Henry's got a real laugh

Ok, so the boy has been smiling accompanied by sharp intakes of breath that resemble a laugh for some time now, but it wasn't until yesterday that he perfected the art of laughing. So far, he has only laughed for Hank, and that's cool because that means I get to enjoy the show. The sound of his laughter is probably THE most joyous thing I've yet experienced in my life, and I'm including the day he was born in there, because the day he was born was painful, gross, traumatic...

Sorry about that.

Now, where was I? Oh yes, Henry's laughter. It makes my heart jump for joy. And here's a little video documenting his 2nd time really laughing. It's sideways, and has a bit of footage of Henry not quite laughing,but rather being distracted by the phone that was filming him, but it's worth watching.

Enjoy!

Henry and his jury rigged play yard

Nothing exciting, just my boy, some hand-me-down rings, and half the toys he owns. He loves his crib gym that I made!




Try not to fall out of your seats with excitement as you watch this clip.

Henry Scoots

Thanks to everyone who could make it (online, in person, or in spirit) to Henry's Blessing! He truly is a blessing in my life. He inspires me to really grab every day by the...horns...and embrace life. Plus, he's got a great sense of humor.

Some stats:
At 12 weeks, Henry is 25 inches long and 15 lbs, 8oz. He can laugh, he is beginning to mimic my speech patterns, he likes to kick (pretty hard, too!), oh yeah, and here's his latest trick- Hank discovered it last night as we were entertaining ourselves during a glitch in the Christmas Broadcast.

As Hank so aptly put, it's like a wheelchair for babies!





This baby is hours of entertainment.

The Science of Speech

Henry is growing up, and it's awesome. I usually torture his eardrums every night before I put him to sleep by singing to him, and he's humored me through it all like a good boy. A couple of weeks ago, he started this thing where he'll throw a fit, and then conk out in the middle of it, provided I hold him tight enough through it all. The fit-throwing included screaming.

Last night was different. Last night, in place of the fit, in place of screams, he made these proto-speech noises in time with my proto-singing-in-tune noises.

It was FABBB-U-LOUS! I loved it, although to the "untrained" ear, I'm sure it sounded just horrible...

And then there is the issue of Henry speaking in complete, coherent sentences. I could swear it happened, and though in retrospect, I see that it happened while I was dreaming, it still was amazing. He was telling me secrets to the universe and laughing and for the first 5 hours after it happened, I would have put money on it that he really did talk to me and that it was no dream.

One more for the road:

He found his thumb. Big Time. Although it's not accurate enough to say he found his thumb--Homeboy found his entire hand, and seems to be favoring his palm the most.

I heard some loud smacking sounds after Hank came home last night, and upon investigation, discovered that they belonged not to Hank as part of his daily ritual of kissing the crap out of Henry's face, but to Henry himself as he sucked on his hand.

So for your viewing pleasure, I present...

Henry Sucks His Hand

(No auto-tune necessary)



Long Live Henry!

EEEEEK!

Henry slept for 10 hours straight last night!

Frightening!




Happy Halloween, everyone.

Henry Finds Himself!

At seven weeks old, Henry's a smart (and large) cookie. In the past couple of days, his alertness seems to have increased exponentially. An example:

We have one mirror in the house, and that's in the bathroom, so Henry really doesn't see his reflection a lot. Probably at two weeks old, I put him up to the mirror and got excited when his head was facing anywhere near the mirror. This morning, however, I held him up to the mirror and his face lit up! I mean, he was really going to town with his reflection!

I realize these photos don't really show him looking at himself, but I swear it happened. However, once the camera came out, he kind of stopped looking at himself and started staring at the black rectangle I was working so hard to maneuver into a decent shot. So, in the immortal words of Connor, "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit!"

We're so lucky to get Henry.

Happy 7th week birthday, Henry!

Henry in his favorite spit-up outfit.

Henry dreams of eating, I'm pretty sure.



Or of being a worm.

Pirated Material...

No, this post's title isn't a reference to Henry's Halloween costume.

Yes, I stole this photo. (Thanks, mom!)

Pirating other people's photos of Henry is becoming a specialty of mine.

Adventures With Henry

Henry spits up a lot.

Henry creates a lot of extra laundry.

See Henry help with the laundry.

Apartment life is so fun!