Nine months

William pulled himself up by holding on to my mom's hands and he was so proud. He laughed and tried to bounce.



Last Thursday, 7.17.08, I went into William's room when he woke up from his nap and found him like this:

It was the first time he was sitting up in his crib on his own. He was so happy and seemed like such a big boy.

William is nine months old! The past two weeks have been full of "firsts" for him. On Monday, 7.14.08 he learned how to sit up from a laying position. Just that little maneuver makes him seem more mobile. He manages to scoot himself to things by going from his tummy to sitting. Then on Thursday, 7.17.08 I found him sitting up in his crib playing with his aquarium after he woke up from his nap. He was really happy and content to be in there playing. I was surprised when I walked into his room to see him sitting up and not laying down happily kicking. On Monday, 7.21.08 he clapped his hands for the first time and when I cheered "yay!", he kept clapping. And on Wednesday 7.23.08 he pulled himself up on his crib. He was standing up in his crib holding on to the rail after his nap. The rails are raised now. And he took his first crawl (to reach Henry's tractor). It's more like a scoot/crawl. He crawls with one leg and sort of drags the other. He's not yet crawling everywhere. But he crawled again last night to reach another out of reach toy. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before he's on the go. His 9-month checkup is in August. I'll post his stats from that visit then.

• He loves the water. He likes taking a bath and loves to splash. He likes the pool and is very content to float in a floatie and splash at the pool water. He doesn't mind getting water on his face. We've been going to playgrounds this summer that have attached sprinkler parks and he lunges for the water and doesn't mind if it gets in his eyes or on his face.
• Most days he naps twice a day. His morning nap is usually around 9:00 and lasts between 2 and 2 1/2 hours. His afternoon nap is around 1:00 and lasts for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• He loves his pacifier, mostly at nap times or bedtime. But if he's crabby during the day, he always takes his pacifier and it helps.
• He eats lots of solids. Usually between 4 and 5 - 4 oz jars daily. I've also been breaking up pieces of table food for him to try and he has liked most things. He loves green beans, bite size banana, and cheese ravioli (I shared my Olive Garden with him). He also loves teething biscuits. I bought Earth's Best whole wheat biscuits and keep them in my purse for when we're eating out. They're super messy, but keep him very content. A good trade-off. Mealtimes are his crankiest time. He makes a nonstop grunting/unhappy noise whenever there is not food in his mouth. I try to feed him fast, but I'm never fast enough!
• He's antsy when I hold him now; he turns his body and pushes away until I set him down. It's tricky when we're out somewhere and I need to hold him. He's very curious.
• When he's tired he's really cuddly and loves to be held facing me. He will lay his head down on my shoulder and rest.
• He plays peek-a-boo. It's so sweet and he gets so excited when we say "peek-a-boo"!
• He's getting some spunk. If he wants something that I'm holding or something that I'm eating he will "yell" until I either give it to him or give him something equally interesting. He also is starting to scream when Henry takes toys away from him.
• He reaches for people to hold him. He's become a Daddy's boy and beams when Patrick comes home from work. He does the lunge move out of my arms and reaches for Patrick if I'm holding him.
• He still has 6 teeth. 2 on the bottom and 4 on the top. The top teeth are starting to get big! His smile looks so different with all of these teeth filling his mouth.
• He is starting to have separation anxiety. When we leave him with a sitter (who is usually - ok, always- a family member) he often has red-swollen eyes from crying when we pick him up and we are told that he wasn't happy or content to be set down.

With us he is a sweet, happy baby. We feel blessed to be his parents and love watching him develop his own unique personality.

Friends

We were fortunate to spend some time with Erica, Bret and Ben last week. Henry, William and I stayed Monday night at their house after Caleb's party. I loved spending time with Erica and also loved watching all of the boys interact. Ben is about six weeks younger than William which doesn't seem like so much now that they're older. He is absolutely adorable; a perfect mix of Erica and Bret and has the best personality. He's really happy and smiley and is super content.

We arrived on Monday late in the afternoon and decided to walk to a nearby park before feeding the boys dinner. Henry had a potty accident at the park that required immediate changing. I didn't bring clothes with me to the park, so we walked back to Erica's house. We told him that as soon as he got changed we could go back to the park. We did go back and within five minutes of being there, he had yet another accident of the same variety. I was shocked and horrified. He's definitely not been 100% with the potty, but to have two in a row was shocking. And I felt terrible dragging Erica back and forth twice! We walked back to Erica's house again and this time we stayed there. The boys ate dinner and then Henry played outside on their swing set.

William and Ben playing together Tuesday morning Cutie BenWilliam and Ben sharing some tummy timeWilliam and Rudy

He loved the dogs and laughed watching them.Ben and HenryWe ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. It's the perfect restaurant for children - lots of noise, lots to look at and see. We sat next to a huge aquarium filled with tropical fish and in front of some gorillas that came to life every so often. Henry fell asleep on the way to lunch and woke up once we were in the restaurant. It took him a little while to warm up to his surroundings, but once he did he was fascinated. He ate "dino nuggets"; chicken nuggets shaped like dinosaurs. He loved watching the gorillas behind us. Ben at the Rainforest Cafe

Henry touching the mist from the crocodile swamp. He loved watching this crocodile. It looks very realistic but is a wishing fountain.

Henry discovered a new passion for trains- when Erica read a book to him about Paris she couldn't get past the page about the subway in Paris. Henry was so fascinated with it and asked her a million questions. He talked about the gorillas and the trains in the car on the way home. And Bret and Erica are a great host/hostess - they cooked a delicious meal, ordered DQ Blizzards and made us feel so welcome. We had so much fun spending time with them and hope to do it again soon!

Caleb turns one

My sweet nephew Caleb was born on 7-7-07 and it hardly seems like a year has gone by since his birth. I remember getting the phone call from Dan late on Friday night, July 6, 2007, letting us know that Sara was going to be heading into the hospital and that their baby would most likely be arriving sometime on Saturday. Patrick, Henry and I arrived at the hospital a few hours before Caleb's birth. It was a hot summer day and I was big and pregnant, too. I have sweet memories of Gabe in the little family waiting area while he played and waited to hear the news that his baby brother had arrived. When we knew that Sara had started pushing we knew it would just be a matter of time until this sweet baby's birth. Gabe kept saying, "I'm so excited." I found this video to show his excitement. It was the sweetest thing. Notice the giddy laughter of the grandma's in the background.


A year has gone by and Caleb turned one on July 7. Happy Birthday Caleb! His first birthday party was on Sunday, July 13. Sara and Dan once again threw a fabulous party; the theme was baseball and it was adorable. From the ballpark food : hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts and nachos, to the adorable decorations : baseball pennants and cupcakes iced to look like baseballs, it was a huge success and was so much fun.

Sara and Caleb

Everything was decorated so cute - there were giant star balloons and baseball pennants hung across doorways and over windows. It was adorable.

The goody bags for the kids. Sara also hand made chocolates in different baseball related shapes (peanuts, hot dogs, stars, baseball gloves) and wrapped them in cellophane bags tied with ribbon for each grown-up to take as a favor. They were adorable and delicious!

Caleb was hilarious with his birthday cupcake. He didn't want anything to do with it, even when Sara broke it into smaller pieces. He was so polite though handing her each piece off of his tray.

Baseball cupcakes. These tasted as good as they look. Sara was busy, too. She baked a lot of these!

Gabe and Henry getting refills of lemonade.

Gabe, Henry and my Dad (aka Bapa Bug) They played together during the entire party. My Dad is so good with the boys and they adore playing with him.

Great Grandpa and Grandma Hogan and William. William is named after Grandpa Edwin Hogan.

My Mom (Oma) and William

Henry and Gabe the morning after the party

We spent the night with Dan and Sara and the boys after the party and got to spend the day together on Monday. It was fun to have extra time together; I always love spending time with my sweet nephews. Gabe and Caleb are just precious. Henry is getting to be a feisty playmate - he doesn't like to share nor does he even try to do it, even when the toys belong to someone else (i.e. cousin Gabe). It's definitely something we're working on and (hopefully) learning through frequent trips to time-out. Unfortunately he was a crabby playmate for Gabe on Monday. I'm sorry Gabe and we promise to keep working on it. Thank you for sharing your toys so graciously.

Happy First Birthday Caleb. We love you!

Holly's 26th Birthday

Holly, the birthday girl and hostess. She is a party planner extraordinaire. She and her mom, Delcine throw the most extravagant parties complete with beautiful decorations, adorable, tasty and generous favors, and delicious homemade gourmet food. They are also the life of the party and know how to have a good time. Holly's birthday parties have become a summer tradition that I look forward to. The table was set so beautifully. Everything was perfectly decorated and coordinated. Her theme this year was flowers so everything was decorated using a floral theme and was beautiful and really tasteful. The food was Asian inspired and my mouth still waters thinking about how good it all tasted. I would prefer it to take-out in a heartbeat! At each guest's place setting there was a chocolate place card with the guest's name written on it (also in chocolate, yum), a homemade and decorated flower sugar cookie, and a chocolate dipped pretzel rod with chocolate floral embellishments. Holly had also potted flowers for each guest in terra cotta pots and there was a beautiful hand beaded bracelet by Delcine wrapped around the bottom of each pot. See more of Delcine's jewelry here. Everything was absolutely adorable and tasty and everyone took home so many nice favors!

Holly and me

She looked beautiful. I loved her dress and coordinated jewelry (also made by her mom- Delcine!) Holly, me and RachelHolly and RachelSara, me and my mom

During the party Patrick took Henry and William to Dan and Sara's house to play with Gabe and Caleb. They had fun playing and went to dinner together. Afterwards they came back to Holly's house and we spent the night there. Rachel also spent the night and we had so much fun. We looked through pictures from the party, ate leftovers and stayed up much too late. Staying after her parties has become as much of a tradition as the party itself and I always look forward to this weekend during the summer to spend time with girlfriends.

Holly and me.

The morning after her party outside in her yard and on the front porch.

Holly and Delcine.

They still look beautiful the day after the party. If they're exhausted from throwing a fun, beautiful, delicious party no one can tell.

Henry and Holly. Here's Henry buckled into the van. One last picture before we go ---we realized we'd taken them mostly of ourselves!

William and Delcine. Henry calls her "Grandma Del".

Happy Birthday, Holly- my twin before we even met. I love you and hope this fabulous party is just the start of a great year to come!

Henry is three

Henry Andrew was born at 3:03 a.m. on July 22, 2005. That means that my "baby" is turning three today. I've been preparing for "three" for a few months and now that it's here it feels momentous. When Henry was a newborn and during his first year, three-year-olds looked and seemed so old to me. In fact, I taught them on a daily basis and expected so much from them. They seemed so grown-up. Now that Henry is three I realize that a three-year-old really isn't so grown up. At least Henry doesn't seem as old to me as I once imagined a three-year-old to be. Although he has really changed over the course of the past year and is becoming more and more a little boy.



Below are a progression of pictures, one from each month during the past year. In the first few he still seems like a little toddler to me. In the last few he is definitely turning into a little boy.

July 22, 2007 : Henry's 2nd Birthday

August 2007

September 2007

October 2007

November 2007

December 2007

January 2008

February 2008
March 2008

April 2008

May 2008

June 2008

July 2008 (swinging with cousin Gabe, the day after Caleb's First Birthday Party)
July 19, 2008 : Henry eating a cupcake during his 3rd Birthday Party

I took these two tonight, July 21, 2008 : Henry's last night as a two-year old. It was a little bit bittersweet. I'm excited for the things that the next years hold, but also sad to let go of his toddler years.

Happy third Birthday sweet Henry. We love you so much. You bring joy and laughter to our lives. I love your sense of wonder and excitement. I love the excited-face you make when you really like something. I love watching this expression of excitement on your face. I love your fearlessness. You are so brave and like to try new things. You've got a lot of passion. You love tractors and can name all of the tractors, trucks and farm equipment you have. I'm impressed by this and am pretty sure you know more about farming than me. In fact, you've called me out before; I'll point out a bean field to you and you'll point out that in fact it's corn in the field. You became a big brother this year and after some adjusting you've grown to love William. He looks up to you and can't wait until he can keep up with you. Maybe someday you will share your toys and tractors with him and learn the fun of playing together. It's hard to believe you're turning three today. It's harder to imagine our lives without you and it seems like you've been here much longer than three years. You have brought a richness to our lives and it's hard to remember what it was ever like before God gave us you. We are so thankful for you and thank God for being gracious to bless us with you as our child. We love you Henry. Happy 3rd Birthday!