Henry Lately: 14 Months
Henry's changing every day.
I've been watching his little spunky personality develop each and every day of his life—but since I've been working from home since March, I had an even closer look at the wonder that he is.
Every phase has had something special.
Those newborn smells and cuddles. The 3/4-month mark where he seemed to suddenly awaken to the word. That first full night of sleep with no wakings. The first solid foods. The crawling. The standing and balancing. And now the steps. It happens fast, yet some days can feel entirely too long or too hard. Just as extreme as one emotion arises, another opposite one presents itself and I feel balanced and calm. Parenting is wild. Motherhood is raw.
I love capturing the small moments of life with Henry. I know these days and memories will pass me by before I can even realize it. So this is me slowing down to share some favorites.
Waving Goodnight
Henry loves bedtime. He is spoiled with all our attention. Sam and I love to get him ready for bedtime together but we know there will be some nights where we can't, so we soak it up for now. Henry does too. He loves flipping pages of books, getting his teeth brushed, getting big hugs, a warm blanket and when the lights go out.
But my favorite thing is when we open his door to leave and watching him wave his little hands at us in the dim light. Seriously the sweetest, cutest thing. It's amazing how much this little one is learning.
Window Welcomes
Our living room windows face the driveway and when one of us comes home, Henry is right there up on the couch peering out at us walking in—screeching, laughing, and tapping on the glass with excited fingers. I love it so much—whether I'm watching his reaction to "Dada" from inside or feeling the love and joy from my parked car.
My Little Shadow
Henry's a "mama's boy" through and through. He's sticks like glue to me. We spend literally all our time together—other than some random outings I have with my girlfriends/Mom, date nights with Sam, or my alone time when I need a break. ;) I've noticed that his separation anxiety ramps up when I leave the room, start tying my shoes, grabbing my keys or just heading toward the door.
This boy loves to love me. It is quite adorable but can be really tough at times, especially while working from home. Luckily, my and Sam's parents have helped us a lot with our busy work schedules so that we can get everything we need to get done—and be present parents. Sometimes I feel like I'm giving half of myself to work and Henry — but I don't want to think like that anymore. I'm going to focus my energy on all that I do give. And it's a lot! (That goes for all you moms and dads out there.)
Talk The Talk
This boy is a talker! He babbles all day long and completely owns every word (whatever they're supposed to mean) with confidence and vigor.
His favorites are:
-Dada, Dad, Daddy
-Mimi ("Mom" lol...), Ma, Mama
-Nana
-Yeah
-Baby
-Hi
-OK
-And a whole lot of gibberish
Walk The Walk (Kinda)
Henry isn't fully walking yet. He stands for a long time and takes a few steps side-to-side and forward but isn't fully on-the-go yet. Crawling is his preferred method. He even likes to climb couches and stairs. For a bit I was wondering if he was slow to learn how to walk, but after talking with a few of my mom friends, I learned many of their kids didn't walk until 16 months, so I feel like H is tracking just fine. Plus, it's kind of nice he can't run away from us quite yet. Although, you should see how fast his crawl is... I blink and he's in a different room.
Moves For Days
Henry is a mover! Play him some music, strum a guitar or shake a maraca and he is ready to dance. It's very heartwarming to watch him sway and smile. UGH. Maybe he will like to dance like me. We know Dad isn't too into it... lol
A King's Appetite
Everyone we know has observed just how much this tiny toddler can eat. He has a huge appetite and gobbles down every meal—sometimes in mere seconds.
Some favorites:
-Blueberries (absolute fave)
-Banana
-Strawberries
-Peanut/almond butter
-Black beans
-Chicken
-Eggs
-Bread
-Oats
-Pasta
-Corn
-Yogurt
-Peas
All Those Teeth
Henry has five teeth and a few more just breaking through the surface. And believe me, we've been paying for it. :D Teething sucks, guys. I feel so bad for babies when they are clearly in tons of pain cutting teeth.
He had his first dentist appointment and the doc said it looked like he was slow to get his teeth in (which he explained wasn't a bad thing), so he was expecting many of them to come in at the SAME TIME. Oh man... wish us luck with that.
Sometimes we go through every possible solution for Henry when he's having a teething moment: cold washcloth, frozen/cold teething toys, fruit popsicles, crackers, frozen bagels (usually the winner because um... bread), and then our final solution is Motrin or Calmilia drops (especially before bed for more peaceful sleep).
Things We're Working On:
- Sleeping in
H loves to get up between 5-5:30, so we're trying to shift his daily routine so that he can get longer bedtime sleep. Hoping he can go until at least 6/6:30 soon! It's crazy what just an extra 30 minutes will do for us during our busy mornings getting up and ready for work.The other night he slept from 7pm-6:40am and I could NOT believe it.
- Naps
Henry's a great napper overall and consistently takes two naps a day but since our trip to Maine for LDW, he started fighting naps here and there, so we think it may be time to cut down to one. I know he is in that sweet spot where the naps tend to change, so we are keeping an eye out what changes he might need.
- Weaning off the bottle
He loves his milk and his bottle, and since I was an exclusive pumper, Henry surely got used to drinking from a bottle... so now it's been challenging to wean him off it. He loves his sippy cups for water but as soon as we put milk in it, he throws it or refuses to drink it. Got tips?
Well, that's about it for now.
We have a healthy, happy 14-month-old and we're beyond lucky we get to love him up every day.
The next thing I'm looking forward to: enjoying our first real New England fall (since 2012) with our son. LIFE.... you're wild.
Love you sweet boy,
Mimi
