Henry-isms (17 months old)

So let's just move past the fact that my last post was 6 months ago...and on to cute baby stories.  Henry's verbal communication is improving every day and I thought I'd share some of his recent "Henry-isms":

Henry can now stay "shoes" and will bring me one of our shoes while saying the word.  And if he brings you a shoe, you MUST hold it.  I learned this lesson while trying to make breakfast and holding two running shoes this morning.

We are trying to teach him "hot" and now everything that we don't want him to have is "hot".  The grill, the stove, the toaster oven, Daddy's coffee cup, iPhones

While getting ready for bed, Henry brought me his Bubbles, Bubbles book while saying "bubbles".  He also will make the sign for eat when I'm reading a story and we come across the word (we use limited sign-language with him to encourage communication).

Chris and I are frequently telling Max and Lila "No Barking" (they are fierce guard dogs and take their job very seriously:) ).  We were upstairs and Lila started barking so Chris said "Lila, no barking" out the open window.  She started barking again and Henry ran over to the window and started yelling outside.

Breckenridge, CO

Oh my, we had a blast over the holidays and enjoyed lots of family time.  I did a terrible job capturing the moments of Henry's first Christmas but believe me when I say the child is very blessed!  He didn't really "get" Christmas this year but is always happy around people, especially his favorite people (aka family members). We ended the holidays with a trip with my family to Breckenridge, CO.  This was my second trip to Breck and Chris' third trip to hit the slopes...lucky guy!  The town got great skiing and such a cute main street.  It was H's first time flying and he did great!  We flew out of the Akron/Canton airport since we could get a direct flight and where pleasantly surprised at how nice everyone was there.We did learn its better for H to fly at nap time than bedtime but it still will be a while before we fly with him again.  

We had 8 adults and one baby on the trip, which meant plenty of babysitters!  Henry enjoyed several outings to dinner, the coffee shop and stroller rides around Breck while the rest of us enjoyed the slopes.  Especially the day of FRESH POWDER and the opening of Peak 6.  It was definitely the best skiing I've ever done and was so, so beautiful.  The weather was great and we really enjoyed our selves.  Henry slept in a pack n play in our room...which meant he ended up with us every night.  He also didn't adjust to the time difference so someone had to get up with him before the sun was up at 4:30 or 5am each day.  

Henry showed off some of his 11 month old skills for his grandparents and uncles including standing up on things (including the fire place mantle...he's a little dare-devil), high-fiving and eating.  This child can put away the food, especially yogurt and bananas.        

2014-Present

Last year, I jumped on board with the One Word concept instead of a whole list New Year's resolutions and loved it.  I was much easier for me to keep track of and I truly would think of balance (my word for 2013) throughout the year....as in trying to balance a new baby with being a working professional, wife, friend and individual.  Over all, I felt our lives and year were balanced as we got to know our newest family member and welcome him into this world.  I'm back to some of my favorite activities, cooking, working out and being creative but don't have as much time to spend as I used to.  Which is fine, I love hanging out with our little guy and watching him grow and develop every day.

I've put some thought into my word for 2014 and have decided on present, as in being present in my actions.   When I started thinking of my intentions for this year, I kept coming back to a conversation I had with my good friend Caitlin on a recent girls weekend about being present. So often, I'm doing one thing and my mind is somewhere else.  I want to focus on enjoying the present moment and living it, instead of thinking of my to-do list or work or baby.  It truly goes both ways, sometimes I'm at work and distracted by thoughts of home and sometimes I'm with Henry and Chris and thinking of work.

pres·ent¹

ˈprezənt/

adjective

1. 1.

   (of a person) in a particular place.

   "a doctor must be present at the ringside"

   synonyms:

   in attendance, here, there, near, nearby, (close/near) at hand, availableMore
2. 2.

   existing or occurring now.

   "she did not expect to find herself in her present situation"

   synonyms:

   current, present-day, existing More

noun

1. 1.

   the period of time now occurring.

   "they are happy and at peace, refusing to think beyond the present"

   synonyms:

   now, today, the present time/moment, the here and now More

2. So here's to being present in 2014!  What are your intentions?  

Hello?

Hello?  Helllllllloooooo?  Anyone out there?

Many, many apologies for the prolonged, unintended absence.  I've had many blog posts in my head but MAKING the time to sit down and write them out hasn't been a priority for me.  We've been busy enjoying our family, working and just doing the things that make life happen (grocery shopping, lawn mowing).  One thing I try to focus on is being present with Henry when I'm with him.  As a full-time-working-mom, my time with him is limited and I truly want to savor it!  I'm hoping to do better as I've got lots to share but let's start with these 9 month old photos of Henry by the oh-so-talented Stephanie from Stephanie's Creations.  

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Meal Planning-Enjoying Summer

August already!  Summer has been short here in Cleveland as we've only had about 2 weeks of really hot weather (not that I'm complaining) and LOTS of rain.  Our tomatoes are still green but C's mom was able to give us some from her crop so we will be having lots of fresh-from-the-garden tomato dishes this week.

Sunday-Lunch was steak and corn on the cob on the grill.  Dinner was sausage/pasta/tomato/basil dish garnished with balsamic/olive oil/garlic/cheese
Monday-BLT wraps and grilled summer squash
Tuesday-Chicken and sweet potatoes in the crock pot with salad
Thursday-Brucshetta pizza

Now that Henry is starting to enjoy food, I have the following planned for him:

Breakfast-Pears
Lunch-Sweet Potatoes
Dinner-Avocado

We are adding a new food every 4-7 days so on Wednesday, I'll add something else into his diet.  I'm thinking bananas as they would easily mash in his mesh feeder.

What's on your meal plan for this week?  Any great fresh tomato recipes?

6 months old!

Here we are at 6 months old already, how did that happen????

We've had an eventful month and the biggest news is starting food!  Henry is a fan of the mesh feeder (I think he likes that he can do it himself) and he has tried avocado and sweet potato.  His sleep schedule is starting to regulate a bit into 2-3 naps per day but we are still working on getting them at a consistent time each day.  Each time we make progress, life gets in the way :).  He's increasingly vocal and enjoys talking and shrieking.  When he gets upset about something, boy he lets us know it.  This afternoon Chris tried to put him down for a nap and Henry certainly didn't think it was necessary.  Henry screamed for about 10 minutes and then when Chris brought him downstairs to to me, Henry spent a few minutes "complaining" about it.  Henry loves music and having us sing to him.  He also loves his interactive toys and is always on the go.

We've noticed that he's developed a bit of a temper (see above nap example) and is very clear about his likes and dislikes.  We do enjoy seeing his personality develop!  H continues to got to PT and we do his exercises every day to strengthen his upper body.  Henry has his 6 month well-check in a week and I'm excited to see his stats!

Here are a few photos of our growing boy:

Nanny Issues-Finding a Good Fit

Without going into all the details, we've recently had a change in nanny's for Henry.  The past few weeks have been incredibly stressful as we interviewed, hired and transitioned from our old nanny to the new one.  We've had lots of questions as to why (after only 2 months), we were searching for someone new to watch H and I think it all boils down to the first nanny wasn't a good fit.  Honestly, when we interviewed the first time around, we found someone we really, really liked.  We made her an offer but she was also interviewing with another family and choose to work for them instead.  So feeling rushed to get someone before I went back to work, we hired our second choice.  We called references, ran a background check, did a monthly review-all the "right" things to do.  Things were fine for a while and then they weren't.  I felt like I was constantly having to deal with things not being done as we asked and C was starting to dread my phone calls during the work day as they usually had some sort of nanny related issue.  Our parents have listened to me worry over our nanny situation for some time...sorry guys!  It wasn't anything one thing and honestly, the feeling was mutual (and she even brought it up!) so we parted ways last week and thankfully, she stayed until we found someone new.  It's been a new experience for us to have a household employee and learn how to set expectations that were clear (yet trying to be flexible and understanding as she was taking care of our most precious thing, Henry, in our home.  Um, I didn't want to totally peeve her as she could steal our baby and rob us blind).  

So now that we've got 4 days under our belt with our new nanny, I can say that things are SO much better already!  The energy in our home is better and I think it's a much better fit.  The new nanny came prepared with crafts (Yes, crafts for a 5.5 month old.  The fridge is covered with baby paintings already) and has all sorts of daily developmental activities they do together.  As we can only learn from our past, I've been thinking about our last experience and this is what I've learned:

1. Trust my instinct.  We know what's best for our family and need to make sure that comes first.

2.  It has to be a good fit and if it's not (see #1) cut our losses and move on.  I spent a lot of time and energy trying to make our last relationship work and bottom line was it didn't.  Next time, I'll call it sooner and take steps to move on.

3. Don't be afraid to speak up about instructions and expectations up front.  I've created a "House Rules" list that we now use for everyone that watches H.  At the end of the day, Henry (and the dogs and our home) our OUR responsibility and we, as parents, should fully be able to expect our rules and guidelines to be followed.

I'm sure this is just the first of many challenges of being a working mom :).  To those of you who have great help, be thankful and show appreciation!

If you have child-care, what are some things that work for your family?  Any "House Rules" we should add to the list?