so sorry, my favorite meatballs!

talk about some serious maternal guilt. it's been ages since I've posted anything here, and I'm not feeling good about it.

max sucking on seiji at hans and naoko's baby shower (SEP 2011)

look max! here you are, seven months (suddenly), and sucking on seiji's fingers. you have a round head, just like your big brother did. however, where he was dry, you are a drooling, wet mess. where henry carefully explored the world with his eyes and hands, you attack everything with your mouth. otherwise, just like henry before you, you are a happy baby, you love to be held and cuddled, and you are quick and attentive to the world around.

max at home with steel (SEP 2011)

max is only slightly alarmed by steel love! 

steel at home with henry, in norris square (OCT 2008)

Henry wasn't as accepting of steel's love when he was eight months old.

just about 3 months

Henry:
you love your daddy
you can string multiple sounds together, and have a lot to say in baby talk
a-goo
urp
ya!
ulk-ah
eep
ooo
you dance on your back
you are getting good at tummy time and sometimes you push your chest up
you laugh a lot more now
you still love your hands
you love to stare at the ceiling fan
you are beginning to suck on your hand (in a fist)
you met your cousins (Scotts) and you love to stare at them
Lauren and Katie both held you
you sat in the grass for the first time (at Skip's house)
you can hold your head up (kinda)
you noticed gummi
you're beginning to grow out of 0-3 month clothes! the green onesie is too small
you need to be swaddled for sleep
you smile in your sleep
you watch me from across the room
1st memorial day party, in Ft. Washington (Skip's house)
1st babysitter on my birthday (Alissa) - also the last bottle you drank for a while
you ride facing forward in the baby bjorn carrier
you love your hanging toys and your mobile
you giggle when you're zurberted
you can do raspberry noises!

Max:
you reach out to grab fingers and bring them to your mouth (you miss a lot)
you take turns talking
you make lovely cooing noises
you open your mouth whenever someone gets their face close to yours (for kisses!)
you're ticklish
you love to laugh
you give BIG smiles
you are a happy baby
you chew on your fist, just like your brother did
you still love the moby wrap
you're a good sleeper
you're big!
you love staring at lights
you love the fishes on your swing
you can hold your head up and turn to look around the room
you're working on your core muscles

cutest morning ever

after I got henry ready for his day, we went to see what max was up to. he was wide awake, and when he saw henry, max gave his big bro a huge smile and a mouth wide open happy gurgle. henry squealed and laughed in his delight. it's great to see max become more interactive. henry's been very patient with the process so far.

april 2011

max: yesterday, your eyes began to turn brown (just a teeny bit). today, you laughed for the first time! you laughed heartily three times as I tickled your belly. henry's first laugh was reported by daddy, on may 5, 2008.

henry: you are more verbal every day - your progress is incredible to witness. you are peeing in the potty every once in a while, and love to talk about how you'll get underwear with darth vader if you can put all of your pee and poop into the potty. after this thursday, you won't be going to daycare, which is terrifying for me. you'll be staying at home with a nanny beginning next monday.

uncca zab!

henry, nearly 2 months
you smiled for the first time
you drank your first bottle (out of ICN)
you began co-sleeping and got attached to my breast
you love to play on your mat and stare at the dangling objects
you found your hands and love to move them around
you like to kick your feet and gurgle
you can make a lot of sounds and often put two sounds together
you look more like a real baby!
you met your auntie zab and you gave her a big smile!
you got a shot at the doctor's office
we tried to let you "cry it out," it didn't work
auntie zab said you got cuter in just one week!

max, 2 months
you huff and snort, sometimes in your sleep
you love your swing, and the sea creatures that swim above your head
your arms and legs are going, going!
you seem like a giant, you're growing out of 3-6 mo clothes
you can't keep your pacifier in your mouth, but you like it
you coo a lot
you smile a lot - wide open, happy smiles!
you got lots of shots at the doctor's office, where you were pronounced to be perfect
you are a good baby, and sleep really well - sometimes 5 hours at a time
your big brother LOVES you and is really nice to you.

early april 2011 henry and max

pump it up

sigh, I've given in to the two open wounds on my left nipple (good ole lefty), and have decided to pump, rather than breast feed until it heals. lefty got lacerated during a middle of the night sleep and snack session, so I have no idea what happened, but was pretty rudely awakened by some very BRIGHT pain. it's been maybe two weeks with no healing in sight, so I thought I'd go the gentle route before the top of lefty is nothing but a mere memory (ok, so that's a slight dramatization, but man, this baby sure knows how to murder a boob. he's not a gentle henry). I've also been experiencing pain during milk let-down, which I didn't remember from the first go-round with breast feeding. I looked it up, and it might be that max is chomping more than sucking...I'm not exactly sure how to really evaluate that, he seems to do well with his latch on righty and previously on lefty (I probably shouldn't have gotten so lazy with night feeds so early on), but I figured that pumping would allow me to see if the painful let-down lets up (ha ha!).

so, I've been dreading the pumping, sort of remembering it as a grind (I suppose it becomes that when you have to figure out how to get it into the workday for an entire 9 months). what I've discovered, however, is that I actually enjoy it. first of all, lefty isn't in as much pain during the pumping, and second of all, HULU... oh, and the satisfaction of beginning the milk stash. I think that maybe if I pump every two and a half hours, I can stay ahead of max, and get a little extra that will be put aside for future feeds. first pump today, 3.5 oz - he drank all of it. second pump today, 4 oz - I'm thinking that maybe he'll only need 3 oz and I'll be able to put 1 oz aside for later? is this waaaay too much information? sorry! I'll show more restraint in the future.