Anywho. A few weeks ago my parents came to visit for the weekend. We had a great time, as always, and they were about to head out on a Monday afternoon and Blakely decided she wanted to go. After freaking her out by OVER communicating that MOMMY WON'T BE THERE! My mom told me I just needed to decide if I was going to let her go, and let that be the end of it. And she was right. So basically from the time Blakely brought it up, to the time they pulled out of my driveway was about 20 minutes. I'm not sure if this was better or worse for my momma emotions. She's spent a few nights away from me, but all were planned way in advance. A tear or two may or may not have been shed over her independence.
Of course she did fine and barely missed me. We were planning to go down to my parents anyway because Stephen was going out of town, so I moved my trip up a day and headed down only one day after she left. I must admit, having only Henry as a travel buddy is quite the treat. Unfortunately the church nursery struck again and both kiddos woke up Wednesday morning with runny noses and not feeling great. But that didn't hold Blakely back. She couldn't be slowed in hanging out with the chickens and cows and keeping herself busy with the wonderful world of Pawpaw and Gigi's house. Lucky for her, my mom is a trinket kind of person, so the things to play with there are endless. Inside and out. Yard ornaments, lawn gnomes, garage sale toys, gardening supplies, a family of ceramic ducks that live in the living room, firefighter toys, etc. she was busy and loving life. She asks to go visit pretty much daily. Not to mention my brave mom decided it was time for Blakely to be in a big girl bed. Of course she slept in it without a hitch. It sure didn't hurt that she got worn out and slept like a rock. Amazingly she hasn't asked to sleep in it here, and I'm glad. We'll switch her when we start traveling.
Hankie was another story. He also had a bad cold and couldn't breath. He, however, was not distracted by the shiny things at Pawpaw and Gigi's. He didn't sleep much, thus, neither did I. He also decided he was done nursing. I am sure the cold contributed, but he literally wouldn't nurse for 3 days. I didn't have a pump, so I'll spare you the details and just say I was suffering. Finally we got up to leave Friday morning and I got him formula and we haven't looked back. He really didn't have much trouble adjusting, especially once he got to feeling better. He still doesn't love to take the bottle from me though. After the battle over nursing I had with Blakely for so many months, I decided I was not going to do that with Henry. So once he didn't nurse for a few days, it was over and I felt great about it. I really think it was the right decision because he is all around eating much better than he was while he was still nursing.
He also doesn't drink the bottle like a normal kid. Of course. My kids are just not normal. :) he guzzles for as long as he can hold his breath, then aggressively shoves the bottle away to come up for air. Then grabs it and pulls it back in to chug some more. So he takes about 7 oz in 1-2 minutes. And he is showing no signs of figuring out how to just breath while he eats. It's so weird because he breathed while he nursed....
So anyway, he has been drinking formula for 2 weeks now. He is eating a lot better, but its still a stressful time. We are seeing an occupational therapist weekly, and she is really helpful. We will see her until we leave for Kaleo.
He weighs around 20lbs but I don't know how much exactly. He wears mostly 12 month clothes. Some 18month.
He goes to bed around 7 thanks to daylight savings. Now that he isn't nursing, Stephen can put him to bed. He is so easy to get to sleep. Staying asleep is the tricky part. He doesn't search for his binky like Blakely did. Maybe cause we kept 5 in her bed and he has one. Blakely would wake up and scrape her arms all over the bed until she could find several. Henry won't even try to find it when it's right in front of him. He just whines until we come in. He is less and less interested in sleeping with me. If I am around he just wants to play. So naps are hit or miss. He has lately been taking a great morning nap- even in his own bed. Usually 8:30 to 10 or 10:30. And I think I need to keep him up later for the afternoon nap. He has been going down around 12:30 and only sleeping for a half hour.
He takes a 5-7oz bottle every 4 hours and eats breakfast lunch and dinner when we do. He likes mostly fruit, but will eat most things in the squeeze pouches. He LOVES table food and will eat anything you let him have. We mostly stick to soft stufflike bread or crackers.
He is SUCH a boy. He always wants to wrestle and is just rough all the time. He does everything with full physical force and no gentleness or finesse. I get head butted daily. I have had several fat lips and brushed cheek bones thanks to Henry. He has taken my teeth pretty hard to the forehead, and countless head bumps. And not due to clumsiness...he just slams himself around. He's miserable to hold, cause unless he's sleepy, he's squirming and fighting to see something or get out of your arms. He's relentless if he sees something he wants and will plow through anything to get to the baby monitor, cell phone, tv controls, plate of food, and especially any toy in Blakely's hands.
She can get him to laugh unlike anyone else, but Henry is a really joyful and happy guy most of the time. He's not shy, and he'll smile at anyone. He really doesn't have any separation anxiety and will let anyone hold him, but he does get his feelings hurt if I leave him in the room alone.
WHEW that was so long and I have so much more to update on! Easter, visit from Dedad and Bebe, spring play dates and Blakely but I'll save that for another post. ;)
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