Go West, my son

Henry and I have been spending lots of time in the (not so) wild West-- Western Massachusetts, that is-- with more to come in the following weeks. On Tuesday we visited my parents in Pittsfield, and Henry charmed his grandparents and great-grandparents with his newly developing skills and emerging personality. After a little sleepover at the grandparents', Henry and I returned home on Wednesday afternoon. My time back at home was limited, as I hit the road again on Friday for my sister's special pre-wedding girls' night (low key bachelorette type event). Brian and I had been anticipating and preparing for this overnight for quite some time, mainly by attempting to introduce the bottle to Henry and have him take it from Brian reliably. While we never quite managed to feel confident with the bottle arrangement, the time had come for this new momma to spend her first night away from the other members of the little g-unit. And wonder of wonders, the boys survived. Henry did take some of the bottle from Brian, went to bed and slept relatively soundly, and was all smiles when he was hanging out with Brian upon my arrival back home. Back home at 8:10 am, because when I called Brian to check in at 7 Henry was crying and Brian said he hadn't slept last night. I think they were both exaggerating for effect, to lure me home earlier. Exaggeration or not, it sounded like the boys had a good night, and I did too. It was great to see the blushing bride-to-be looking gorgeous at her final dress fitting, and to enjoy a dinner and drinks out. The entire g unit is looking forward to some time in the Berkshires next week for the Fourth of July holiday and then the big wedding festivities the following weekend.

When I returned home on Saturday morning, Henry and Brian were looking particularly cute playing on the floor together. Or maybe I just thought they looked even cuter since I'd missed them being away the previous night. You can judge for yourselves...






















Infant development being the crazy fast phenomenon that it is, Henry acquired a new skill while I was gone for a mere 15 hours. During that time he rolled over from his back to his belly for the first time. It wasn't long, however, before I was able to catch him in action myself. Well, it wasn't long before I witnessed the evidence, anyhow. When Brian and I briefly left Henry on his play mat to go grab our dinner plates Saturday night Henry he was on his back, and two minutes later when we returned he was contentedly playing on his belly. This was only the beginning. Every time that we look away now Henry manages to maneuver himself somewhere different. Partly via the rolling, partly via some rudimentary creeping (proto-crawling, as Brian calls it). Clearly, we can't leave him alone for long now because he'll manage to find his way to something potentially dangerous. I thought we had some time remaining before he became mobile, but it seems that even though he isn't crawling, Henry needs to be monitored constantly now. He also enjoys standing up, with assistance of course. These events grouped together strike me with fear (and excitement) that we'll be chasing after a little running Henry before we know it. Especially since Henry is already a very determined boy. His creeping/rolling/maneuvering is often driven by the fact that he sees a toy he wants, and then figures out a way to reach it. Brian and I are going to have our hands full, I think!

I want it all

Henry's feeling much better now. Phew! And he's decided that not only does he want to grab his toys, but he also wants to grab his toes. Preferably at the same time. While also babbling. And trying to roll (which he's done several more times now!). I guess when everything you do is new and exciting, you don't necessarily want to waste any time doing just one thing. The fascination with his feet is pretty recent, and very cute. When not multitasking with the babbling, rolling, and reaching for other objects, Henry does occasionally enjoy quiet moments of contemplating his toes. He can be a reflective young lad when he's not working on mastering multiple skills.

Yesterday morning, when Henry was just starting to feel better, Brian came into our bedroom around 6 am and reported, "Just so you know, he's wide awake in there and playing with his feet." Silly me, I thought he was still sleeping. But really, I couldn't have been happier to hear that he was awake and entertaining himself. In part because he was awake without screaming, which surely must mean he was feeling better. And also because it's nice thinking that Henry will start waking up in the morning and just babbling or playing on his own without the immediate need for me or Brian.

Henry is also now having fun playing in his Jumperoo, as seen below.

Ah, the memories

It's amazing how being a parent brings back so many memories of having been parented. This has happened along the way during the past three months with Henry, but was brought on in a particularly visceral manner yesterday when I opened up a prescription for amoxicillin and saw that chalky pink liquid of my childhood. Henry has come down with his first ear infection, and is being treated with this antibiotic, as I was so many times. I suddenly remembered the handy spoon dispenser and the taste of that bright miracle elixir that made the whooshing sound in my ears finally cease. And later in the day I remembered camping out on the couch, being taken care of by my mom. Henry and I had our own camp-out Monday night, since I figured it was easier for me to sleep on the couch next to him and answer his hourly cries than to get out of bed and walk into his room each time he woke in pain and upset. When I mentioned this to my mom during one of our multiple phone calls yesterday, she was able to relate, because that was what she'd done with me and my siblings when we were sick. I had forgotten that--or at least hadn't thought about it-- until she mentioned it. So it's not just the conscious memories that are jarred by the sight of an antibiotic, but the unconscious things we do based on those memories and lessons that are buried deeper; like how to lay next to your sleeping child all night so that you can be a constant comfort, even if it means you don't get any sleep

Thank you, mom, for taking care of me when I was sick. For the many sleepless nights and doses of penicillin. And for teaching me how to take good care of my little Henry.

Rollover accident

Today the g-unit was involved in an accidental rollover. Not of the vehicular sort, but of the Baby's-First type. Henry was dutifully engaging in his dreaded "tummy time" when I began waving one of his favorite toys in front of him. Little did he know, but I was using this toy to see how much he could follow and pursue the object from this position. And it became clear that he just might be able to roll over if he had enough interest in grabbing his toucan toy. With a little more effort, Henry successfully rolled over onto his side, and then his back! He wasn't too sure why I was so excited, but he sure was happy when I gave him the toucan to chew on. Since this rollover was more accidental than intentional on his part, I wanted to see if he could do a repeat performance. And sure enough, he did! Unfortunately, Henry didn't feel up to more rolling over when his dad came home from work, but I'm sure he'll be doing it more often in the days and weeks to come. Henry's on the move!

Knock on wood

When I was working as a therapist, one of my clients used to follow nearly every positive recounting of news with the rejoinder, "knock on wood."In many ways, it was as if she couldn't trust or believe in the possibility of continued goodness. For some different reasons, I feel like I now follow every update about Henry's development, particularly his sleep habits, with the qualification of "knock on wood." We're just constantly hoping for a continuation of the good trends. Today is another of those moments, following a big night for us last night. Brace yourselves, dear readers...Henry slept through the night, unassisted. Yes, in his crib with no car seat. Thrilling, yes? We decided to at least attempt the transition, since we hated the thought of the poor kid sleeping in the heat (mid 90s and humid for the past few days) in his car seat. It appeared to have worked for him (knock on wood) since he slept from 8:45 until 4:15, and then went right back to sleep for another chunk of time. I think Henry's also going to have to practice his solo napping abilities in this heat, since the idea of napping together (still his preferred sleeping arrangement) is pretty sticky and uncomfortable. We do have central AC, so if push comes to shove, we can always crank that up, thankfully.

In other Henry news...

He had a very fun visit with his Tierney grandparents last Tuesday, following a showing of "Sex and the City" that he attended with his momma courtesy of the Baby Pictures program at a local cinema. It felt a little funny bringing him to that movie, but how could I miss the opportunity? During the movie as I was making faces at him, I heard Henry laugh for the first time. It was a very cute, but isolated event. That is, until he visited with his grandparents, and Pops solicited an even better laugh. Pops and Nonnie will need to visit again very soon, since Henry hasn't found his parents funny enough to laugh again.

Last week Henry also had his three-month doctor's check-up. All continues to look good for Henry. He's still topping the growth charts, weighing 15 pounds, 7 ounces and measuring 26 inches in length. No wonder my back has been aching!

Here's the big boy himself...

Boys night in

Last night was momma's night out, and the boys' night in! And by "night out" I mean I went to book club and was home by 9 pm. This was, however, a pretty big deal for our G family. It was the longest I've been away from Henry since he was born--a whopping 4 hours. We've been struggling to get Henry to take a bottle off-and-on for weeks now, with very inconsistent positive results. So feeding was a little of an anticipated issue. Plus, Henry's more cranky in the evening than during any other time, and Brian had never put Henry to bed before. A recipe for disaster? One might think so (including me), but in Brian's capable hands all went more smoothly than we could have expected. When I arrived home at 8:55 (5 minutes before curfew), Henry was fast asleep in his father's arms. I picked up the sleepy little babe, did the transfer to the car seat (yup, we're still stalled at that stage in the bedtime changes) and we were good for the night until 5:15 this morning. As I told Brian, this means that I can go out all the time now! Ha ha ha, funny momma.

Our success last night capped off a very nice weekend. On Saturday we spent time with both sides of the family, visiting the McGurin/Gemborys crew early in the day, and then having my brother and his girlfriend over for a visit later in the afternoon. Sunday found us up with the sun and ready to spend some quality time outdoors. We went for a lovely walk on the rail trail in West Boylston and enjoyed a picnic and some time reading in the shade afterwards.

And oh yes, today is Henry's three month birthday! Because this is often regarded as the "fourth trimester," many pediatricians and parenting experts advise that one should basically give the infant what he or she wants when they want it. I found this to be a daunting proposition, but it makes sense. In many ways the baby still has the expectations of being in-utero--never being hungry, cold, or otherwise uncomfortable. And so, Henry's every wish has been my command. Which is actually okay, as long as I know how to properly identify the wish. Hungry? Tired? Over-stimulated? Under-stimulated? Three months into this parenting gig, I feel like I have a decent handle on what Henry is trying to communicate with his various sounds, movements, and facial expressions. Of course there are still moments when I find the little guy to be baffling, but overall, we've gotten to be pretty good partners as far as making needs known and then meeting them appropriately.

For me, this begs the question of how long Henry and I continue on this merry path together? Do I continue to feed him on demand all day and night, or enforce some sort of schedule? Should I concede and bounce him to dreamland when I know he's sleepy, or enforce "sleep training" and making him put himself to sleep? Like I've mentioned before, I have a hard time rocking the boat when things are going smoothly. And right now, I pretty much know what works. But, I don't want to be bouncing him to sleep a year from now. And I'd like him to be able to fend off hunger for just a little bit, or be able to self-soothe instead of me nursing him. Like all things parenting so far, I guess these are works-in-progress. Beyond, being works-in-progress, these are also questions I'm quite thankful to be posing to myself. To me, it reflects the fact that Brian, Henry and I have survived the first three months together, learned a lot, and continue to grow and evolve as the g-unit.

Here's a picture of the little sport, wearing an outfit given to us by my cousin, Jen.