(Nearly) 4 month check-up

Henry went in to see the doctor again yesterday. These are his current stats:

Weight- 14.0 lbs (30th %)
Height- 25 in. (50th %)
Head- 16 in. (15th %)

So... he's right on track with his growth, basically. The weight is a bit lower (percentile) than last time, but I think we can attribute that to the fact that Henry tends to be a very active little guy. If he stopped burning so many calories, I guess he might chunk up a bit faster. But that's ok. He looks great to me! Everything else checked out well, too. He has great head control, can support his weight on his legs, follows objects with his eyes, and his ears look great (whatever that means). He also did great with his shots... he barely even cried at all. No fever, no reactions... just a little sleepy the rest of the day. And since I don't update you all on these things very often, here's a little more:

Henry loves...

• the morning (as long as he's been fed)
• standing up (with a little assistance, of course)
  
• his doorway jumper (great when I'm cooking dinner or when he needs to burn off some energy before bedtime)
• being swaddled at night (the tighter the better)
• pulling his pacifier out of his mouth (not so great at putting it back in yet)
• playing with his feet
• having his diaper changed
• sleeping on Mommy
• chewing on Daddy
• sitting in the Bumbo seat
• bath time
• blowing bubbles
  
• watching tv with Mom and Dad (yeah... we're not so proud of that, but it's true)
• making noises... the louder the better!

He does not enjoy:

• sleeping by himself
• getting dressed
• being in his car seat (awake)
• having his nose suctioned out
• being left alone
• having a poopy diaper
• the blender
• too much tummy time
• waking up
• getting out of the bath
  
• being tired or hungry

We're very excited to be flying home for Thanksgiving next week. It's been five months since we were in Michigan. While we don't miss the snow that you all have reportedly been getting already, we do miss your company. Maybe by the time we see you, Henry will have some new tricks to show you!

Halloween (a little late)

Life has been such that I am now finally posting pictures from Henry's first Halloween. We actually had enough events that Henry got to dress up several times, and had several costumes. I may have enjoyed all of this more than him, but it sure was fun!

This was Henry's "pea pod" look and the one that he actually wore when we went trick-or-treating on Halloween (yes, we did... but we didn't take candy, really!). He was so cute in this outfit that I couldn't take him seriously when he started crying. Just too precious.

Henry made his debut as LifeBaby, appearing at LifeTeen with his parents (LifeMan and LifeWife).



This was at the Mom's Group from the hospital that I go to once a week. So many adorable babies in costumes! Can you spot Henry? Don't be fooled!



This outfit was for the All Saints' Day party with my Catholic Moms group. Henry went as St. Henry, the Holy Roman Emperor from Bavaria. Matt of course objected to an emperor wearing Bavarian "peasant" dress, but as Grandma Fleming aptly pointed out: "He's my doll and I'll dress him how I want to!" So lederhosen and a crown it is.



And finally, Henry with his first pumpkin. Matt carved this for him (and yes, the face does match his cute pumpkin shirt).

Note: I'm still not sure how I feel about this holiday in general. I love the idea of costumes- what's more fun for kids and parents than dressing up in fun costumes? And showing off those costumes at parties, and even trick-or-treating, is most of the fun. Different Christian groups seem to have different philosophies about how to celebrate the holiday, however. I feel like I've heard just about every permutation possible. My opinion? I like costumes. I like pumpkins. I like candy. I don't like spider webs. I don't like ghosts. I don't like skeletons (except the one in my closet... Mr. Bones can stay). You get the idea. So I think I'm fine with costumes and trick-or-treating, but I think I'll try to steer clear of the scary/gross parts of the holiday as much as possible.