12 month check up.

Henry is still chugging along on his very own growth curve...at the very bottom of the chart....

Weight: 18 pounds and 13 ounces -- 5%

Height: 27.5 inches -- 5%

Head: 50% --not sure about the inchage

He got his 12 month shots and I am very glad that we chose to vaccinate on schedule because my mother has the whooping cough! So, get better Mama and we will see you soon!

Happy Birthday, Henry!

My favorite picture of the day. I made that cake myself and very proud of it!

This was the best attempt to get the kids all together for a picture. Henry was the only one not cooperating.

Pops playing with children in Henry's room.

Balloons are festive.

Still so proud...

Thanks for everyone who made the trip to Starkville for Henry's birthday party. Henry told me that he had a lot of fun playing with his new toys and books.

Lizbeth, Mama, and Daddy,

Thanks for all the help. I was so glad to have yall for weekend!

num yummy.

Can you tell that he is covered in corn from head to toe???

I'm listening.

henry's best friend.

playing at the park in May

play date at the union in February

dinner date at our house a few weeks ago

Henry loves Amelia. She is 4 months older than Henry and she is very good at showing Henry what he needs to do when he gets bigger. Her mama, Carmen, and I always have a good time together and our babies really are best friends. Henry can spot Amelia in a crowd and then he has to go knock her down and grab at her face. Apparently, that is how he shows his love to girlfriends. Hopefully that trend will end soon.......

Dueling Great-Grandparents.

exploring a great-grandmother's face
vs.
exploring a great-grandfather's "playroom"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

crawling
vs.

walking
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

fussing about posing for a picture
vs.

fussing about sitting in a baby swing

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

green plaid

vs.

green gingham

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AND THE WINNER IS ............................

long time no blog.

I know. I know. It's been my longest blogging absence ever. Henry has been keeping me super busy during the day and I have been napping while he naps (not sure that rule still applies at 11 months) and just plain lazy after he goes to bed at night. With that being said, let's move on to my boy.....

Henry started walking 2 weeks ago. He is into absolutely everything he can reach with his grubby little hands. We are still in the process of babyproofing -- our guest room looks like a library storage room with books and 35 years of National Geographics piled up everywhere.

Our little boy is finally saying 'mama' and 'dada.' I am pretty sure that he knows 'dada' is Taylor but he doesn't seem to know that I am 'mama.' But, I'm satisfied that he is at least said 'mama' first even if it still doesn't have the understanding behind it. Taylor said this morning Henry said 'cat' when he opened up the back door for them to visit Jimmy the cat. I've had my suspicions that he has been saying 'kitty' for a while so I suppose 'cat/kitty' is his first real word. Pretty cute, huh?!?

He loves watching animals. When all else fails to make him happy, we will stand in the front yard and watch the college kids walk their dogs. He yells at each dog he sees. It makes me sad that we don't have little Juhu and Maggie in our lives to entertain this kid. I can just see how much he would have loved those dogs.

It's amazing watching this boy grow. He understands more everyday and is communicating in his own little baby way-- hollering, hitting the table, throwing his body down to show discontent, etc. He is also developing very strong opinions about what he wants to do and about what he doesn't want to do.

This is a pretty jumbled up post. But, I promise to do better in the future!

peek-a-boo?

Henry is quite proud of his new found peek-a-boo skills.....so proud that he thinks the skill transfers to all his toys. He takes plastic keys, blocks, diaper rash cream, or whatever he is chewing on at that moment and holds it high up over his head with his arms straight. Then, he quickly brings his arms, and the toy, down to chest level. He now thinks this is how you play peek-a-boo; the whole 'hiding' facet is lost on him.

But why wouldn't he think this is peek-a-boo? Every time he does it, Taylor and I yell "peek-a-boo" like he just invented the game. It's pretty funny. Or at least it's pretty funny when you are the mama. or the daddy.

5/6 of a year....

Henry is 10 months old today. He has grown and developed so much in just the past week. Sometimes it makes me sad that he will never be my little baby again but a while back Taylor told me that as long as he is our son, he will always be our baby. awwwwww. sweet.....

• He started officially crawling about 4 days ago. Visiting Lizbeth and David, he practiced on his hands and knees but he is officially independently mobile now. And, into everything....




• But, he still prefers to stand and cruise on the furniture. He can pull up on anything and everything. Just yesterday, he started taking steps on his own once I pushed the coffee table farther away from the couch. He took steps between Taylor and me and on the way to his toys. It won't be long till he walks. And, I have a feeling that running won't be long to follow. He already seems to be in such a hurry.




• Henry loves being around other little children. At the Tiny Tots library program, he kissed (leans into your face with his mouth wide open) another little boy on the cheek. It was precious!!!




• Eating is going well. His favorites are bananas, processed cheese, and cooked apple pieces with cinnamon. We are finger fooding it all the way. He has gotten quite good at the pincer grasp.




• He is still going to OT twice a week. This is definitely one of the highlights of Henry's days. He loves Jamie and he even loves the spoon when it is in her hand. She has been a miracle worker for our family!!!




• Speaking of miracle workers, we are working on baby signs. All day long, I sign 'more (Henry's sign for more is banging on the table with his hand, not so polite if you ask me...), outside, fan, please, thank you, and all done.' We've been signing for a few weeks now and I really feel that once the first sign clicks he will be a little signing sponge.




• He is finally babbling. Yesterday, Taylor woke me up with the news that Henry is speaking French. Apparently 'a ba, a ba, a ba' is French. ha! He said ba, ba, ba all day long -- happily when he was happy and angrily when he was angry. His little voice is so sweet. So, of course I am saying 'mama' even more to him now. To which he responds, "ba?"




• Henry is becoming a daddy's boy more and more by the day. This is no surprise because Taylor is a pretty fun baby's daddy. He plays nonstop with Henry. Apparently, Henry LOVES it when Taylor tracks down roaches (thankfully, I wasn't there for that event) so now Taylor crawls around 'hunting things.'



• My mother was so relieved to hear that he is finally playing peek-a-boo with blankets. Apparently, her children were far more advanced than her grandson in the peek-a-boo department.

10 months? wow.

determination.

Little Dinosaur Chicken has finally decided that independent mobility is worthwhile of uncomfortable knees.

Hope does such a great job of describing our fun pool party at Polly's that there is no need for me to even try......but, I will duplicate the precious pictures of my baby! Thanks, Hope!

verbiage.

I've been in a bit of a funk lately and I have a feeling that explains my lack of verbiage of late. So, I figured I betting getting verbing. ha!

Now for the verbs. and nouns. and adjectives. and everything else that goes into sentences that my mushy brain can't even remember.

1. As previously posted, Henry is eating food. Let me put this in perspective for you... Between 6 months to 9 months, chicken boy gained less than one pound. In the past 3 weeks of eating, he has gained o.5 pounds. Nice, huh? Update: Since beginning this post, Henry woke up from his nap and just ate 7 bites from a spoon. in our house. fed by me. MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH!

2. It makes me depressed to live in a college town in the midst of the college neighborhood and not have a summertime tan. Superficial? Yes. Factual? Yes. I'm planning on crashing the Cotton District pool from now on but old Dan Camp will hurt my feeling when he makes me gather my child and all my belongings and leave because I don't live in one of his rentals.

3. Taylor has a new job and loves it. He might not say he loves it if you asked him about it. But, trust me, he loves it. It's always good to have a job that actually uses all your fancy college degrees, that helps an underserved population and that you don't have to wear a uniform in order to follow dresscode. Taylor is moving on up in the world....no more uniforms!

4. I've ordered a refurbished Dyson vacuum cleaner. This is a monumental event for me. Who ever thought I would be excited about a vacuum cleaner? But, I am really really really excited. Best of all? It's pink. Yes, my vacuum cleaner will join the ranks of my pink laptop and pink cell phone. Just you wait for a future post dedicated to the pink loves of my life. Actually, the pink cell phone is the crappiest phone I've ever had. But, I do really like that it is such a pretty shade of pink and that helps alot.

5.Yesterday was good. I was social for the first time in a while. Unless you count going to the Palmer Home Thrift Store, Kroger, and Henry's OT appointments as being social.... So, yesterday was good. We went swimming at a friend's pool. Once Hope dutifully posts the beautiful pictures of my child on her blog, I will post them for you to see. It was good to be around my friends and watch their children play together. It had been too long without a good visit and I really needed it. Then, a friend and his new fiancee came to our house for dinner. Since they don't know this blog exists, I will tell you how nice it was to be around a couple newly in love. They held hands on top of the table and gazed lovingly into each other's eyes. Every sentence started with "we..." It was cute. I liked it.

6. I believe that is all the verbing my brain is up for today. Thank you for reading.

sweet. sweet. sweet.

visiting friends.

Henry and I had a great visit with our friends Emily, Brad and their baby Graham. Actually, Graham isn't such a baby anymore....he is a comprehending, baby signing, running toddler and only 6 months older than Henry. Graham really made me excited about all the new things in Henry's near future. Anyway, we had a great visit and although we failed to get a picture of us holding our children, the pictures of kids sure are cute. Hopfully, it won't be another 6 months until we see yall again!!!!

This was Henry's first time to share bath time with a friend. As always, he is a ham for the camera! Graham? Not such a camera ham.

Can you tell that Henry loved watching Graham's every move??

Graham was super sweet sharing his table toy!

daddy.

what's cooking?

This boy finally loves to eat. His favorites are bananas, cream cheese, cheerios, tortillas with melted cheddar, brown rice and avocado. He even accepted a globby mix of bananas, apples, coconut and flaxseed meal from a spoon this morning!

miss you, daddy.

musings.

Hmmm...I wonder why Henry awoke shortly after this picture was taken???

Note: I did not take this picture.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

See the shadow? I was peeking in through the door.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Henry has the munchies....

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This picture is a new favorite. Such a sweet face.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. 10. 75.

Even though Little Man grew 2 inches (to a wopping 26 1/4 inches) in the past three months, he is still in the 5th percentile for height. Yes, I laughed out loud. And, I didn't even question the nurse about the missing zero. I immediately understand this time around, that is was just a plain 5. Not a 50.

He weighs 17lbs and 4oz. Which puts in the 10th percentile for weight. He hasn't even gained a whole pound in the past 3 months. Ha! Maybe he'll chunk up a little more now that he is showing actual interest in real food. But, then again, maybe he won't. His mama and his daddy have always been on the scrawny side, so it only seems natural that he would follow suit.

I can hear my mother in the background...."but, what about his head??" Yes, Mama, his head is in the 75th percentile. I know, I know. It's big.

Big Little Man

Henry celebrated his 9 month birthday yesterday, May 17. It was a small affair -- fried eggs, cheerios, water in a sippy cup and a 2 hour long Dearman family late afternoon nap.

As you can see, Little Man has developed quite a few very strong opinions........

Henry loves:

• waking up at 5:30 am on the dot every single day.
• his morning nap no later than 8 am.
• wearing super cute outfits every day (well, maybe that's what his mama likes....)
• running around the house in his walker and walking behind his push toy.
• cackling at our cat, Jimmy.
• swinging on the front porch and watching small town life in action.
• picking up and attempting to eat his finger foods.
• cruising around the coffee table and kitchen chairs.
• bathtime in the kitchen sink while chewing on his baby toothbrush.
• our daily stroll around the neighborhood and campus with his daddy.
• the two girls I keep after school.
• going to sleep early and sleeping through the night.
• going to the Farmer's Market and getting lots of compliments.
• having his mama in sight at all times.
• reading and chewing on Brown Bear Brown Bear.
• playing with his daddy.

Henry hates:

• spoons with food.
• getting his diaper changed and putting on clothes, aka "baby torture."
• losing sight of his mama.
• playing by himself for more than 5 minutes at a time.
• not being able to eat our "National Geographic" magazines.

All in all, he is a happy baby who is still very easy to console and entertain. Seperation anxiety has hit pretty hard during the past few weeks -- he wants me to hold him while he plays with Taylor -- it's funny how our roles are already so clearly defined in his life.
He loves us and we love him!!!!
His 9 month appointment is Wednesday. I am going to laugh out loud if he is still in the 5th percentile for height!!!

five minutes in photos.

P.S. - I mourn the day he is too big for to wear bubbles.

go. go. go.

Our little man has preferred to be upright since the ripe old age of 5 weeks...

.....but now, he is no longer satisfied just hanging out on daddy's lap or clinging to the coffee table.

Now, he wants to go. go. go. at all times!!

num yummy.

Although Henry still believes that a spoon loaded with food and aimed toward his mouth is a reason to cry and shake his head 'no', he is now more than willing to pick up real people food and attempt to feed himself. Here he demonstrates his newfound skills with his mama's yummy red beans and rice.

He might not let me feed him but thankfully, he willingly allows me to wash his hands without a fight!

Just doing what babies are supposed to do.....

I'll help you, Mama....