Swimming Cousins

Henry and Gabe swimming together for the first time! June 24, 2006 at Dan and Sara's house in Chicago. Lots of splashing and fun!

Cousin weekend

Henry and Gabe's 4 months difference doesn't seem so very big any more. When Henry was a newborn their difference seemed so vast it seemed like they would never be able to play together. It's amazing what a difference a few months makes. They now not only notice eachother, but they definitely interact, sometimes even "sharing" toys. It's so fun to watch them together. We went to Chicago over the weekend to spend the night with Dan and Sara. The boys got to go for a ride together in Oak Park and then played together in Gabe's swimming pool. It was lots of fun! Here's some cute pics of the cousins together...

Bathtime!

I love these pics from Henry's bath tonight....

A theory

Here's my theory about why Henry might be having a harder time falling asleep these fast few nights....longer days??? The days have been getting longer, so it's been lighter and lighter when he's been going to bed. I wonder if that is affecting his falling asleep at all. Yesterday was the first day of summer and also the longest day of the year, so maybe the light is having something to do with it. Patrick finally hung a blanket over Henry's window which made his room super dark and he stayed asleep for the night. We have blinds but the blanket helped to really darken things up. Who knows? We'll try that again tonight to test this theory!

Harder Ni-Nights lately

Henry's been doing so well going down for his naps and for bedtimes too. For his naps I've been taking him upstairs to his room and we close the blinds and "wave bye-bye to the sunshine", then read a few books and turn on some soft music, then I lay him in his crib and he usually falls asleep within 10-15 minutes, sometimes with some light crying, but not major protesting. Then for bedtime he gets a bottle and then we lay him in his crib and he usually drifts off after a little playing, but usually no crying.

But since Sunday's bedtime he's been having a really hard time. It's a mystery why?? I usually end up chalking it up to teething, and I suppose it could be. Just last Friday and Sunday his two top outer (from the middle) teeth popped through which make 7 altogether for him. But those came through with no night-waking or hard crying at bedtime. He usually is really sleepy when we lay him down or has drifted off after drinking his bottle, and then after sometimes 1/2 hour he'll wake up and start crying. The past few nights he's needed us to rub his back to help him fall asleep. I've also given him Tylenol when he was really inconsolable.

Tonight was hilarious though. He was so exhausted by bedtime (we went to the pool this evening-4ish, so he didn't nap afterwards) and after drinking his bottle he was out. Then about 1/2 hour later he woke up crying, so I went upstairs and patted his back for a minute then went to sit in the rocker and sang to him and closed my eyes to pretend I was asleep and I could see him look at me and then lay back down. He did that 3 or 4 times, he'd even wake up and play some and look at me, and then finally he lay back down and fell asleep. Hopefully he's asleep for good now. It was just funny because he was clearly tired, but not upset, maybe just fighting it a little bit. Anyway, hopefully he'll get back on track. He has been sleeping through the night for lots of nights now, so I'm very very thankful for that.

Henry's new favorite thing to do

Henry loves playing in the kitchen. Whenever we're in the living room playing together, he'll suddenly make a fast break and bolt for the kitchen and he loves opening the drawers and cupboards. His latest faves are the drawer under the stove and the drawer where we keep our kitchen linens (as you can see in the pic). I always thank him for helping me "fold" the towels! It's funny, but also makes some extra work and worries-about pinched fingers, etc-I can definitely understand why people use cabinet child-safety locks. We need to do some more child-proofing around here soon.

Henry's First Haircut

Yesterday we took Henry for his very first haircut. Patrick has been begging me to have his hair cut for months, and in a moment of weakness, we scheduled an appointment. I was originally wanting to hold off until he turned 1, but with his first birthday looming just around the corner, I caved in. My biggest stipulation was that it had to be at a salon, and of course with a hairstylist who has cut baby's hair in the past.

The pictures posted are before, during and after the big cut. We didn't have much cut off, just a little bit off the back, the sides and of course the ever-growing front. It only took about 10 minutes total, and Henry did pretty good. He sat on Patrick's lap and only started to get upset when we had to restrain his hands and hold his head still. He wanted to keep looking at the stylist to see what she was doing. He definitely couldn't figure out what was going on. I think it looks cute, and all cleaned up. It's sad, too though because hair cuts are for big boys, and it seems like he's such a big boy now and not just a baby anymore!

Things I love about summer:

1. I love the sound of the lawn mower and the smell of freshly cut grass.
2. Being comfortable outside in short-sleeves early in the morning and being warm late at night.
3. Loooooooong days!
4. Sunny days.
5. The smell outside just after it rains on a really humid day.
6. The prospect of going to the pool anytime.
7. Flowers blooming and trees being green and leafy.

There are just so many things I love about summer. It's always been my very favorite season when I'm the happiest, and I'm just so happy that it's here!

Pool Fun!

Henry and I went to the pool this afternoon with my friend Claire from church and her two daughters Caroline, 3, and Emily 13 months. One of the company benefits that State Farm has is their park. It's not much of a benefit most of the year, but in the summer it's great because of the pool. They have a great kid pool totally separated from the other pool with the deep end and a diving board. It's great because it only gets 1 1/2 feet deep and has a shallow entry where people walk in. I've just been bringing toys and Henry sits there and plays with his little friend Emily. Today he would be playing, then all of a sudden get brave and start crawling towards something in the middle of the pool. He got his face in the water a few times and lots of splashes from older children running by, but he didn't seem to mind. A few times it would surprise him and he would hold his breath, but other than that he loved it.

The weather has been so summery and warm this week, so I'm trying to take him as much as I can. We've been going after his morning nap and lunch. Then we get home in time for his afternoon nap which he's been crashing for!

A new blog for me!

I'm so sorry to be switching blog addresses...but I've really been wanting to be able to share pictures and this program is so super easy...I just uploaded these pics in like 5 seconds! So change your link for my blog...it's blogger for me!
P.S. Aren't the cousins so cute?!