happy st. pat's!

It really would require the luck of the Irish to get these three to look in the same direction AND smile at the same time. Sheesh! Also, I'd like to note that the shirt Henry's wearing was also worn by Max for his first St. Patrick's Day ... when he was one month old. Yep, Henry's definitely got some catching up to do!

henry at six months

15 pounds, 14 ounces
27 1/4 inches

Everything went great at Henry's six-month checkup. He is meeting all of his milestones and is a very happy baby. The only thing of concern is that he's in the 90th percentile for height, but only the 20th percentile for weight. The doctor says we need to fatten him up a bit.

He is at such a fun age right now, and he's just so cool. There's really no other word for it. He is the happiest baby, always smiling and interactive, and only really cries when he needs something. He still laughs only rarely, but he's so content to just be with his people, smiling and making faces and talking to us.

He's rolling around like crazy -- we finally gave in this weekend and bought an area rug for the living room so he would quit rolling and hitting his head on the wood floor. He also scoots himself backward all around the room, which the big boys think is hilarious to watch. And Liam and Henry, especially, will sit and have nonsense baby talk conversations for long periods at a time, which I think is hilarious to watch.

Henry's healthy, he's happy, and he just seems to be so joyful -- what more could we want?

missing something

So, I've been away for a little while. In case you didn't hear, a week ago Saturday we had a little excitement: I got appendicitis and had to have emergency late-night surgery. Luckily, we figured out what it was and got to the hospital fairly early, so my appendix didn't rupture before the surgeon could get there, and he was able to fix me up laprascopically. I've had a lifting restriction for the past week (couldn't even lift Henry, which meant that I had to line up babysitters ... for me!) but I'm feeling lots better now. Normal posting will resume now, and hopefully I'll be able to climb the mountain of work I've got right now and get caught up so I can be on a more regular schedule.

on parenting and assumptions

In the past few days, I've read a lot of blog posts that got me thinking about the assumptions people make about what kind of parents they will be, and what kind of parents other people are. People are horrified by the music they hear kids singing, by the movies kids watch, by the things they eat and even how quickly they eat them. Inevitably, it's the parents' fault. It's "bad" parenting. What's funny to me is that most of the people writing these things aren't parents themselves, but they know with absolute certainty that they will do things the right way. On top of that, they know precisely what that right way is.

It's easy to be irritated by those kind of assumptions, but I also find myself envying people the certainty and solidity of their viewpoints, because I've found that with each day I've spent as a parent, the ground shifts under my feet. Without meaning to, my kids have challenged nearly every assumption I've ever had about life. They have changed me. And I think that's a good thing. Sure, maybe they watch more TV than they should, and maybe that song about, er, pharmaceuticals that Max likes isn't the best thing in the world for him to know the words to. But so what?

To me, a lot of things are like old Looney Tunes cartoons: They're designed with levels. The kids can understand things on one level, and find them outright hilarious, but there are aspects of them that go way above kids' heads and are directed squarely at the parents. Young and old understand the same thing in totally different ways. In the case of Looney Tunes, I have to believe that this is so the parents will actually watch with their kids.

And think about the stuff the kids sang when you were one of them. I can picture myself as a kid with my sister, and one of my teenage uncles sang The Kinks' "Art Lover" to us because he thought it was funny. We had no idea what it meant (hint: it's about a totally different kind of appreciation); we just knew that our uncle was singing to us. I probably wandered around singing Hall & Oates' "Maneater" or The Police's "Don't Stand So Close to Me" when I was little, but honestly, I thought one of them was about bugs and the other was about annoying little sisters (yeah, they totally weren't). And who knows, maybe my mom took her turn and sang Elvis' "Hound Dog" at the Ben Franklin when she was a kid. This stuff is not new.

So the next time you're at the grocery store, if you hear my kid singing that Queens of the Stone Age song, remember that to him, it's just a catchy tune (and one that his father happens to like). It's not a reflection of his parents, but evidence that his parents share with him the things they enjoy. And that's one concept that I can absolutely get behind.

have prunes, will stain

easy baking

Thank God for Loni! The boys look forward to the nights she comes over because they have so much more fun than every other night with boring old mom. They usually do some entertaining project, and last week, it was making sugar cookies with Max's Easy Bake Oven (he got it for his birthday from Yami). Reports are that the process of making the cookies and the anticipation of waiting for them to bake were way better than the actual cookies (Lon proclaimed them to be horrible), but you wouldn't know it by looking at these two.

guitar hero

henry at five months

A couple of weeks ago when we took him in for an ear infection, Henry weighed 15 pounds on the nose. There was no checkup this month, so I don't know exactly how tall he is, but he's definitely taller -- look, his head is almost to the top of the couch arm!

He rolls everywhere now, and he's been trying like crazy to sit up. He smiles constantly, and laughs occasionally. He's been getting used to eating solid food, too, and I can report that he hates rice cereal but loves oatmeal, hates carrots and squash but loves bananas and prunes (he was indifferent to peaches). As previously noted, he loves playing in his exersaucer, on his play gym, and on the floor up in Max's room. He's getting awfully good at putting his fingers in his mouth, pulling his pacifier out, and gumming everything possible. No teeth yet, but I think that's on track with big brothers.


Henry's five-month "birthday" coincided with Max's real fourth birthday, but we didn't do anything too exciting, just picked up some dinner and spent the evening playing Wii games. This was due in large part to another of Henry's "firsts" for this month -- he brought home his very first flu virus to infect mom and dad! Ah, what a proud day that was.

See also: one month, two months, three months, four months.

max at four

Our Max at this age is such a funny mix of people-pleaser and independent sasspatch. He's a joy to watch, even when he's throwing fits (most of the time). He's so creative, but that's so far mostly been channeled into excuses for things he doesn't want to do: "Putting on shoes makes my tummy hurt!" His expressions are priceless, from the pout that he still hasn't quite grown out of since babyhood to the very grown-up sly look he has when he's trying to wheedle his way into getting something he wants.


We've often observed that Liam is fascinated with how things work, while Max is fascinated with how people work, and I think it's so interesting to watch that play out between the two of them. Liam is always trying to teach Max something, and Max by turns worships his brother and wants to blaze his own path of picking exactly the opposite thing. He wants to learn on his own, thankyouverymuch, and he's not afraid to say so in no uncertain terms.

At home, Max is a funny, sassy, quick-witted, outspoken jokester, but at school, he hardly talks at all. His teachers always seem surprised to see that there's a chatterbox behind the sweet and shy boy they've taken care of for three years now. I don't have any firsthand knowledge of this (Barb will have to help me out), but I understand that he takes after Mike in this regard. In a lot of regards, really, but this is one that stands out to me.

Max had his fourth birthday party on Sunday, surrounded by friends and family. I was sick with the flu, shut into my room so nobody would be exposed to my germs, but I could hear him excitedly greet everyone by name and welcome them to his party. He was such a charming little host. And once the festivities were all done, he came to see if I was feeling better and spent a long time telling me about all the fun he had during the day. I won't lie -- it sucked to be laid up and miss my kid's birthday party. But being able to listen to him tell me all about it was definitely worth the wait. Happy birthday, Max!

henry would like to add that he loves the exersaucer

Thanks for the loan, cousin Taylor!

was someone looking for me?

this is not the baby you are looking for

This one does, however, have a birthday in less than a week! Amazing resemblance, innit?

henry at four months

Henry's four-month checkup was today, and here are his stats:

13 pounds, 15 ounces
25 1/4 inches long

He's a very healthy and happy baby, hitting all of his milestones. He proved that today by rolling over for the very first time -- while he was at the doctor's office. Mike took him to his appointment, and he's napping now, so it's a feat I have yet to see, but I can't wait.

His next checkup isn't for two months, but by then we can look forward to him rolling over regularly, possibly getting a tooth, and definitely putting everything he can get his little hands on into his mouth. We broke the news to Liam today that all small toys (especially the sea of Legos that seems to flow through our house) need to be kept upstairs so Henry doesn't choke on them. I've been looking forward to Henry becoming more mobile but simultaneously dreading it for that very reason. We didn't have toys with small pieces -- period -- when Liam and Max were little, but now I don't see a way to keep them out (they just seem to creep in all by themselves sometimes). So it'll be an adventure. We'll keep you posted.

See also: one month, two months, three months.

wish I was old enough for cereal...

the best milestone

Today I was talking to my friend Natalie about how Henry is trying so hard and is thisclose to rolling over, but hadn't really laughed yet and isn't reaching for things. I had just gotten an e-newsletter from a formula company, and I was joking that the implication was that clearly, my child WOULD be doing these things ... if only I would feed him more of their delicious and nutritionally superior formula. But my little slobber bomber (yes, Liam likes to call him that whenever he slobbers on something, which is pretty much anytime he's awake) has his own ideas about his development, and not two hours after my conversation with Natalie, Henry started laughing. Real belly laughs over some silly thing I was saying to him. His first real laugh! And then he laughed so hard that he gave himself the hiccups, and spent the next few minutes looking confused. It may be a few more days (or maybe not!) before he shows off this newfound skill to anyone else, but I can tell you that I'm pretty sure I won't forget this first!

even superheroes need their sleep

...but clearly, these two need just five more minutes before bedtime.

yes i am

stealing christmas

...or at least, stealing Christmas pictures. These are some pictures taken by my cousin Amelia that I totally snatched from my family's blog. I especially like the ones of Liam with my dad, both because my dad is so camera-shy and because she managed to capture one of their favorite games to play together, in which my dad picks Liam up by the ears. (Max likes this game too, though he's more partial to "walking" on my dad's shoes at this stage.) Thanks, Amelia!

nighttime sledding

We started 2010 off right with a trip out to my parents' house for a nighttime sledding party. My dad and his many minions set up the course on our regular sled hill. They strung outdoor Christmas lights along the path, and a guide rope to help people get back up the hill. They used old tires to make bumpers for the trees (after an unfortunate incident last year in which Max's face met a tree on the way down), set up floodlights at the bottom of the hill, and even made a warming area with the hog roaster (which doubled as a grill for burgers and dogs). Meanwhile, my mom kept base at home with hot chili and sandwiches for hungry sledders.


Max took one run with Bethany, but they wiped out. After that he declared that he was done sledding and demanded to be taken back to the house to warm up. Luckily, there were all sorts of four-wheel-drive vehicles available, because there was no way we would get our minivan through the corn fields to the sledding hill (though it would have been fun to try)! Liam, meanwhile, LOVED sledding. He went up and down, up and down, going faster and farther on each run than most of the other sledders. He attributed it to his borrowed blue sled, and refused to trade sleds with anyone for the duration. He stayed out there for at least an hour and a half (and it was COLD out there!) without a break, then suddenly, at the end of a run, he announced that he was finished, too. So we hitched a ride back to the house to join Mike, Max, and Henry and eat some warm food. Shortly after, J got off his ambulance shift and stopped in at the house to play with the boys before he went out to the hill. A bunch of cousins were there, too, so the boys got to play legos and make up fun games with them until way past bedtime.



The party was a huge success, with tons of people and no injuries that I know of (though at least one phone and one camera -- neither one ours -- were casualties). There's already talk of making it an annual event, and I hope we do. It was a really nice twist to have the sledding party at night!