Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Liza.

I am officially 39 weeks pregnant with our baby girl. Elizabeth Ophelia --- Liza --- is due next Thursday, July 29. I am prepared for the long haul of 42 weeks, if need be, but feel emotionally and physically ready to get this new little person into the world.

At this point, it seems like I have been pregnant for my entire life rather just the past 39 weeks. I lay in bed at night and wonder if I will ever feel normal again and just how much bigger my belly can stretch.

Except for a few decoratvie details in her very very pink bedroom, there is nothing left to accomplish on my to-do list. I find myself refolding and reorganizing her clothes at least every other day as Henry organizes her bin of soft little baby toys in different drawers and spaces through her room.

I'm looking forward to sharing the special story of her birth very soon!

Mmmmm.



A healthy options lunch.

*hummus with carrot and green bell pepper sticks, shredded cheese, mustard for dipping, corn, celery with peanut butter, plain yogurt with honey and strawberries and almonds*

But, I won't lie....

Due to an extremely pregnant and unmotivated mother, Henry has eaten peanut butter and jelly for lunch for several weeks. If he happens to eat something different for lunch, he makes sure he gets his baba for dinner.

Let's hope it won't be long before we are back to a normal pattern of life.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Sitting.




Although my urgency to screw the bookshelf into the wall last summer was unfounded, Henry started hanging out in the bookshelf recently. I am still surprised that it took so long for him to climb onto a shelf but he really isn't a natural climber and it took him several minutes to figure out how to finagle his little body onto this shelf. Pretty cute, huh?

Moo.



Henry firmly believes that he can not wear his cow hat without also wearing his sunglasses. Apparently, they go together. If he can only find the cow hat, he covers his eyes with his hands to show that he needs his shades.....if he can only find the sunglasses, he signs cow and says "meh meh". That is MOO is Henryese.

How do you like those Christmas pajamas in July?!? This kid thinks they are pretty awesome.


Sweet cousins.




Henry loves his cousins, Jobe and Emily Caine. Ashlyn, their other Dearman cousin, and Jobe pair off and it has been so much fun to see how EC and Henry are starting to click and become buddies. I love thinking about the years of fun to come as these kids grow up together!


Us.

Still a corn boy!


wawa.




The fact that Henry will play quietly and happily in the sink for 30 minutes at a time is a great motivator for me to load the dishwasher and keep the sink clean. I'm always in search of an external motivator to make me do things that need to be done so this is a mutually beneficial relationship for the two of us.

Woo woo!


Bragging and Documenting


23 months......almost 2 and almost a big brother!

Henry runs his mouth nonstop, although most of it is still jibber jabber:
ba ba - bread, his favorite food just like his mama
any word that starts with a 'b' is ba, including but not limited to battery, baby, beans, bed, bath, book, Pops (a non b word and Taylor's dad)
Dada, Mama, choo choo (train), woo woo (fire truck), wa wa (water), door, dark, Yaya (my mom), woof woof (dog), cheese, chicken, shoes, bubble, ball, Jimmy (our cat), dirt, moo (cow)

He still loves his signs:
help, please, thank you, star, light, horse, cereal, cat, cow, sunlasses, hat, hungry, fire truck

His favorite foods:
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bread (many fits have started when I refuse to give him more bread), all fruit, oatmeal, cheese, edamame, cream cheese

For months I have worked with Henry to pick up his toys and follow simple commands. Taylor says that I boss him around all day and while it may seem like this to some, I now have a very helpful little person in our house. He helps put his cars/trains in the bucket, picks up his books, puts magnets on the fridge, knows exactly where his toys go on the bookshelf, puts his clothes in the dirty clothes hamper, puts diapers and various objects on his changing table, puts his shoes in his shoe basket, and puts Taylor's millions of shoes in our bedroom, helps me unload the dishwasher which is great because I don't have to bend down to get the dishes on the bottom rack and puts things in the recycling bin for me. He wants to put his dishes in the sink but is still too short!

He is still so tiny (although he seems so big until we are around other kids his age) and wearing most of the same clothes from last summer. I am very curious about his percentiles at his 2 year old appointment. Is he still hanging strong in the 5%? Like Ms. Ellen says, somebody has to be in the 5th%....

He is a joy in our lives and we are thankful for every day with our little boy! I am trying to soak up these last few days of him being our only child....