Henry's Adventures

As I mentioned in the last post Henry had quite the adventurous weekend with my mom and step dad (nauna & bapa) last weekend while Chris and I were camping in Sun Lakes. He had play dates with some of their friends kids, went out to dinner, had numerous walks in Bob the stroller (which he just loves!) and countless other adventures which some are captured below. They were so cute to make us a CD of all his photos/videos of his weekend adventures. He just loves his nauna & bapa so much and Chris and I are so thankful to share our sweet little boy with them.

Henry at the zoo - (posing with the gorilla..moms favorite part of the zoo!)
Bapa took Henry to see his first test flight on Saturday morning and was so thoughtful to make a pit stop over to his daddy's plane. Chris got his pilots license about a year ago now and the plane in the back ground with the blue tarp on the windshield is his. It's a Beaver, which is currently on wheels but will soon be back on floats so he can get his float rating this summer.

Visiting one of Seattle's landmarks - The Freemont Troll

Sun Lakes

Well this past weekend marked the first time Chris and I were away from Henry for an extended period of time. Every year for the past 20+ years Chris' family heads over to Sun Lakes for opening fishing weekend to camp and fish with family and close friends. This marked the 6th year I have been and we both look forward to it every year. However, this year I was a bit unsure about heading over to Eastern Washington without our little guy. After about 3 melt downs (all before reaching North Bend) I pulled it together and focused on having the best time possible with my hubby. We have had zero time for one another and really needed this weekend to kick back and have a few laughs together. And I am happy to say we did just that and absolutely enjoyed every minute of it. I will admit that I had to call my parents 2 - 3 times a day to check in on Henry but aside from the mid-afternoon love sick feeling of missing him so much I did really well. I can't wait for next year when we can take Henry with us. He is just too little for camping and boating just yet.

Anyway, here are some pics of our weekend. I will post an update on Henry's adventrous weekend with my parents (nauna and bapa) later this week. :o)

Alicia & Ayla enjoying the sunshine:

Ayla in the driver's seat:Anthony's first catch of the day:
Uncle Tommy:

Grandpa Dan:

Johanna & Snickers giving eachother loves:

Friendship & Mommyhood

I know it sounds mushy but I really feel so blessed to have such a wonderful circle of girlfriends in my life. Last week reminded me how blessed I am and thankful to have friends to share this journey of mommyhood with.

Thursday Ayla and Alicia came over for a play date. Ayla just loved Henry and was really checking out a real live baby! It was pretty darn cute to watch her explore him and to see how much she has developed in these past couple months. I can't wait for Henry to really be able to interact with other little ones.

On Friday Katie hosted some of us girls for lunch with the little ones. At one point I think we all had to take in the scenery....babies everywhere! Funny how things change. The simple chitchat of life after babies and enjoying one anothers company over lunch (and of course champagne!) was absolutely refreshing and a routine I hope we continue to do. Saturday, Camille took the train up from Portland to see us. It was so great to see one of my best friends and introduce Henry to her. She was a natural and really loved every minute of it. Dad watched Henry for the night so we could have some girl time and catch up. I so cherish this time with her and cant wait to get down to Portland to see her again soon. Anyway, today Henry and I have been enjoying the sunshine and really soaking in how lucky we are to have such an incredible family and group of friends in our life. I think Henry's smile says it all!

Easter

We enjoyed a day filled with family for Easter starting off with breakfast with my parents and dinner over at Grandpa Dan's. Henry got several Easter baskets filled with treats for him and us. My mom even got me a bag full of all my favorite face products. She gets me a basket every year and I fully admit I still look forward to it. I don't think you are ever too old to get spoiled by your mommy!

Anyway, it was a wonderful day and Henry was so good. He is such a happy little boy! Here are some of the pics from the day:

3 generations of Carpinito boys (Grandpa, Dad and Henry)

Uncle Andy giving Henry bunny ears...
A turn with each of my uncles (Thomas, Andy and Adam)...all boys around here!And, of course time with mommy:I recently discovered my hands...There's nothing better than these big eyes! Can't wait to find out what color they end up being...still a toss up!

A New View

I will update on our Easter later today when I have more time but I had to post one of my favorite pictures of Henry from this past week. He is starting to really like sitting up and is getting better at it each day. Notice his doggie Cole peaking in the window from outside. Can't wait to let Henry ride his very own Black Lab Pony! ;o)

Fun In The Sun

We had such a great weekend soaking up the beautiful Seattle Sunshine! Truly I don't think there are many places on Earth more beautiful than Seattle when we have weather like we did yesterday (and today!).

Anyway, we had an action packed weekend. Saturday morning Henry and I headed up to Seattle to visit my parents. They just bought the Bob Stroller so we wanted to take it for a spin around Green Lake. By the time I got up there it was lunch time so we decided to just walk to lunch. The catch....Henry was awake! The other two trips to a restaurant he has been asleep. So I wasn't sure what we were getting ourselves into. However, he loves his Bob so much he sat there at the table with us happy as can be. Chris drove up a little later and he and I walked down a couple blocks from my parents to a total dive bar to watch the UNC B-ball game and have a pitcher of beer. My parents live 7 blocks from Green Lake and right in the middle of great choices of outdoor activities, restaurants, movie theaters, etc yet you wouldn't even know it was all there as their neighborhood is such a cute and kid friendly place. One neighbor just had a little girl and the other has a 1 year old boy. Henry will definitely get lots of sidewalk chalk playtime with them I am sure of it! ;o)

Moving on to Sunday. Chris made mom breakfast in bed and then we got up a ready and finally bought a video camera! I still need to learn to use it but we are very excited to capture Henry moments and share with you all as we certainly think they are priceless! After that we packed up the dogs and headed up to the family lake house on Lake Meridan (just about 10 minutes from our house). Henry loved his baby bjorn and wore a baseball cap for the first time! It was so warm and sunny that I was worried about him getting burned so I walked around with an umbrella to protect him as well. Pretty funny! Anyway, here are a few pics from the weekend. Hope the rest of you in Seattle enjoyed the sun. We are off to walk later today and soak up some more Vitamin D!

Checking In

It's been awhile since I posted an update so I thought I would check in really quick to fill everyone in on the latest and greatest at the Carpinito household. ;o)

Henry is growing like a weed and talking more and more every day. He is so much fun. Sleep still has its ups and downs. We seem to be back to every 3 hours at night. I no longer get a 5 hour stretch. Hoping it's just a growth spurt and we will go back to the 5 hour stretch here shortly. But overall he is a great night time sleeper and once he is fed/changed he goes right back down in a flash. Day time naps are still limited. He will nap for 20 - 30 minutes on his own a couple times but the only way I get a good stretch out of him is if he is laying with mom or if we are driving in the car. He actually stayed asleep for 3 hours in his car seat after a car ride back from my parents house in Seattle. In the last couple days he has started to like his swing and has taken a quick snooze or two which is great to finally get some good use out of it! Last week I also spent my first night away from him. I have been really upset about having to leave him for a weekend in about a month for a fishing trip and we thought I should give it a test drive to see if I could actually do it. I cried the moment I got on the freeway headed home from my parents but I have to say it was nice to have a night out with Chris and get a few things done around the house that I simply cannot do with him home. I really don't want to spend a night away from him again anytime soon but feel blessed to have parents I trust so deeply. Plus Henry really seems to love his nauna and bapa and his trips to their house. Chris and I also took him out to his first restaurant with us and he slept the entire time! It was such a treat to get out for a meal as a family. We also started an evening routine with Henry about a week ago and it seems to be helping him wind down and get ready for bed time. Basically, he gets a bath, changed to his PJ's, we read a few books and sometimes mom sings to him while we rock, have a bedtime feeding and once he is asleep we put him down in his bed vs. letting him stay asleep on dad while he watches the tube. He is just fine sleeping on his own and will stay down for a few hours until he needs to fill up his belly again.

Aside from baby, mom is getting the hang of things too. I have actually cooked dinner two days in a row this week and have been getting to the gym about 2 - 3 times a week. May seem like small things but when you have a newborn its really a great accomplishment to start to get back to some 'normal' activities.

To sum it up...things are great and each day holds a new adventure. I can't believe how fast babies grow up! Absolutely incredible the transformation Henry has made in the last 10 weeks. We are buying a video camera so we can share with you all Henry's new tricks (talking up a storm!)...so stay tuned.