I was pretty much numb with disbelief and irritation at this point, so I can't really tell you what exactly was said, or how I managed to escape, but it looks like I'm going to have to dust off my new mom armor and figure out how to be both firm and polite when I say, "You don't know me or my baby, so shut the eff up."

Documenting the firsts

Proof that these things did in fact occur! We had a great rice cereal feeding last night - he really seemed to enjoy it and totally got how he needed to use his mouth in order to eat it. This morning....not quite as on board. Oh well, we're working on it!

A couple of firsts!

See? I should *not* have started a blog! I have zero time and a very demanding baby, what the heck was I thinking?

I just have to mention Henri's new adventures that took place over the weekend. He had his first rice cereal and sat in a high chair for the first time!

He seemed to enjoy the rice cereal - he certainly didn't hate it - but merely tolerated the high chair. We're working on getting him stronger so that he will sit on his own soon, as that will really accelerate progress with his little flat spot. In addition to his range of motion stretches, we are now doing playtime using the Boppy as a stabilizing pillow and trying to convince him that his Bumbo is not a terrible idea. Sometimes he buys into it - sometimes he doesn't.

I'm starting to get a little worn out by the high level of neediness here. Being carried in the front pack is still Henri's favorite thing in the world and now that he weighs over 15 pounds, it's really starting to take a toll on me physically. Not to mention, I am really limited in the kinds and number of chores I can get done with a wiggly (and grabby!) baby attached to me. *sigh* It's a good thing he's so cute

The Hanks!

Had to share this picture of Henri and Grandpa Henri! We took little H tailgating for the first time this past Saturday (Oregon v. Arizona State) and even though it was colder than we had anticipated (and Mom was a dummy and forgot to pack a hat), we bundled the little bear cub up and had a great time anyway!

*head smack* D'OH!

I totally forgot to write about Henri's four month check up last week! We have been so incredibly busy here that it completely slipped my mind...better late than never, I suppose!

Bear Cub weighed in at 14 pounds, 11 oz (50th percentile) and measured 25.2 inches long (70th percentile) - confirming my suspicions that he has indeed been going through a growth spurt! In less than a month, he gained 20 ounces and 1.2 inches! No wonder he's been tired, cranky and ravenous!

Dr. Unger says that Lil H is looking good. Some of his motor skills - passing a toy from one hand to another, rolling over three times in a row, taking his pacifier out of his mouth and putting it back in again - are more consistent with a six month old's development! He remarked that Henri's head is even looking a little better than the last time he saw it - certainly, it's no worse. Whew. I thought it was looking a little better myself, but I was super anxious to hear a pediatrician's opinion. We go to Henri's next physical therapy appointment a week from today and I am praying that they will see an improvement, too. H has been a little stinker about his stretches lately, and he's learned that rolling is an easy way to get out of tummy time. So I've had to resort to carrying him around in the front pack to keep his weight off the back of his head. But on the bright side, he's become an absolute pro at holding his head up as a result of going in the carrier and it gives my arms a little break. Plus, his range of motion (torticolis) has improved, making it easier to get him to sleep with his head turned to the right. Baby steps, I guess - but patience has never been my strong point!

Because it's been too long since I posted pictures!

My baby is smarter than me, it seems

There are times when it just forcefully hits me that Heavenly Father sent me this particular baby for a reason. Sometimes I look at my friends who have babies about the same age (it's been a freakin' baby boom among my peers lately!) and think "Why didn't *they* get 'blessed' with a high-need baby?" Well maybe they don't have as much to learn about patience and humility as I do, haha.

I think (think) I may have figured out a way to get Henri to sleep earlier at night. The magic formula the past couple of nights has seemed to revolve around me rocking Henri to sleep to the tune of some primary songs, then putting him to bed and going to bed at the same time. I think he's got a little separation anxiety going on and it scares him when he wakes up in a room alone. Then he's too distraught to go back to sleep, even when he's been soothed. Gotta say, I appreciate *having* to go to sleep. If he didn't have this, shall we say, quirk, I would be all too tempted to stay up and "get some things done." But Henri, bless his little heart, seems to know that Mommy needs sleep, too! Thank you Henri, let's make the next accomplishment napping during the day. THEN Mommy can *actually* get some things done.

Moving target

Check out a sampling of Henri's three month photo shoot! I wish he'd been smilier, but he happens to be very serious when it comes to posing!

http://nine29photography.com/WordPress/?p=2250

(and since I didn't have a blog when he was born, here are his newborn photos!

http://nine29photography.com/WordPress/?p=1630)

The past couple of nights have been just spectacularly difficult. Like scream-into-a-pillow difficult. Just when I thought I was getting the hang of nighttime parenting...just when I thought Henri and I were getting into a routine...WHAM-O! The target moves again, the game plan changes. I honestly don't want to dwell on them too much because I'm hoping they are anomalies - something to do with a growth spurt or some other developmental change - not part of a new trend. Besides, just when I think it can't get any worse, the little dumpling smiles at me and what can I do but smile back?

Just for kicks...

Baby Nathan and Baby me! I would say Little H is about as perfect a blend as one could expect! Nathan's chin and expressions - my features and, well, opinions :)

Yummy fingers!

Just wanted to share this cute pic I took tonight while Henri and I were putting away laundry. He's such a good helper, haha!

Poop

I have to say, odd as this may seem, I just love it when Henri poops. It may be stinky, require immediate clean-up and occasionally ruin a onesie, but I don't mind those things at all. Little H went through a stage where he was only having a poop every other day - sometimes even less frequently - and he would get pretty miserable. This morning, he had two within 30 minutes of each other and was over the moon about it. I'd rather have a stinky, happy baby than one who is clean and grumpy any day of the week!

Baptism by fire

During the past 24 hours, I have had to repeatedly list to myself all the things I love about my son. I know that may sound horrible, but having a high-need baby can really put one through the ringer. Here's just a small sampling of Henri's, for lack of a better word, "preferences."

• He loves to be held facing the world - his back to my tummy. Unless he's a nanosecond from falling asleep, he will throw a holy fit if you try to hold him any other way. This can make burping him after a meal extremely difficult and getting him to sleep at night nothing short of a full-body workout. Oh and did I mention you have to stay on the move? Swaying in place doesn't count.
  
• It's next to impossible to get him to turn his head to his right while he's lying down. We think this is because of how he was squished in utero, but outside the womb, it's resulting in a flat spot on the left side of his head, behind his ear. The physical therapist gave us all kinds of stretches to do but, well, Henri is not a fan. As I'm sure you can imagine.
• Tummy time is only acceptable in the mornings. It gets less and less fun as the day goes on.
• Car rides are okay as long as someone (*cough* me) is keeping up a running conversation or reading aloud to everyone in the car and the car is moving.

Sometimes it's easy to look at these as fun little quirks. And at least they are part of what make my baby unique. I guess Nathan was quite the particular little thing, too - apples and trees, am I right?

So onto the list of things I just adore about my little bear cub.

• He loves baths, especially when he takes them with me. There is just nothing better in Henri's world than splashing around in the tub.
• He's learned how to put his lips together and blow bubbles with a really good "mmmbbbbbbbbbppppppppz" sound. He heard me doing it last week and picked it up in no time.
• He smiles at the ceiling fans. He thinks they're silly 'cause all they do is go round and round.
• He gets really excited when we're playing on the floor and one of the cats walks up. He stares with his mouth open in a little round "o."
• He is a morning person *and* a night owl. He will NOT go to bed before Nathan leaves for work, which means we like to sleep in. But when we do wake up in the morning, he is a little ray of sunshine, all smiles and exuberant squeals.

I'm sure I could go on and on, but I achieved a miracle tonight and got the little grizzly to sleep before 11:00, so I'm off to catch some shut-eye while I still can!

Meet Henri

I was starting to feel like a terrible mother. Just about everyone I know who has children has some kind of blog devoted to them. I, on the other hand, have a blog devoted to my equestrian exploits - and I can't even keep that up to date! So I've decided to give this mommy-blogging thing a shot. I have been terrible at keeping a journal since Henri has been born (honestly, who has *time* to sit down and write when there's a needy little one calling your name?), so this is going to be a stretch, but hey, worth a shot!

So for starters, meet my son Henri. Henri was born at 3:45 in the morning on Sunday, June 5, 2011. He weighed in at 7 pounds, 8.4 ounces and measured 20 inches long. My labor was very quick and relatively painless, thanks to an expertly administered epidural. I had wanted a wholly natural birth but thanks to my little man's timing, we had to make a change in the game plan. This has become Henri's trademark - calling an audible just when you think you have something figured out.

Henri first thought about meeting the world when I was 34 weeks along. Some medication and modified bed rest stopped my pre-term labor, but it didn't stop the little guy from keeping me on my toes. I ended up dealing with prodromal labor - basically, I was in mild labor for about two weeks. Near then end, I was struggling. I was nearly fully effaced, about 3 cm dilated and I had *had it* with being pregnant. When the contractions started in again on Saturday afternoon, I called my husband, grabbed the bags and said "We're going." At the hospital, they hooked me up to the monitor and watched me for a little while and, you guessed it, no progression again. This was my third time in triage and I really didn't want to have to go home again. With tears in my eyes, I told the nurse I wanted to stay and have this baby. My doctor was still advising against inducing me. A wise move, but at the time, I was livid. Fortunately, the triage nurse had a trick up her sleeve. She still sent me home, but with 8 milligrams of morphine in my system. She told me that after a couple weeks of this on-again, off-again labor, my body was probably just exhausted and that was preventing the labor from progressing. Sure enough, once we got home, I took three hour nap/out-of-body experience. I woke up having contractions, just as the nurse promised, and at around 12:30 am my water broke and we were off to the hospital. I was so excited to be finally under way that I didn't fully realize that this was when things would get really painful. During our birthing class, we were told to expect labor to take awhile. I was prepared for a long-drawn out process, but of course, my body had already been doing that for some time. Cut to me dilating at a torrid pace and saying through gritted teeth to throw out the birthing plan and "get the epidural to me NOW!"

Looking back on it, that was the best thing I could have done for myself. I'd kind of felt like having an epidural would be "cheating" or copping out - and I didn't want to slow down my labor too much. Of course I hadn't counted on going from zero to sixty in the blink of an eye. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that what was important to me was to be able to keep my head screwed on straight and remember all the details of my son's birth. Considering the blinding pain I was in (that had come from out of nowhere), I opted for some help. And I have to say, I may not have had an epidural before, but the one I got was superb. It was nothing like I had feared. It didn't stall my labor, I could still feel and move my feet and I was able to push Henri out by myself. The hardest part was sitting still for the darn thing while off-the-chart contractions were tearing through my body.

Wow, reading all that back, I may have gone into some detail there that no one really needed to know, didn't I? Oh well. That's one thing I'm realizing about this new chapter in my life - no shame and a different idea of what constitutes "too much information."

So here we are now, fifteen weeks later. Henri weighs a little over 13.5 pounds and is 24 inches long. He can sit propped against my lap, blow bubbles and pass his pacifier (or "Mute Button") from one hand to another. He loves to take baths, ham for the camera and be carried around the house like the little prince he is. He is learning to tolerate the Moby wrap and tummy time and occasionally likes to sit in his bouncy seat and watch me unload the dishwasher. He is definitely a high-need baby with a mind of his own and a list of particulars a mile long but we love him more than life itself and are so glad our Heavenly Father chose us to raise one of His precious sons.