Camping!

Henry turned 6 months old on Wednesday, and got to see his dad do his autocross competition for the first time! It was cold out though, so we left halfway through. The weather has been gorgeous and we have been enjoying playing outside! We go for a 4 mile walk every day with the landlady, which is wonderful! Henry has tried many foods, including eggs, mangoes, bananas, chicken, rolls, carrots, and those are just a few. This weekend, we took him camping and boating for the first time! We had a great time camping in our camper, and can't wait to do it again soon! Now, he is having allergy issues, or has come down with a cold. We'll give it a few more days, and see what happens!

Almost 6 months??

I can't believe my baby boy is almost 6 months old!! Where did the last 6 months go? Henry is changing and growing so much! I am proud to say that he has met a lot of his family! Wisconsin relatives, New Mexico, California, and Illinois relatives are the last on the list for him to meet! He and I along with mom, dad, and Abby went on a trip to Jersey, and it was great to see him with all of his great aunts and uncles, great grandparents and my cousins (I don't know what that makes it for him)! Henry is sitting by himself, weighs somewhere over 15lbs, is over 25 inches long, and continues to make Carl and I laugh every day! He is one of the happiest babies ever! We have been enjoying these warm sunny days, and can't wait for pool weather! He and I are going to have a blast! Well, he's telling me he is hungry and needs a diaper change...guess I better go take care of that!

Advice

If there was one thing that I was not prepared for in motherhood, it was the advice that every well-meaning person has for you. I know this is purely my own problem, but I can't help but feel judged when I make my own decisions for my child, that I know others have voiced opinions that are not in agreement with what I have decided. What I have learned most importantly from this well-meaning advice, is that no one person is right. What works for one family, might not work for another. You have to do what is right for YOU, YOUR family. And well, it's nice to think you can please everyone--you won't. Times have changed so much, and will continue to change, and you have to decide what is important for you...and how you are going to prioritize it. My biggest priority is exclusively breastfeeding Henry for the first 6 months. I felt with the winter months, he was going to get the best nutrition from me, and that he should get it exclusively as long as possible. I would be filthy rich if I had $1 for every time somebody said to me, "He'll sleep better if you start him on cereal", "He's how old...and hasn't had solids yet" etc. I am constantly having to remind myself--this is what works for our family! It's okay that not everybody thinks it's the best decision...heck why do I care so much anyways!? The other big one, is the choice to delay his shots. After all, he has LOW exposure, and by the time he is one, he will be completely on schedule, they just won't be completed by 6 months like the CDC would like. I am the one that has to live with the decisions that I make for my son...nobody else will have to live with the consequences for the decisions made except for myself (and of course, my spouse). Here's to doing what we feel is best, with the good Lord's guidance!

3 months old!

During the first week of being 3 months, Henry has done quite a lot! His first, was going to sleep, all on his own, without crying! He continues to go to bed on his own, however, has had some frequent crying spells the last few days. We hope to figure out what all goes right on the days that he falls asleep without crying, so that we can repeat it all the time! Yesterday, Henry went to his first birthday party. C turned 2 on Saturday, and the little guy slept from 3-5:30 in C's room...which worked out VERY well, because Henry gets quite cranky when tired! C was so cute playing with his new toys, and digging into the cake! He loves Henry so much, and requested to hold him almost as soon as he saw Henry...we definitely need to make more of an effort of getting those boys together! Henry continues to amaze his mommy and daddy, and entertain them too! His smiles, laughs and coos...are what makes it all worthwhile! He loves bathtime still, and it makes for an enjoyable time for us all! He kicks and waves his arms, along with splashing all over the place! I'll have to get a video of it tonight, and put it up here in the next few days. We are going to have to start bathing him in the big tub, because he kicks water everywhere in the little tub! Little man and mom are looking forward to warmer weather when we can get outside more and more enjoy the fresh air! There is nothing like spending some time outside!

New Year's!

Have I not blogged since Thanksgiving...my goodness I guess I need to get on it! The first few weeks of December were crazy in the Tannenbaum House. Carl had an extra week off of work (thanks to his boss who gave him a whole extra week of paid vacation when we had Henry!) and so we spent the week visiting with family (Henry met his Great Grandma from Florida, and his Great Aunt). At the end of the week, we took a road trip to Charleston, SC to show the little man the beach for the first time! He seemed to like how the water went through his toes, and was a very good boy on the road! Carl finished up his 2 classes he was taking (and got A's in both of them :) ), and before we knew it Christmas was upon us. We spent a week plus in Fairview, and were able to hang out with Brooke while mom, dad, and the rest of the family (minus Ray) went to Jersey for Christmas. It was very difficult to be without my family for the first holiday, but I enjoyed spending Christmas with Carl and Henry, along with the rest of the Tannenbaum's and Aunt Jean (who Henry met too). Our little man is growing up so fast!!! It makes this mommy very sad! I can't believe that he is already going to be 3 months old this week! Some accomplishments in Henry's life are: -Smiling (all the time now, it doesn't take much work to get one out of him!) -Hiking (he's quite the little hiker, I believe we've taken him on 4 different hikes now, and can't wait for warmer weather to go on more) -Talking (boy does he love to jibber, jabber!) -Giggling (can we say, adorable!! His most recent thing is giggling while playing peek-a-boo!!! That is so cute!) -TV (he loves Baby Einstein, Veggie Tales, and basically everything playing on the tv...though mommy doesn't allow it all) -Sleep (boy can this boy sleep!!! Recently he hasn't want to be held or anything while falling asleep so he has been crying it out...breaks my heart but he sleeps SO much better now, and is much happier) -Discovering new things (most recently inside his diaper...he is a little boy!) -Rolling (he can tuck those legs in, and gets on his side, but can not quite yet finish the flip!) Carl starts a new class tomorrow night, so it's back to business in this household. Carl's been cleaning like mad organizing cabinets, and trying to maximize space in this little place (not really tiny, just lacking good storage area). Tonight, I am hoping to let Henry fuss a bit before seeing if he wants to nurse in the middle of the night (around 4-5am usually)...last night I got him up and he never opened his eyes, and definitely didn't eat much because I was left feeling FULL! So, I do believe he was just waking up (kind of) to check back in and make sure we are there...I'll let you know how that goes!