Baby Boy is 7 months!

7 Month Henley Update

Here we are at 7 months! Well, I am a little late but I took these pics last week so it's not too bad. So many changes have been happening since he hit 6 months. As many of you know, he was a "High Needs Baby" as Dr. Sears would put it, meaning he needed be on me or nursing pretty much 24/7 for the first few months of his life. After the 6 month mark he has definitely taken on some independence. I am able to have lots more fun with him, although I do miss the endless cuddles! 

• Size: We don't go to the Dr. this month, but at home he weighs about 18.5 lbs, which is pretty much 50th percentile. 
• Food: He still loves to eat a ton! He nurses about 8 times a day and has 3 solid meals a day. We are doing lots of different foods everyday. He will eat anything and everything we put in front of him!  He is able to grab a spoon and fed himself when we give purees. 
• Naps: Starting this week, he has taken at least 2 naps a day in the bed! He has also taken a few naps in the carrier on my back. So nice. 
• Play: He loves the walker, rattles, sitting on our shoulders, and throwing things. He loves to hold things in the air and wave them around. He also loves to hit things against other things to make loud noises (Tegan is not a fan of this). 
• Milestones: Still no crawling,well at least not forward. He gets up on all fours but then pushes his arms, moving his body backwards. Poor little guy get so frustrated. 

Go Angels! 

We took Henley to his very first baseball game last weekend! I didn't get to go to mine until my 7th birthday, so Henley is a very lucky kid. I love baseball games. Something about the bright green field, giant pretzels, beer and the energy of it all. I plan on many more baseball games in Henley's future. 

Pre-game lunch @ The Catch

My little blue eyes...

They are so besties now! 

This next couple weeks should be interesting. I am staying in Brea at my parent's house to watch the dogs and cook for my grandma while my Mom and Dad spend a week in Cancun. Jealous! They deserve it though. My mom spent all her vacation time last year walking all over LA trying to get baby boy out. haha When they get back, we are going to finally try a date night, leaving Henley with my mom for a couple hours. I am excited but nervous at the same time. We are then headed down to San Diego for a short getaway with my mom. We will be checking out Seaworld, Stone Brewery and take in this sights on the Old Town Trolley. Should be fun. :) 

I hope to get a post in next week but I am not sure yet how the week will go. Happy weekend everyone! 

xoxoxoxo

-D

Had to get a picture in of the other baby in the house! 

So much to celebrate this week!

Happy Thursday!

It seems as though the celebrations just keep coming. First it was Mother's Day, then my birthday and Aya's birthday, then Father's Day, our 3 year anniversary, and my grandma's birthday all in less than a month. Coming up, we have my mom's birthday, Alex's birthday and my dad's birthday. Good thing we planned for Henley to have a November birthday. ;)

Alex decided that he wanted to do a hike for Father's Day, so we headed out early on Saturday to Switzer Falls. We have done tons of walks with Henley, but this was our first real hike. Of course, Tegan joined us as well! Unfortunately, we didn't make it all the way to the falls. The path, which was sided by rocks on one side and long drop on the other, got too narrow to traverse with a baby and dog. We did however find a nice shady spot next to a stream so Tegan could get her "water play."

Switzer Falls

Tegan enjoying the forest. 

Got Henley to sleep in the back carry for the first time! Go Daddy Go! 

Stopped for lunch at the end our hike. 

 To kick off the official Father's Day festivities on Sunday, Alex took Henley to church by himself this time and I stayed home to bake Hal's favorite dessert, Apricot Upside-down cake! This was the first time that Alex has taken Henley somewhere without me, and it went better than expected. Alex said it felt really special to have that time alone with Henley. I guess I forget how different our parenting experiences are.

For the afternoon we met up with Hal and MM for a tasty lunch at The Congregation in Pasadena. Amazing selection of craft beers, both bottled and draft, as well as a good selection of yummy vegan food. Henley slept through the whole meal, in the carrier of course!

@ Congregation Ale House 

We then took a stroll through a nearby park. We played and relaxed and enjoyed the cake that I made earlier. It was a great Father's Day!

Grandpa singing to Henley

2nd time in the swing...best thing ever! 

Alex and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary last night with lemon basil strawberry shortcake, a bottle of Pinot Noir, and more Orange is the New Black. It's hard to believe that our wedding was 3 years ago, but I also feel like so much has happened since then. I can still feel the overwhelming love of that weekend, with our beautiful friends and family. That feeling feels like yesterday. Although marrying Alex was one of the best moments of my life, the wedding was so much more to me than that. My dream is to able to re-create that no matter how much time has passed. With the friends and family that we have, I know that one day it can happen. :) This might be a ramble, but it's hard to put into words how lucky Alex and I felt to be surrounded by you all at that time. It was just perfect. 

Look at those teeth! Tooth #3 just popped up yesterday. 

Happy Birthday to my wonderful and feisty Grandma today! I can't wait to spend the week with you soon! 

 Have a great weekend everyone! I forgot to take Henley's 7 month photo, so I'll post that next week. Also, we are taking Henley to his first baseball game this weekend! Go Angels!

xoxoxoxo
-D

Zoo, Brews and Fun!

This will be a quick post and our week will mostly be described in pictures. Things really are a lot different in our house now that Henley has mastered some moves. Being able to sit up, both on the ground and in his high chair have made it a lot easier to play together. I also love that he is eating solids now! I was hesitant at first, because I love nursing him, but he has so much fun eating. We are having most of our meals at the table these days, which is awesome family bonding time. He is still sleeping by himself for a couple of hours at night, and that gives Alex and I some much needed adult time (aka "Orange is the New Black" time).

There are those 2 little teeth we've been talking about!

Tasty Green Vegan Pancakes

So in an earlier blog I mentioned the Baby-Led Weaning approach to introducing solids to Henley. I was very excited about this and spent months researching. I had read about babies "gagging" a lot at first because their gag reflex is a lot further up than ours. Even though I totally understand that this is normal, I am having a hard time sticking with it. I literally have panic attacks during every feed, especially if i'm alone. So at the moment we are doing more of a modified plan, giving him solids when Alex is around and I give him more purees when I'm alone. I am kinda bummed about it but I feel a lot safer. As you can see, Henley pretty much shoves everything all the way into his mouth! haha

Golden Road Brewery with Gracie and Jon before the zoo!

They love each other! 

Last Saturday we spent the day with Aunt Gracie and Uncle Jon! We had lunch at Golden Road Brewery, which has an amazing selection of vegan and vegetarian food as well as tasty beers. Jon's sister, mom, brother-in-law and nieces joined up with us for the zoo and we had such a good time!

Sitting up! 

First ride in a swing! 

Trying to move

There is still no signs of crawling, but he is getting one leg up! He is also talking up a storm! He might talk before he walks. haha 

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! I think we are spending the day with Grandpa Hal and Grandmom MM, drinking some tasty craft brews, and touring our local botanical gardens. 

Love you all!

xoxoxo

-D

What an exciting week of firsts!

This has definitely been one of the most exciting weeks so far with Henley. He has grown so much this week, both physically and emotionally. I love watching him learn new things and really get interested in the world around him. He is such a curious boy! Starting at about 2 months, once the 24-hour-a-day nursing period ended, he has always just wanted to be seeing what is going on. He always hated laying down in the stroller, being in his carseat, and lying on the ground on his back. Now that he is older I believe that he just hated being in positions that he couldn't see anything! At the time it was frustrating, but I realize that he might just be super extra curious and that can't be a bad thing!

Movie Night @ Pierce Farm Center

So back to the exciting week! Last Friday I decided to forgo our usual bedtime routine and head out to Pierce Farm Center to check out their Friday night Farmers Market/ Movie on the grass. I didn't know how it would turn out since the movie (Planes) didn't start until 8 and our normal bedtime is 7:30. He did great! We found an amazing hummus and pita guy and chowed down while looking at goats and sheep. They even have a "goat skyway." Henley tried hummus for the first time and of course he loved it! Once the movie started I just nursed him to sleep on our blanket! Crazy! It gets crazier! When the movie was over, we were able to move him from the blanket to the car, drive him home, and get him from the car to bed without waking him! For those of you who know Henley, that's freaking crazy! haha

Boys...

Saturday morning we made another HUGE decision! We decided to try out our local YMCA and leave Henley for a bit in the day care there. He loved it! We only left him for 30 minutes and watched most the time through the window, but he did so good! I have never left him before so I couldn't believe how calm he was! I think it is so good to expose him to other people and the staff were so great with him. We went again last night and left him for an hour this time, and he was a rockstar! I am still contemplating getting a pass, but it was a great start.

Saturday afternoon we went swimming in our pool and Henley slept for 12 hours that night! He woke up twice to eat but then fell right back asleep! He has also slept in the bed by himself at bedtime for 10 nights now! I'll usually put him down at 7:30 and then Alex and I go to bed with him around 10. Things are getting easier everyday. We also found a 2nd tooth coming in right next to the first one. Teething hasn't been as bad as I expected, just a lot of chewing on things!

He loves to smile for the camera! 

New Foods this week
-Brown Rice
-Quinoa
-Asparagus
-Hummus

Last but not least, I had a wonderful birthday on Tuesday. I'm 28! Geez. I definitely feel like I am exactly where I wanted to be by the time I turned 28. I am so happily married to the love of my life (10 outta 28 aint bad!), I have a beautiful baby, and I am surrounded by so many friends and family! I am not quite sure where my career is headed, but I'm ok with that! There are still so many years ahead to figure all that out. I am just living each day at a time and focusing on what I want. :) Thanks for all the birthday love you all!  

Love you all!
xoxoxox
-D