Henry had his 2 week check-up last Monday. Doc says he is healthy! Henry weighed in at 7 lb 11 oz (up from the 6 lb 8 oz he was when we left the hospital – and 11 ounces over his birth weight) and is now 20 ¼”.
Henry continues to be a great napper during the day and has 3-4 hour stretches at night . . and sleeps best in the bouncy seat for now. When he is awake he can have quite the facial expressions. He seems to have strong neck muscles, sure some of it is the rooting reflex but he seems to be able to hold his neck up longer than we’d expect at this age.
Ralph was our "first day of spring" baby - a time of new beginnings. Henry is our Christmas blessing.
The biggest change Ralph has had in the past month is adjusting to life with a sibling.While Ralph is doing pretty well with the newest addition (tries to help with burping, looks for Henry in the morning when he comes downstairs, makes sure he has a hat on, tries to give him hugs, etc), from time to time he does want a little more attention (pulls someone along by the finger to a toy or other area of the house).He has regressed a little in the area of potty training (not that we were trying yet but he’d usually let us know when he was dirty and he has stopped doing that).Along with the changes a sibling can bring, Ralph has gotten used to just one parent putting him to bed and daddy taking/picking him up from daycare so Henry and I don’t have to venture out in this weather!
Ralph participated in his first Christmas program at daycare the week before Christmas.I consider it a success - he stayed on the stage and did not cry.His class did not sing songs but “performed” actions to the words for three songs.During at least one of the songs his group sat on the risers so it was hard to see him but I did catch him clapping and shaking the bells, . . and pointing out his shoes.
He has not had any new teeth break though.
He has started to use three-word phrases at time.He has heard us say “one more time” a few too many times and will ask for “one more” and hold up a finger when he wants to do something one or two or three more times.He has started saying “love you” more often.
Ralph continues to be a 'helper'. After watching me wash a section of a wall the other day with a Mr. Eraser, Ralph 'cleaned' the same section with a wet rag for a good 10-15 minutes.He then proceeded to 'clean' sections of the kitchen floor and living room carpet.
In the photo, Ralph was visiting Grandma & Grandpa's house. They had brought some snow inside and Ralph was playing with it.
Last Saturday was pretty uneventful, I performed my yearly volunteer duty of helping with the parade Saturday morning, Mike & I went to church while Ralph was at Grandma & Grandpa's then we enjoyed a little supper at Lone Star, picked up Ralph, watched a little of the game and went to bed . . . . then around 12:30-1 am I woke up with some back pain. No where on the sheet from the doctor's office did it indicate what to do with back pain, no contractions, water hadn't broke, and there wasn't any bleeding . . . .
Long story short, labor came on quick - called the hospital just before 2 am Sunday morning but still didn't know I was in labor (contractions still hadn't started just the low back pain), finally around 2:20-2:30 I thought I was having contractions, grandma & grandpa came over about 3 to watch Ralph, we checked in at 3:24 - and Henry John was born less than an hour later - no time for drugs even if I wanted them! Crazy!!
Last week Updowntowners hosted an open house at the Float Factory. We had to go to visit their new facility and visit with Santa, Mrs. Claus, and all of the other folks I have not seen for awhile. Ralph wasn't too sure about Santa but did take interest in his boots, glasses, and gloves. He had fun exploring the push units and other floats and "colored" a letter to Santa.
