Baby on Board

Henry in his Big Brother shirt

As usual, I am so far behind on updating my blog that it is just ridiculous! As it turns out, we have some exciting news! We are expecting baby #2!

This time around I was definitely more sick and generally "pukey" feeling during the first trimester. And because Henry was early, I have all kinds of warning signs for having another preterm baby, so the pregnancy hasn't been perfect. However, I am feeling fantastic (except for an aching back and my tendency to catch every single cold and bug around). And baby seems to be doing well!

According to Henry, he also has a baby in his tummy and has been stuck on this notion for quite some time now. We thought for sure he would forget about it, but now we are hitting that point where we've had to start delivering the hard truth that boys can't have babies. I feel bad crushing his dreams like that, and especially because it's so darn cute to hear his progress reports. At one point, his baby was the size of a donut! (with pink frosting)  :)

Because of all my "high risk" issues, we've had several ultrasounds and decided that it would be fun to know this time around if we were good to go with baby products, or if I could start buying pink! As it turns out, it seems Hahn and I have broken the "Ainsworth Y chromosome curse!" because it's been confirmed at THREE separate ultrasounds, we are having a girl! I always hoped I would be lucky enough to get one of each and it seems my dream has come true. I just know this little girl is going to love and get along with her brother just like I did with Grant!

The due date is June 20th and this photo marks me at the 100 day countdown. I feel gigantic already and I still have a ways to go! We are taking weekly progesterone shots and doing other things to hopefully keep this baby in there for as long as we can. So hopefully my next big update will be sometime in June when baby arrives and I can share her photos!

Walking!

Just after he turned 16 months in June, Henry finally got the hang of walking. And now nothing can slow him down! He's realized how much easier it is to carry around his toys and push around the bigger ones!

Momma likes it too, because now Henry can walk around when we are out and about. We stopped by Barnes and Noble the other day and he had a blast running around on the stage. The only downside is that with the walking came the independence to not want to leave! He also just mastered the art of running away!


Here's Henry with his lawnmower toy. I was impressed that with his new balance he was able to pull the mower out, push and even reposition it. Of course then he decided to sit on it, which was probably a silly idea. :)


And here's Henry walking across the yard!

Nine Months Old!

November 1st - Henry turned 9 months old! He also had his first well-baby check-up since month 6. He weighed in at 15lbs 10oz and 27 inches!



Henry loves bath time!

• Henry is officially a crawler, now that he has figured it out there is no stopping him! He already tumbled down three steps, as Hahn put it, "I didn't know he could crawl so FAST!". We got our baby gate put up to block off the stairs and Stoli's dog food. Our life has changed yet again!

Check out these crawling moves!

Eight Months old!

Henry turned 8 months old on October 1st! New things this month include:

• He has been showing off his new bouncy head bobbing move!
• He loves to turn his toys over and play with the bottoms of them. Especially his little piano, for whatever reason, he seems more interested in the bottom of it! :)
• He has started reaching for things and scooting around on his bottom. He'll slowly move across a room an inch at a time, he'll be crawling soon!

7 Months Old!

September 1st marks Henry's 7 month birthday! These days it seems like he is learning something new everyday. Here are some of the big events for this month:

• Henry got his first tooth on August 9th, (bottom middle) and exactly a week later the one right next to it popped out! I'm pretty sure he'll have one up top any day now.

• Loves to play in his exersaucer, even though he still doesn't really work on using his legs yet and prefers just to let them dangle. But he does love to play with each individual toy and lately favors the two tall ones, and pulls them towards him so he can chew on the tops.

• We've gone swimming a few times now and he's finally starting to like it more and enjoys splashing and kicking. It's too bad that he gets cold so fast, he never lasts more than about 10 min. Which is why we've also moved to the big tub for baths, that way he can kick and kick in the nice warm bathroom - and boy does he get water everywhere!

• We recently discovered that he is ticklish and he seems to love it when we try to tickle his sides - he giggles, even if we don't actually touch him!
• When Hahn started school, Henry started daycare. It was really hard to drop him off that first day, but he's always happy when I go to pick him up. So far I am very pleased with Taryn, she's a sweetheart and she seems to love Henry (and so do her kids!)
• Lately he seems to really like to be around people, I think he likes all of the attention that he gets from the other kids at daycare and expects the same from us. Which, honestly after a day at work, we are often happy to oblige!
• Being at the sitters and with Hahn working at a school, it's not surprising that Henry caught his first cold. He had a sniffly nose for a few days and still a bit of a lingering cough.
• Henry is pretty much sitting up on his own now and we've been trying to take advantage of it, by giving him toys that are better from his new vantage point. Just today he had a fine time playing with his mini piano.

Henry and his piano!

Hahn's New Job

On August 10th Hahn officially started teaching! He is now a high school math teacher at Frontier Academy, a charter school in Greeley. This semester is keeping him busy, with Geometry, Pre-Calc and 3 sections of Algebra II. So far he likes having his own classroom and the smaller class sizes of the charter school are nice to work with. He definitely stays busy prepping classes and grading homework, but he's glad to be teaching!

6 Months Old!

Henry celebrated his 1/2 birthday on August 1st! He also had his 6 month check up and weighed in at 12 lbs 13 oz and 25.5 inches long! The doctor is happy with his progress and says he's meeting all of his milestones!

As he reached half a year old, here are Henry's new favorite things:

• Eating rice cereal! He's finally gotten the hang of it and eagerly opens his mouth, even though most of it still comes right back out.
• Recently discovered just how much noise he can make, and loves to "talk" (sometimes quite loudly).
• Just started to notice Stoli, and how much fun it is to watch him wander the house.
• Loves to be outside watching the leaves blow in the trees.
• Plays a game to amuse himself where he grabs his thumb and trys to pull it off!
• Has discovered that he loves water and especially the act of drinking it, he's always eager to help us finish our drink.

• Does this cute little smile where he sticks out his tongue and curls it up to the side. (Mom says it reminds her of Lily Tomlin in the old 'Ernestine the phone operator' skits)

Grandpa visits and 5 months old!

The last week of June, Hahn's dad drove out from Lake Tahoe to visit and meet Henry for the first time. It was pretty cool having three generations of Henry Dewey Ainsworths all under one roof! Hahn was still on summer break, so they had a lot of time to hang out and catch up. It was great having him here!

His last morning here, also happened to fall on July 1st, Henry's 5 month old birthday.

Henry's new favorite things:
- He's gotten even better at sitting up and can balance a good 10 sec on his own (before he tries to reach for a toy and is forced off-balance by the weight of his head.)
- Found out he can just as easily suck on his toes as his fingers. I took off his soggy socks one day, only to find out that his toes were all pruney and wrinkled underneath!
- His new favorite toys are plastic chain links and has an affinity for the white one with black polka dots. (Here he is enjoying them with Jack)

(click on photos to see them larger)

Four Months Old!

June 1st marked both our 6 year anniversary and Henry turning 4 months old! He just had his 4 month check up and weighed in at 11 pounds 4 ounces and 23.75 inches long! His length has moved up to the 14th percentile while his weight is still in the 1st. (Guess he'll just be long and skinny for now.) The doctor was very happy with his gain and cheerfully pointed out that he looks like a baby now and no longer like a premie!

Henry's new favorite things are:

• Smiling a ton!
• Chewing on his hands non-stop (both at once if he can get them in there!)
• Cooing and talking, he always has something to tell us.
• Playing in his Kick and Play! He still kicks everyday about the equivalent of running a few miles!
• He just started to giggle and laugh and thinks it's hysterical when we dab his chin to wipe off drool.
• He loves to play pat-a-cake, the clapping and rolling is his favorite part.
• Starting to get pretty good at sitting up (with a little help) and will happily sit and play in his Bébépod chair while we eat.
• Just started rolling over, but hasn't figured out how to do it on purpose yet and HATES it when we put him on his tummy to encourage him.
• He's a pro at picking up his toys and putting them in his mouth. He love's Samson, his blankey giraffe/hippo/cow (we can't decide what it is), and also his crinkly frog.
• He loves to lay next to dozing daddy while mommy gets ready for work, and watch the ceiling fan while he kicks and plays.

Hahn was trying to teach him how to hold his finger up and make a 'shooshing' sound, but with no luck.


Full of giggles!