Henry's Stats
Weight: 20 pounds
Height: 28.5 inches
Head circumference: 18 inches
Teeth: 7
Favorite foods: corn and strawberries
I have never seen a human being consume so much corn, ever! Nor have I had the pleasure of changing so many corn filled dirty diapers. He will choose corn over anything else on his plate and then he'll keep asking for more.
What Henry's been up to:
Henry has been teething for what seems like forever! He has never complained or been grumpy because of it and has never taken any medicine. Which I think is amazing considering that he got 5 teeth all at the same time (there's still a few more trying to poke through)! With these teeth has come a love of biting. As I write this I am trying to keep him from biting my feet! He's also taken to biting my nipples and I have considered weaning him early because of this (more on that later).
Henry has also been learning and talking nonstop! For about 20 minutes one evening he could say bye, bye. He sat on the floor, said bye, bye and waved to me nonstop for like 15 minutes…until I took out the camera. I did manage to get a little bit on tape. Now he just waves, but will not say bye, bye. One day he said tear and shoes and dirty. He just doesn't seem able to hold on to these skills and often will not repeat them.
He's also learned how to shake his head no, no. Which he usually does too quickly and he makes himself dizzy.
He has really been experimenting with foods. He no longer eats baby food. He will every once in a while, but much prefers finger foods and feeding himself. He just realized that everyone else eats with silverware and will point and grunt until you give him silverware, too. Of course, he doesn't know how to use it properly. He mostly bangs it on his highchair tray and puts it in his mouth and, obviously, uses it to push all of his food onto the floor. Another one of his favorite foods is frozen blueberries. After making the mess in the picture below I make sure that I feed him the blueberries.
Henry's first time having some Swedish pancakes, and he loved them! He ate one and a half pancakes and a little bit of whipped cream.
Henry also really loves playing in our closet. Mostly pulling all of our clothes out and onto the floor. He loves reading books and remote controls.
Last month, we went to a friend's family farm and Henry saw sheep for the first time. He was obsessed! He was able to pet them and was actually pretty gentle. He definitely did not want to leave! While we were home in the states a few weeks ago he went to the zoo for the first time. The poor guy couldn't understand why he wasn't allowed to go play with and pet the animals! He was getting so frustrated. He just kept yelling and pointing to the animals. However, his favorite animal is definitely dogs! Anytime that he sees a dog on TV or in person he just points and yells and tries to say dog over and over again. It is the cutest!
Over the last few weeks he has really been perfecting his walking. He has been "cruising" for several months now, but one day he just let go and started stepping. It's fun to watch him challenge himself. He is constantly letting go and trying to walk more and more. Which, I am grateful for because we were quickly running out of pants! (He was crawling holes in all of his!)
He is definitely getting better and better and slowly he is able to go a little farther.
What Mommy's been up to:
Last week we cut out night feedings, Henry was still eating twice at night - usually around 12 and 4. I decided that I was no longer going to feed him at night. I felt confident that he was eating enough "real" food during the day and nursing enough and he had a bottle before bed. We definitely had some REALLY rough nights! One night he was up for 4 hours just screaming and wanting to nurse. He has gotten better. We've tried to be pretty strict with a sleeping schedule and I think it is working. Last night, he slept from 9-3, and when he woke up he just needed to be tucked back in and he slept until almost 6. This is a HUGE improvement from what he was doing before. He also doesn't seem like he is wanting to nurse when he wakes up in the middle of the night and he is not so angry with me for not nursing him.
We have been giving Henry välling since he was about 6 months old. He gets one bottle, about 7 ounces every night. A lot of nights he does not drink the full bottle, especially when he was younger. (Välling is a Swedish thing. It's kind of a mix between formula and oatmeal, it also has added corn - which is supposed to be good for babies' bellies). Other than that, he is breastfeed. Lately, I have really been considering weaning him a little early. I think it's definitely easier to breastfeed when I'm home and I, sometimes, enjoy it. However, I am SICK of pumping at work and I am definitely tired of getting bit by Henry! He goes through phases where he will bite me every time he nurses, like 5 or 6 times in a row and then he won't bite me at all for a few days. When I was on the way to the states it got pretty bad. He was biting me every time I nursed in the airport and on the airplane. I really considered quitting right then! But I didn't bring my breast pump and I didn't know what his schedule would be like with the time difference and I had only packed two bottles. Plus, I knew if I started a formula there I, most likely, would not be able to find the same one here. So, I thought I would make the decision when I returned. Of course, he then quit biting me and so we are still breastfeeding, but it's definitely in the back of my mind to quit. It just seems a little silly now to transition to formula and then in a few weeks, transition to cow's milk. So, I'll probably just keep going.
I know that I've mentioned my weight on here a few times. I still have about 6 pounds that I still need to lose. That will put me back at my weight when I was 8 weeks pregnant. To get to the weight I would like to be at I would need to lose about 10 pounds. I haven't been strict about dieting or exercising. The gym's here do not offer childcare until children are 1 and with Hannes' practice schedule it is hard to find some time to myself to make it to the gym. I decided to wait to get a gym membership until this summer, when he turns 1. I'll also be home from work and the older kids will be with their Dad, so I won't have any excuses! In the meantime, I am going to try the whole30 challenge. You cut out grains, sugar, anything unnatural, beans, legumes and probably some other stuff that I'm forgetting for 30 days and just eat clean, whole foods. We usually do not eat much meat, but I think that with this diet we will have to…there aren't many other options. I have created a new Instagram account, julieskitchen30, where I am going to be documenting my journey on this plan. I am really excited about it and hoping that it will change the way I feel! On top of being a little heavier than I'd like I also feel bloated, tired and my skin isn't looking so great. This challenge is supposed to help with that and change the way you view food. If you'd like to follow along on my journey you can follow me on Instagram, julieskitchen30, and I'll probably do something on here, too.
And, finally, a little unrehearsed entertainment.
