HDH - 32 Weeks....When Did That Happen?!?!

32 weeks old today.

STATS: (As of March 23, 2012)

Weight: 20lbs 3oz (4 weeks ago)

Length: 27.5” (4 weeks ago)

Clothes: 9 – 12 months

Shots: All up-to-date!

Food: Each day he has – 22oz Milk, 3oz oz fruit, 3 oz Veggie, 6tbsp oatmeal, occasionally an extra tbsp applesauce in his oatmeal, just starting to test out puffs, cheese and foods with a bit more texture. (eh, he just likes to play with them) 

Naps: He naps from 1-2/2:30pm and then an evening nap from 6:30 – 7:15.

Sleep: Has bottle at 9 and falls asleep around 9:30 in his crib and is in there till about 9:30am.

..........

Oh my goodness, our son is changing so quickly and growing SO fast.  Literally, growing so fast he is growing right on out of his 9 month clothes!!  Dude, you are a monster.  He is already wearing 12 month clothes.  (I love it!)

This time really flies.  Have I mentioned that before?!  Oh yes, only like ALL the freak’n time.  But really, every week it seems like something about him changes or he has learned to do something new.  It is truly exciting.

So what is new:

- Sitting = Accomplished!  Yep, he is a professional sitter now.  Good job Henry!  He loves to sit and he figured out this week how to put himself into the sitting position from the laying down position.  It is funny seeing him SIT in his crib. (And yes, the crib has been lowered!)

- Babbling = CHECK.  The boy has been talking up a storm lately, especially in the evenings.  He will just carry on this conversation with you that is very philosophical and deep….just like his daddy ;)  Through his babbling you hear words like “Mama”, “Dada”, “Hi” “Hey” but until he can repeat them on demand (which he can’t do), we don’t consider them his first words.  However, it is surprising when all of a sudden you hear something that sounds just like “mama”….it totally catches you off guard!  And the “mamamamamama” sound is always used when he cries. Convenient baby, convenient :)

- Mimicking = CHECK. He loves to mimic, usually in the form a scream or something vocally.  He does also mimic blowing raspberries and pounding on things.

- Laughing & Smiling. = HELLS YEAH!  This boy has an awesome laugh….and the best part is he loves to laugh!  THE. BEST.

- Crawling = Almost!  I call it dead man crawl.  He uses his upper body and part of his lower body to get where he wants (one leg drags the other pushes!!).  He is pretty fast and can turn quickly! (so hilarious to watch)  And while he can get on all fours and move back and forth, he just isn’t ready and hasn’t figured out how to crawl. 

- Standing = Getting there.  He tries to pull himself up, and with just a little assistance from us he can do it.  He is standing, eh…leaning, against things to help him stand.  But he is trying to pull himself up.  I am sure it will be soon as this child is strong!

- Drinking out of a sippy cup = Working on it.  It is still a bit of a toy right now.  He can drink out of it, but he is not very good at it and makes a mess and chews on the top.

- Teeth = NOPE.  Not a one.  We thought one was coming in this week as his drooling went from leaking faucet to busted pipe and he is chewing on EVERY THING in site.  But still haven’t seen anything.

Favorite Things:

·         Laughing

·         Kicking things

·         His suk (pacifier)

·         The ON DEMAND channel on TV. (huh?! Yep. Silly boy)

·         Magazines (He gets mad if I am looking at one and he can’t have it.

·         MOVING! The boy can’t sit still.

·         Jumper.

·         Toys….we have cut back how many toys we give him at one time but he loves toys.

·         His bed & mobile.  His bed is HIS place and he loves it, which is awesome.

·         Music

·         Walks in his stroller

·         His Daddy.

Dislikes:

·         Being too far away from me at night (He has a little separation thing going on)

·         Getting his diaper changed

·         Pasta Primavera in Stage 3 foods

·         Straight up formula

Funny story.  We were at the store and he was riding in the front of the cart.  A couple goes by with a little girl in the cart who seems to be maybe 2 months older than Henry.  Henry had his pacifier in his mouth when he notices the pretty little girl.  He instantly spits that thing out and smiles at the girl.  Yep, he is flirting already!!

 Goofy face time!

"Really, mom?!"

I do not think this will be the last time we see this face!

 He loves his Kristen!

 He loves looking at himself (and raspberry-ing himself) in the mirror!

Getting ready for bed, turned into a mini photo shoot :)

Loves playing toys with his Grandpa

 "Really! Iz had no ideas!"

His favorite channel....the On Demand Channel

This was before we purged all his toys!

 Happy baby boy!

 Grandma & Grandpa!!!

 He loves his Grandma :)

I love you Henry!!!

P.S. Of course I had to enter Henry in the Gap Casting call because I think he is just too flipp'n cute!!  You know, just like the 21,000+ other parents who think their kid is just too flipp'n cute :)

And for the record, I never thought I would be that parent who wanted to enter their child in photo contests....BUT I AM and not ashamed to admit it. (I actually want to enter him in more....just looking for legit ones. No really, I am.)

Folks, I want to show off my child to every poor soul who wants to see him or not.  Thank goodness I have social networking sites so I can just stuff all his cuteness onto all my friends!!! (I shall not apologize.)

Henry

Henry is such a happy baby and brightens up our life and the lives of those close to us with his big smile, goofy laugh and silly personality! Smiling is contagious around him!

Click HERE to see his entry.

Friday Funny! Scratch That…Friday Flipp’n HILARIOUS!

One of the BEST things about having a child is when said child thinks you are the funniest thing EVER!  I know in the future, Henry will think I am totally lame and no longer funny (pshhh) so I am soaking it all up now and getting all the giggles I can out of him!

Well the other night I rocked the Improv with my one (wo)man performance.  Henry thought I was WHO-larious!!

I know it sounds like he is crying, but believe me he is cracking UP.  His face was bright red and he was shrieking with laughter.  And what was I doing to get this laughter, just making some random noise and shaking my head. (I know. Genius.)

For the record, I will be taking my act on the road, performing for babies all over the Midwest.  I do noises, I shake my body, eat toes, get noses, and an array of other skits that have babies rolling in their seats. (Literally rolling for some because they can’t crawl or sit yet. Others, only wish they could roll in their seats….someday little ones, some day.)

Please enjoy the videos.  And sorry for the poor video quality, it was on my camera phone (circa 2008) and I wasn’t paying attention to how I was filming.  I can’t do it all folks.

ENJOY!!!!!

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup!

My sister and I will make meals and then trade with each other containers of food.  Last week she gave me a delicious chicken taco soup that was made in a slow cooker. Taco soup IN a Crockpot….you can’t beat that!

The soup really was tasty and a bit spicy! Delicious.

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

1 (16 ounce) can chili beans

1 (15 ounce) can black beans

1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer

2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained

1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning

3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts

shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)

sour cream (optional)

crushed tortilla chips (optional)

Directions:

Place the onion, chili beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer, and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker. Add taco seasoning, and stir to blend. Lay chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients. Set slow cooker for low heat, cover, and cook for 5 hours.

Remove chicken breasts from the soup, and allow to cool long enough to be handled. Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup, and continue cooking for 2 hours. (My sister just let it cook all day and shredded it before eating, she didn’t do the 2 hour thing)

Serve topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips, if desired.

Enjoy!