5 Months

Yesterday was not only a special day being Chris first Father's day but it was also Henry's 5 month birthday! Chris is doing an amazing job with Henry. He really adores his daddy. I cannot believe 5 months has already gone by. Even more incredible is the rapid changes from the time of his birth to now that have occurred. He is becoming more and more a little boy and not so much a fragile baby! Crazy how fast the development is in their first year of life. Some of the new things lately are he has perfected his tripod sit (pic on last post at Little Gym shows this great), the past few days he finally has discovered his toes (I am just waiting for him to put them in his mouth next!), this morning I am pretty sure he grabbed my neck and gave me several kisses (absolutely melted my heart), yesterday he sat at the dinner table with the family in his new travel booster seat and even had his dinner with us (he loved every minute of it), he rode in his new convertible car seat yesterday and enjoyed seeing out the window so much and we are on day 6 of his sleeping all by himself in his own room. I could not be more happy and proud of our little boy. I will post more details on the sleep training later this week as it has been such a big milestone for us. :o)

All of the Carpinito Boys:

Standing Tall (In my Carhart's..thanks Max & Scott!):Dinner Table (with Henry joining us):

Henry and his big boy seat:

Father's Day Cake:

Anthony's Bday Cake (JoJo made this by hand...so cute!) Tummy Time w/ Uncle Adam:Henry loves JoJo (he giggled so much with her...too cute!)Rich I don't like little Snickers! (He doesn't mind our 80+ lbs dogs...something about the little critters that scared him for the first time)

Grandpa, Daddy & Henry:

Little Gym

About 3 weeks ago Henry and I started weekly classes at Little Gym. We both love it and this past week we were able to share it with the grandmas as it was the end of the spring semester and they have what's called "The Big Show". It's just the normal class with a award ceremony at the end and other family members are able to watch/join in. Henry was such a little show off. It was hysterical. At one point he was just sitting high up on this tall mat in his tripod sit smiling away (pic above) and I looked around and every pair of eyes were on him. His smile really does light up the room. He also was the only baby talking and squealing in delight. Pretty cute and made me so proud of him. I highly recommend any moms/dads that haven't looked into Little Gym to do so as it is an amazing way to work on development activities, meet other parents/babes and bond with your little one. We love it so much we are already signed up for summer and fall semesters!

At each class we start off in a circle and do stretches, play with rattles, sing songs, move in circles to different songs/positions and do a few flips (which Henry loves!)

One of the many activities is the parachute. You put the little one down in the middle either sitting up or laying down and the parents are around the perimeter. We walk in circles and spin them singing the wheels on the bus and then move the parachute up and down around them. The colors light up their eyes. Really cute to watch their reactions. We also lay them under the parachute so they can see color on top as well. At every class we have the exlporing time where you take your little one around each of the areas (balance beams, bars, inclined matts, floor exercises, etc.) Right now it's mostly tummy time and forward flips (of course with mom's assistance and mostly all in the air as you don't put pressure on their heads just yet).

We also have time to play with balls and bubbles at the end of the class. I can't wait for Henry to be able to sit up and push the ball back and forth with me. I want to start him early on his ball handling skills as you know he is going to be a basketball player if I have anything to do about it! ;o)And finally Henry getting his first medal (he was more interested in his toes)!

Henry & Friends

At my friend Keri's shower this past weekend we were able to get some of the kiddos together for some pictures. If you can't tell by their faces there were about 10+ women standing in front of them dying laughing. It was so funny and adorable. Once again this weekend was another reminder of how lucky we all are to have such a large network of mommy's to play with, learn from, share ups and downs and grow up together. I don't think we realize just how lucky we are. Not many people get to have such great friends sharing a journey together like we do. Anyway, get ready for some laughs as these babes are pretty darn cute!

We just sat them down and Henry went right for Westyn. I think he is trying to make sure Jett knows she is his! Lol(Lily 19 months, Jett almost 7 months, Westyn about 3 months & Henry about 5 months)

Mom needs to remember to take off my binker. It's right in front of his wee wee! Oops!

Come back here!I told you she was mine Jett!Um, what's she doing?I think Westyn is saying, "Get me out of here mom!"And, then it was just the boys!What is going on? You people are weird!

I'm over it mom!

Kisses from Lily - Henry's first little lady giving him kisses!

Westyn & Henry watching Keri open presents & Lily playing with the babies. I think she wants a brother or sister Lisa! ;o)

Play Time

Swings Ropes...can't wait until I can climb up! Riding on nauna's shoulders and pulling her hair:

My new rocking chair for nauna and bapa's porch that we found at a garage sale:

Riding my pony all by myself (for like 5 seconds before nauna has to catch me!):

Tummy Time:

Change Is Good

This week I made the decision to be a full time stay at home mom. After 5 months of maternity leave I have had a lot of time to dig deep and do some soul searching on if going back to work or staying at home is the right path to take. I officially gave my notice and am truly excited to be at home with my beautiful little boy.

Ever since I was 16 yrs old I have had a job (with a paycheck) and to make this transition is exciting and scary at the same time. I have always been someone who likes to know I can take care of myself at any given time and the idea of not having income coming in and relying solely on my husband took me awhile to swallow. However, I will say I am jumping in with two feet and fully trust Chris to take care of us financially, emotionally, etc. He is a wonderful husband and father and we are constantly learning more and more each day about what it means to be parents and true partners. I am thankful that I have a man in my life that supports me to take this leap and cherish every moment with Henry as he grows up. I have not always been the most trusting of the men in my life and Chris really has helped me understand and know with all my heart and soul that I can trust and rely on him. That may sound simple to most but to me trust has been one of my obstacles. It feels good to really truly trust my spouse and to let go of always having to take care of myself and allowing him to take care of us. At the same time I do believe it is always important to look out for yourself but that doesn’t have to be financially. It could simply mean some quiet time each day, taking time to see close friends, a spa trip, whatever it is that refreshes you and gives you a burst of energy. Self love is so important. If you don’t take care of you, you can’t take care of those around you to your best of your ability.

Anyway, I have a sense of relief to finally have made this big decision and am so thrilled for what’s to come. Being a mom is the hardest job I have ever had but also the most rewarding. There really are no words to describe how incredible it is to be a parent.

So here’s to being Henry’s mommy, Chris wifey and self love! Thanks Microsoft for all the wonderful years. I learned more in 4 years than I ever expected and you can bet I will be back one day. So don’t think for one second you have gotten rid of me as there will be a round two in the future! ;o)

More Firsts

This past week Henry has experienced a few more firsts. At his last doc appointment they gave me the green light to start rice cereal anytime between now and 6 months. However, he said he seemed to be pretty close since he was really interested in watching us eat and the moment he started to grab or open his mouth when we were eating we should give it a try. Well sure enough he has capped out his ounces per feeding of bottles (8 oz) and started grabbing our food. So Sunday we gave it a try and he did so good. We are now on day 4 of rice cereal and I think I am going to give it to him for dinner today to see if that helps him sleep longer. There are a lot of mixed review whether this will help longer sleep or not but I guess we will find out for ourselves. However, Henry has been sleeping really well. I typically get him down around 9pm and he sleeps until 4am now. Then eats goes right back to sleep and will sleep until 7am. I think we are getting really close to him sleeping through the night. Can't wait!

The other big adventure we had this week is we started Little Gym. Henry is in the Bugs Group (4 month - 10 month old and a parent). We had soooo much fun! I can't wait for Monday to get here so we can go again. I really learned a lot of new ideas to help his development and simply play together. I also got to meet some new moms and dads and definitely can see that over time we will likely make some play date friends. There was one little boy in particular that Henry and I both seemed to gravitate to him and his mom. I hope we get to see them again this week and make new friends. And, we love the instructor Ms. Shannon. She is pretty amazing with the little ones and even better she knows my husband so I hope Henry gets some extra attention. ;o)

Eating Rice Cereal for the First Time

Getting ready to get started....

My first bite...

Open wide...

Holding my spoon with mom...

All done with a messy face....Full belly = very happy baby