eight months

HOW?? How is he eight months old already? For some reason eight months feels like a major milestone. It did with Henry, too. Maybe it's because of the feeling that we're on the cusp of some big changes: crawling, teeth, new car seat, and finger foods just to name a few. I just want to savor it. Savor every second. But then I also look forward to the next stage and feel badly for wishing time away. It's true what they say, I guess. The days are long but the years are short. Here's what's happening with baby Warren:

• TEETH. His top two teeth and bottom two teeth are all about ready to pop through. It seems like the top ones might be first. And they look to be huge and far apart, which is completely adorable, if you ask me. Up until now, he really hasn't been too difficult with the teething thing. But he's also not drooling much at all so maybe we're farther away than I think.
• EYES. It's settled. He's got Daddy's eyes. A beautiful mixture of green, brown, and flecks of gold and blue. Did I mention beautiful? Beautiful! This is probably the most frequent comment we get from strangers with both the kids. "Oh, they both have such big eyes!" (Is it ok to go on and on about how beautiful you think your own kids are? I'm going to. :) )
• FOOD. We recently realized that Warren's baby oatmeal was causing him some constipation issues so we pulled him all the way off that, increased the breast milk, and still give him fruit in the morning and vegetables in the evening. Dameon gave me a VitaMix a few months ago and it is awesome for making baby food. So much better than the Baby Bullet I used for Henry. He seems to like any kind of puree so far. He's tried banana, pear, apple, avocado, butternut squash, sweet potato, carrot, broccoli, and the Gerber puffs (which he's not quite ready for yet).
• BROTHER. Oh, how Warren loves Henry. The way he watches him is just the most precious thing. Like his wheels are just turning thinking how he can't wait to follow Henry around and copy everything he does. And the feeling is incredibly mutual. Henry checks in on Warren, wants to know what he's doing, wants to show off for him, wants to give him hugs, and has recently discovered his ability to make Warren laugh. Seeing them interact as brothers is so amazing!
• PUPPY. Warren is really noticing Rufus more lately. He likes to grab his ears or his tail, which Rufus doesn't mind at all. I guess he figures he'll take any attention he can get.
• SLEEP. I don't want to jinx it, but he has been sleeping so well for the past five nights in a row. Prior to this five-night streak, he hadn't been spending much time in his crib because he would wake up within five minutes of laying him down pretty much every time. But now he is sleeping all night in his crib and only waking up once to eat. WOO!! He goes to bed around 8:00 and gets up for the day around 7 or 8. I hesitate to brag about Warren's sleeping because I know I have some sleep-deprived friends out there whose babies don't sleep. But I paid my dues with Henry, so it's only fair that my second baby sleep, right?? And, Warren is NOT a good napper, so it all evens out I think :)
• DIAPERS. Turns out cloth diapers are far less novel the second time around. Shoot. They are stretched out, leaky and stinky, so I don't use them nearly as much as I should. Warren wears cloth about 30% of the time and paper the rest of the time. He's in size 4.
• CRAWLING AND SITTING. He is definitely a sitter now. He tips sometimes but we trust him to be left alone for a few minutes at a time. As for crawling, he tolerates being on his tummy a little better now. Once in awhile he gets his knees under him a little and he can scoot backward sort of inadvertently. 
• BINKY. This boy loves his binky. End of story.
• TALKING. So far, he's a man of few words. He doesn't babble too much, so I'm not sure if that's an indicator that he'll be less verbal than Henry or not. I guess time will tell. It's probably going to be hard for him to get a word in edgewise anyway.
• PERSONALITY. Happy and content. That pretty much sums up Warren. Oh, and super smiley. He always has been! He smiles so big that his shoulders touch his ears :)

still spinning

If you're a parent, then you've probably been asked around the time of your child's birthday or Christmas the obvious question: What's he into right now?
For Henry, that's a difficult question to answer. The answer isn't as simple as dinosaurs, trucks, or trains. The answer has to be accompanied by a rather detailed explanation. About this time last year it was all about angels. From sun up to sun down he was talking about, singing about, and playing with angels. Currently his life (and ours) revolves around flags. Yep, flags.
It all began back in August when we went to the premiere performance of the Husky Marching Band on the lawn of the courthouse. I parked the double stroller right in front of the color guard kids, thinking that would be the most entertaining part for Henry. I had no idea that colorful fabric flying about in the wind would steal my little boy's heart. Soon after, he found my Swiffer duster and started using it as a flag. That original model seems like a distant memory compared to the array of flags we have since acquired. Step 2 was to attach a piece of tissue paper to the Swiffer with scotch tape, but that turned out to be far to flimsy for Henry's choreography so we graduated to a handkerchief attached with packing tape. And outdoor performances in our front yard.
By this time, marching band season was in full swing and we attended our first half-time show of the year. It didn't take long for Henry to realize his flag was nothing compared to the real thing, so Dameon proposed he bring home a real flag from work for Henry to have as his very own. Oh happy day! Henry started spinning and still hasn't stopped. And we learned he is actually kinda good at it. Our living room was transformed into a field and we've all had to endure our share of knocks upside the head. Even poor Warren got left alone near the field for a minute and ended up with a scuff mark across his forehead.
The first weekend of October I took the two boys to the Urbandale Marching Band contest. Henry absolutely loved it and the flag obsession was here to stay. We started watching the video of the show in our living room/field and he quickly memorized the routine. Plus he started requiring an audience and every time we sat down to watch he would say, "Have you been here already today?" and "Did you find a special spot to watch the flags?" Oh, and the obligatory "Clap! Clap for me!" But the real pinnacle came the following weekend when Aunt Suey and Uncle Jim came to town. They took Henry to the football game, experienced the flag obsession first-hand, and before they left Suey promised Henry special customized flags which would be delivered the next morning and the Valleyfest competition. And you better believe she did NOT disappoint. I'm pretty sure she didn't sleep that night, as she showed up with three flags, which coordinated with the official Husky Marching Band flags. Henry was completely thrilled. For the past three weeks, he has been spinning his flags and doing his routine. In fact, his favorite flag is completely frayed from all the spinning. He sets his flags before his performance, changes color at the appropriate times, marches off the field with all flags cradled in his arms, and has started referring to himself in the third person... as THE PERFORMER.
The color guard kids were even gracious enough to invite us to their end of the year party last week and they performed just for Henry. I'm quite certain it was the highlight of his life!

seven months

Baby Warren is officially closer to his first birthday than he is to his birth-day. Crazy! I can't believe how time can go even faster the second time around. He is sporting a super cute tuft of hair right on top of his head now, after months of baldness. It's funny to think about how Henry was already in desperate need of a trim at that age. I predict Warren won't need a trim until about age 3. :)  Here are some other Warren facts:

• No teeth yet but I wonder if he's getting close. He likes to gnaw on his binky and he's been a little cranky lately.
• Eats solids twice a day. Usually rice cereal or oatmeal and a fruit or vegetable. So far he has tried apples, sweet potatoes, pears, bananas, avocado, and carrots.
• Enjoys his binky more than ever. I hope I don't look back at this post someday and think, "That was the turning point! I should have taken it away then!"
• Has started to show his first signs of fear. The other day Dameon was holding him and hollered at a friend who was walking by. Warren just cried and cried over that loud noise! Then I was pushing him in the shopping cart and we hit a bump. He looked at me and his bottom lip popped out but luckily he didn't cry that time.
• Smiles all the time. And not just with his face. His whole self smiles! It's hard to describe, but it's so so cute.
• Sleeps from about 7:30 or 8 to about 6:30 or 7, waking up to eat a few times in there. His naps are pretty sporadic throughout the day but typically he naps twice.
• Sits up but still can't be trusted to not make a sudden movement and topple over.
• Loves to watch Daddy throw a ball way up high and catch it! Every time it goes up, he tracks it with his eyes, makes a big grunt, and kicks his legs like crazy.
• Has started really noticing Rufus for the first time and really wants to grab onto the curly hair!
• Has a mix of green, brown, hazelish eyes...just like Daddy
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Henry's latest mis-speak

Is it wrong to hope your child never outgrows some of the words they say incorrectly? I mean, it's just so darn cute! Henry has some long-running words that just don't come out right.
He says breaftist instead of breakfast. He says nap instead of map. He says flavrite instead of favorite. He refers to anything that happened before this very moment as happening 'last night' or even better 'lasterday'.
And, as most kids do, we find him picking up on certain phrases and using them repeatedly. These are the phrases that Dameon and I realize we must use a lot. Some popular ones are "Sound like a plan?" (Dameon)  "That's a good idea!" (Me)  And the latest, "If I spill my milk, it will make a najor mess!" (Me, again). Of course the word "najor" (aka MAJOR) is very much emphasized to be more like, "Naaaaaajor."
Oh, and don't even try to correct him because he is, in his opinion, always right. (Yep, that'd be me again.)

Cloud Dust

A recipe for Cloud Dust = A recipe for ultimate 2-year-old fun! 8 cups of flour + 1 cup of oil

a trip to the orchard

A few notable firsts happened that day. Henry's first time to an orchard. Warren's first time to an orchard. First (of many, if I get my way) matching outfits. First time Henry ever ate a whole apple...seeds, core, stem...whole apple.

six months and more

WARREN is our newly-turned six month old and he grows more adorable every day. We just can't get enough of this guy! First of all, his cheeks. Oh my. They are so kissable. I bet I kiss them 50+ times a day. I just can't stop! His hair is coming in more and more in this perfect little tuft on the top of his head. It seems a little lighter than Henry's but it is hard to say for sure. And then there's his laugh. It is so sweet and so easy to get out of him. He's just. so. happy. Gah...love this little boy! Here are some stats:

• 17 pounds, 6 ounces (44%ile)
• 27.5 inches long (80%ile)
• wears some 9 month clothing but mostly fits into 12 month
• nurses throughout the day and night and eating rice cereal at supper time. 
• tried bananas and thought they were alright
• grabs at everything
• close to sitting up
• attempts drinking out of sippy cup
• enjoys his binky
• finds henry to be absolutely fascinating
• rolls over both ways
• scoots inadvertently
• starting to babble syllable sounds (ya-ya-ya and da-da-da)
• sleeps upstairs in his crib and likes to be swaddled

HENRY, meanwhile, is busy trying to figure out the difference between real and pretend. It is so funny to hear his questions and get inside his logic. A few questions we've heard lately...

• Why does Rufus not talk? (after watching Clifford)
• Do monkeys wear shirts? (No, Buddy, they don't.) Oh, but they just wear snow clothes. (after watching Curious George)
• Mommy, our saw doesn't hop along like that. (after watching Handy Manny)

side note: I swear Henry doesn't watch that much t.v. But more than he did when he was an only child. It's hard having two kids!!

In other Henry news, I continue to be amazed at what a sweetheart he is. In general and especially as a big brother. The more Warren is starting to interact, the more fun it is to see Henry's reaction to him. Let's see if I can recall a few of the cute/sweet/adorable/hilarious things Henry has said lately:

• Yesterday I told him I had bought him a new package of socks. He gasped with delight and said, "What a wonderful surprise! Thanks for thinking of me!"
• This morning after we got done paying for our groceries, he says to the checkout girl, "Have a great day!"
• Last night as I was drying him off from his bath and putting on his lotion he told me I'm the best Mommy in the whole world.
• He often will tell someone as he's saying goodbye "Thanks for the fun we had!" (That one really brings the house down.)
• The other day he found a little toy phone I had bought for Warren and wanted to play with it, he took it behind the couch to "make some calls." A few minutes later he comes to find me in the kitchen and says, "Mommy, this phone doesn't even have PacMan!"
• We have been getting t.p.'d all week. The first morning when Henry stepped outside and saw it, he got a very concerned look on his face and said, "Oh no! How will we ever ever get to our van?"