Halloween Night

As I sit here waiting for more trick or treaters at my parents house I thought I would post a few picks of our little pumpkin on his first Halloween. He loved the carved pumpkins (and watching us carve them) and all the little kids knocking on the door. He is now sound asleep (hopefully for the night) and mom is having a nice glass of wine and enjoying time with my mom and Bill while dad is cleaning up the pumpkin patch (poor dad!). Hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween!

Happy Halloween

Our kind of full moon for Halloween.....

Lookin' Like Papa Gabby

Maybe it's me but I see a lot of my dad in Henry. However, I will say Henry has a good mix of both sides of Chris and I, but this picture really reminds me of my daddy when he was little. Could be the whole lip tuck and cheeks!

PEPS

Yesterday at our PEPS Meeting we decided to dress the kids up in their Halloween Costumes. Here are some of my favorite pics (the lighting in the museum was funky so the pics are just so so).

(From left to right: Kena the Turtle, Cole the Monkey, Ben the Firefighter, Micah the Dragon, Isabella the Princess, Henry the Pumpkin and Parker the Scarecrow)

Love this kid cont....

Here is part 2 of our rainy day in PJ's yesterday...couldn't help but post a few more of the little man.Helping mom with the laundry...Hey lady are you done yet....All smiles around here....

Love this kid....

Mum Mum

Stats

We just got back from Henry's 9 month appointment and as expected he is right on track and doing fantastic. This appointment had a few more tears than before as they had to poke his toe to get blood for an iron test and he was not happy about it at all. He also had to get his 3rd round of the HepB shot. So, he is now sleeping with a full belly and hopefully will be in much better spirits when he wakes up. Here is his stats:

Height: 31 1/2 inches (99.7% or average height of an 16 month old)
Weight: 22 lbs (75%, however our scale has been testing 24 lbs lately and he had to enormous poops before his appointment and didn't have lunch prior so the doc thinks our weight may be more accurate. Regardless he is doing great and just getting a bit more long and lean)
Head: 47 1/ (95%)

Giggles

3/4 of a year....

Yes, that's right Henry is 9 months old today! I cannot believe it! Time really is flying by. Every day he is starting to look more and more like a little boy and not a baby. As I have said a million times before he is truly the light of our lives. I simply cannot get enough of him. He is the most perfect little human I have ever met in my life, not to mention the funniest person we know.

So, what's new at 9 months? Well...

-He has been saying dada for a couple weeks now and started saying mama yesterday! Seriously the coolest sound ever!
-He is a crawling machine and is trying to hike is leg up and crawl over anything you put in front of him. Henry is all BOY that is for sure!
- He has 3 teeth and a few more should erupt in the next couple weeks....teething is not so much fun! Can't wait to get these tops ones out so he and I can have a bit of a break.
- Unfortunately, he is still not sleeping through the night. But, I think this has to do with his teething right now. He is only getting up about once a night, which isn't too bad.
- He naps like a pro! 2 - 3 a day....definitely on a routine.
- And, we think he is about 25 pounds and is wearing 18 month clothes! More stats on Friday after his 9 month check-up. We have one big boy on our hands!

Henry's Pony

Henry loves his doggies (one day will become his ponies). He is sure to give you a good giggle when playing with them. Today I caught him and Cole having a conversation through the living room window....can't wait to watch them play catch together one day soon. Henry is already learning how to grab the chuck it...yep dad is pretty happy with his baseball grip. ;o)

Caught In Action..

Henry started crawling a month ago but I have yet to post any evidence of it. I am having problems downloading from our video camera so this is from Chris' camera...not the greatest quality but still shows his moves, oh and it's sideways can't get it to flip. Anyway, Henry gets super excited and giggles the whole way from point A to Z. He really is the funniest person we know. I will figure out the camera and post better footage later.

Lil' Pumpkin

It's been a rough few days around our house as our little pumpkin is cutting several teeth at once. Lot's of fussing and lack of sleep around here. However, Henry seemed to really like his new pumpkin hat (goes with his Halloween costume) and his Ugg Boots from his nauna. I just couldn't help myself from taking his photo as he is just so stinkin' cute. And, no matter how much fuss goes on all I have to do is look at that precious little face. I just love him sooooo very much.

The Ever Expanding Play Date!

This past Thursday we had a play date with all the babies while Jen and Dett are visiting. These play dates just keep growing in size and are becoming even more chaotic! Aside from the twins, Henry is the only other really mobile child right now. I can't even picture how crazy it is going to be when they are all getting into everything. So great to see everyone. I know I sure got a workout by the end of the day. Man, my kid is all over the place! Play dates were so much easier when I could just sit him down and concentrate on my wine/adult conversation....lol. Times are changing! But, honestly it is so much fun to watch him explore.

Auntie Dett and some of the babies (Izzy 3months & weeks, Henry 8 1/2 months, Westyn 6 1/2 months & Calum 5 months)

Dett & Henry (his new funny face he keeps making...)
Izzy & Kena 3 months & 3 weeks (1 day apart)Jess & Izzy:Gorgeous Calum enjoying the Jumperoo...of course Henry had to check things out too:The beautiful twins (Carter & Chloe - 14 months)The boys checking out the stereo...such dudes:Any my sweaty self with Henry and Kena...don't even know why I bother having my hair down as it goes right up after 5 minutes of chasing Henry around:Henry & Kenai checking things out:

Flu Shot?

I thought I would reach out to all you mommies to get your input on the flu shot. I am torn on what to do for our little man. I only recently (the last two years) started getting flu shots, mainly due to pregnancy and I plan to get at least the seasonal flu shot for myself. Chris has never had a flu shot and does not want to start now. But, my main concern is Henry. Given I am a stay at home mom I have been leaning towards not getting the shot(s) for him, especially after reading all the ingredients in these shots (you would be very surprised!). However, we do participate in two group activities with lots of other babies each week. After hearing more and more cases of the swine flu (mainly in older kids) it has started to make me a bit uneasy. Even the small town in West Virginia where one of my uncles lives has had a death of a 14 year old boy due to the swine virus. So here I am reading, debating on what to do. There is the season flu shot and the H1N1 (swine). You can't get them at the same time which means two pokes. Also, I have heard that due to the urgency to get the H1N1 out the levels of mercury are not being as closely monitored as they are in the seasonal flu vaccine. Any advice/opinions is greatly appreciated as we decide what direction to head.