Henry will be four months old on Friday, and each day he exhibits more and more of his unique personality. He loves to talk, smile, laugh and listen. He has a favorite song, "Barchen" (meaning "little bear" in german) written by his mommy, a favorite buddy, Jaeger, and a favorite food, pears. Henry is also showing more and more interest in playtime; bouncing and drooling in his jumperoo are his favorites. Here are a few pics of him happily at play.
Matt's best friend, Curt, his wife Jackie and their daughter Ava were in town this weekend. While Curt and Matt grew up together in McConnelsville, the Kuntz family has settled in Warren, Ohio. We LOVE the Kuntz family, and we are so sad whenever we must say good-bye to them. Ava recently turned one, and she is an absolute doll. She and Jaeger hit it off well - chasing each other and sharing toys. We hope to visit them this fall in order to catch one of Curt's football games (he coaches H.S. football).
As he approaches four months old, Henry has become extremely vocal and playful. He is constantly making noises, and he is starting to interact more with people and toys. Most toys don't stand much of a chance because he wants to put them straight into his mouth. We suspect that he is teething because he is exhibiting many of the signs: constant gumming, endless drooling and increased fussing. Additionally, he might be going through a growth spurt as his nap and feeding schedules are changing. Fortunately his palate is broadening; he enjoys breast milk, formula, mashed bananas, and next week we will try pears.
Most days Ali is in charge of Henry's morning routine. Because Ali is home with Henry during the day and Matt is busy getting to work, Ali takes care of changing, feeding and bathing Henry in the morning. In the evening, Matt likes to spend quality time with his little man, and one of his favorite moments is each night when he puts Henry to bed. Henry and Daddy have their special bedtime routine which includes changing into pajamas, a bottle feeding, a diaper change and finally, rocking in the rocking chair. This particular evening Henry didn't make it past the bottle feeding before falling asleep on Daddy's chest.
At 14lbs, 14oz and 15 weeks old, we decided to introduce Henry to real food. It is recommended that babies don't start solid foods until 4 months old, so we are cheating by a couple of weeks. We started with Banana Milkshake, a combination of mashed bananas and mommy's liquid gold. Henry wasn't sure what to make of the new texture in his mouth, but he didn't seem to mind the taste. We are going to try just a little bit each day - we have a growing boy on our hands!
Henry has brought us pure joy, and there is nothing more awesome than when he expresses happiness. At fourteen weeks and counting, Henry is full of smiles and even laughter. We hope that our little guy can bring a smile to your face - check out the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SernY1siKfA
After much deliberation, we decided to stay in Dublin for the holiday (we originally thought we would be celebrating in Baton Rouge - to our 225 peeps, we love and miss you all).
There is nothing better than taking an afternoon nap while cuddling with Henry. We savor these moments for we know that one day he will be too big to cuddle.
