Henry At 9 Months

We took Henry to the doctor for his 9 month checkup this week. He is 19 lbs 1 oz (28%), 29.4 inches tall (85%) and his head is 17.75 cm (48%). So his weight has dropped some since he started crawling but his height has been increasing. He may be a tall boy!

A few notes about Henry:

• Henry is pulling himself up on everything these days. Sometimes he gets scared because he can't figure out how to get down so we have to help him.
• Henry has started pointing at everything with his cute, chubby little pointer finger. I want to NOM it all day.
• Henry tried steak, strawberries, baked potatoes, pasta and sugar cookies this month -- and loved all of them.
• I could have sworn Henry signed "more" to me on my birthday....but he hasn't done it since so it may have been a fluke. We're still working on it!
• Henry sleeps from 7 or 7:30 PM until about 7:30 or 8:00 AM, with one feeding between 5 and 6 AM.
• Henry cut TWO teeth this month! I only have a picture of the one so far (see below). Saints be praised!
• We are still in size 3 diapers but we're having wet leaks every night almost when he wakes in the morning. He's at least 3 pounds shy of the lower threshold for the next size diaper. Should I size him up anyway?
• Now that Henry is fairly mobile, Emme and Henry play together a lot more these days. It's actually very cute! He's pretty tough, and he can withstand most of her rough-housing without problem. Atta boy!

{Proof of the tooth!}

We love you, Henry boy!!

More Steak, Please.

We went to Outback Steakhouse for my birthday dinner. Bubba's first taste of steak was a huge hit. Just look at that face! We have a hard time finding food that this boy WON'T eat.

Pumpkin Carving

We had our annual Halloween pumpking carving party at the Van Den Akker's again this year. They grow fabulous pumpkins in their garden so every year we get together with the kiddos to eat treats and carve. Mostly, the dads end up doing the carving while the moms chat (and wrangle the babies), and the other kids play. We had a great time this year.

Look at these three cute boys! I think they'll be good friends when they get big.

 Emme serenaded us on the piano. Brecken was enthralled.

And of course, the dads carving the pumpkins!

Friends

We have the best babysitters in our ward. Emme just LOVES when her "friends" come to "play with her" while mom and dad leave. She practically pushes us out the door every time. (Do you think she'll be psychologically damaged someday when she finds out we're paying her friends?)

Date Night

Chris and I were able to make it to a temple session with Michelle & Jeff and Brent & Melissa for our annual Eat Out & Temple Night. HUGE thanks to Jaron & Jessica and Chris's sister Stacey for making it all happen. (Leaving a nursing infant for 3+ hours is no small feat!) We had a wonderful temple session and fabulous grub at Market Street afterwards. Perfect night!

Snuggles

I just love these two snuggly babes. They can't get enough of each other!

One day this week Emme requested a nap, which is rare -- she takes one maybe once every two weeks. I put her down & read her stories and then came back out to the family room with Henry to play on the floor with him. He had no interest in playing with me. He crawled all the way back down the hallway to Emme's closed door and whined and pounded on and cried at it because he missed her. It was so sweet! (And all was well about ten minutes later when Emme decided she wasn't tired and came out to play.)

Wheeler Farm Spooktacular

In October Aunt Lynnie took us to Wheeler Farm to do the hay maze, hay ride and pick a pumpkin from the patch. We had such a good time with Lynnie, Stacey, Braden & Preston. Thanks again, Aunt Lynnie!

Peach Jam

I got a huge box of peaches from Chris's sister's mother-in-law. (Confusing much?) She had more from their tree than they could eat, so I made a huge triple batch. The peaches were amazing!

Sweet

These kidlets are just so sweet to each other. They love to cuddle and they play together more and more each day. So fun!

Emme draws me pictures all the time. I can't remember what this one was (I think a whale?), but I thought it was so cute I took a picture.

 

Henry just recently learned how to pull himself up and climb on things. He is in LOVE with his activity table now that he can pull himself up to it. He could stand and push the buttons all day.

When we play in the basement, Emme uses the treadmill as the safe haven for her dollies and "patients" when she plays doctor -- the things she doesn't want Henry to touch. Now that he's learned how to climb up there, nothing is safe! Poor Emme will have to find higher ground for her patients.

Sharing

Emme is such a good sharer these days. Even her milk and her lollipops!

Halloween Crafts

I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but I gave birth to a hardcore crafter. This girl wakes up every morning and asks, "who are we going to make something for today?" She definitely keeps me on  my toes. Thank the heavens above for Pinterest!  We made some fun fall decorations this year together.

{Halloween bunting banner using foam pieces} 

{painting jack-o-lantern rocks}

Early

 We indoctrinate early at our house.

Birthday Celebration

We had an early birthday celebration for all the October birthdays (just me) at FHE at the beginning of October. Michelley made me a cake and everything!

Conference

We went over to the Schanz's for saturday morning conference and had yummy breakfast & hot chocolate. How cute are all these kiddos hanging out with the dads?