Ten Months of Henry

My Roly-Napoly-on Dynamite,

First, trying to hear the Napoleon Dynamite movie over Dad’s hysterical laughing was nearly impossible. We’ve seen this movie so many times together, but it gets him every time. It’s so ridiculous but so nostalgic! The reason I picked this costume for you was for your nickname. You can roll from one end of the house to another, so I always call you Roly Napoly-on Dynamite. There are so many things we call you besides Henry. Between the four of us, some of your nicknames are Buddy, Henny P, Hendrick, Bubs, Harry, Big Guy, Love Bug, Cutie Tootie, Punkin, and probably more! Out of all the names that you have, “ours” is my favorite.

Growth:

This month you’ve grown so very much! You are 29 inches and 17.5 pounds and in 9-12 month clothes. You have 3 total teeth that have cut through: two bottom and one top vampire tooth. Your personality is so bright and shiny! You wave at us, clap, high five; a couple of times, you’ve even put your hands together when we say the blessing. No where is off limits to you thanks to your rolling, but we have to come to your rescue when you get trapped under the couch or bed. The days of you being little are quickly passing, but seeing your personality coming through more and more takes the sting away.

Sleep:

I’ve never been so happy to report that you are almost sleep trained! I was so hesitant to sleep train for many reasons, but I knew in my gut that you could sleep through the night and that it would actually help you. Cue Mom’s friend Mrs. Brittany. She’s the best because she created a custom sleep plan that helped us gradually wean you from night feedings so you wouldn’t rely on them to get back to sleep, and she helped us tweak your naps to make sure wake windows and everything were where they needed to be. It was like magic! Only one night did we have to do any kind of reassurance with you; the rest you either went back to sleep, didn’t wake up at all in the night, or took a small bottle and put yourself to sleep. It was honestly so easy!

Milk/Food:

Champion eater! You have tried almost 60 foods with us now, and our goal is to get to 100 before your first birthday. You love almost everything! Your bottles are increasing in ounces but decreasing in frequency. The doctor said you’ll probably make up for your night time feeding in the day, and I can see that being true.

Favorite Moments:

-friends: our friends from New Jersey came to visit for almost a week! It was fun having a giant sleep over and doing the things we used to do when they lived in town. It’s so strange to me that we added you to our family without them here, so I love when we’re all together now.

-swimming: we haven’t made it to an actual pool yet this year but one day we filled up the plastic one in the back yard. You LOVE water! The splashes you make are huge!

-Easter season: Easter is my preferred holiday to Christmas. It’s all the love and joy without the pressure of presents. This year, we were able to do a couple of egg hunts, celebrate on the lawn at church, and have a wonderful Easter Day. Jesus loves you!