it’s never too early to start planning a party 2009/09/01

as if i don’t have enough things to do, i’ve been staying up late at night planning what will, i hope, be the 3rd best party ever.  (wait–4th, if you count my 30th b-day bar crawl.  and i {kind of} do.)  first, there was the greatest baby shower of all (!) and, then, the 1st birthday party of all 1st birthday parties (theme? Henri!) and, now, there will be an alphabetilicious party, better than your most committed abecederian could plan.

okay. having looked that up. that word does NOT mean what i thought it meant. and it definitely doesn’t mean what most people today think it means, otherwise i never would’ve heard of it.

yes, that’s right.  your ears are not fooling you.  this year’s theme will be (of course!): The Alphabet.

you're invited!

believe it or not, this isn’t actually a radical idea for a toddler’s birthday party.  i’ve already found cake designs, meal plans, pre-school appropriate activities, AND about a billion color sheets.  um, no.  we will *not* be coloring.  this isn’t pre-school, goddamnit.  it’s a friggin’ party, for God’s sake!!!

so, get your game on.  practice your cursive letters.  and make sure you know which smalls go with which bigs.  because in less than 3 months, a showcase of the world’s smartest 2-year-old’s alphabet knowledge will be on display.  join us.  if you dare.

p.s. i {additionally} challenge you to bring an alphabet-inspired, if not outright intellectually stimulating, gift.  handmade is A-Okay.

henri’s first “blow” 2009/07/18

henri can now blow. this is useful in A)dinner settings (he can blow his own food, thus making our lazy parenting so much lazier) and B) musical settings. he’s a wicked cool harmonica player, yo. watch out k-frayz; someone’s going to take your place in the band…

let’s hope he doesn’t experience any other kind of blow for a very long time! like never! or at least until i’m dead.

Nirvana? or, just Enlightenment? 2009/05/27

Henri told me he needed a new diaper (when he really did need a new diaper) for the first time yesterday. We have reached a new plateau of enlightenment, for sure…!

TRASH! (yuk!) 2009/02/11

after teaching henri a couple signs that ended up being not-actually-sign-language, mark & i visited a baby signing class at the local library.  we learned 10 *real* signs, plus words/signs to a new song (more milk…more milk…please may i have more milk…) and signs to “twinkle, twinkle little star.”  other than acquiring a surefire method to torture henri while he’s in his delicate teenage angst-years (more milk…more milk…please may i have more milk…), it was a neat experience, which affirmed for me, yet again, that mark and i are alone in our fight against a world of overly-weird parents.  well, i guess i did get a little teary-eyed when the teacher told us the story of how her partially deaf son finally signed “more” for the first time–not in response to food, as they had hoped and expected, but after an exhilarating throw, up in the air, by his daddy *sniff sniff.

despite the teacher telling us to introduce “maybe one or two signs a week,” we were eager beavers and started laying them on thick as buttuh on a grilled english muffin.  and, of course, we’ve sung the song at least a thousand times (more milk…more milk…please can i have more milk…).  poor henri was so overwhelmed that he just started making the “mixing” motion for patty-cake anytime mark and i would start signing.  he halfheartedly signed “more” once, before acquiring his newest bit of language–unh, unh, unh–which, similar to his previous favorite word THAT, can basically take the place of all signing/language put together.

but–finally–(yes this posting has a point, thank you)–this week, he signed his first true sign!  it’s TRASH!.  yes, i know the sign for trash, because i asked our teacher during Q&A.  and, boy am i glad i did.  henri cannot only sign TRASH!, he signs it with gusto!!  he signs it like there’s no tomorrow!!  he absolutely loves signing TRASH! (now a synonym for yuk!).  best of all, seeing henri sign TRASH! more than makes up for the odd look on the teacher’s face when i asked her what the sign was, not to mention all of the other parents trying to pretend like they hadn’t heard what i said, or that i hadn’t said it all.  hey, a mother knows her son, okay?  somehow, i must’ve known that henri would l-o-v-e to sign TRASH!  so there.

makes me want to say/sing/sign: More Trash! More Trash! Please can I have More Trash??? Mine’s All Gone…! I Want More Trash!!!

1 year and counting 2008/11/24

Well, I’ve had a couple glasses of wine and I think that qualifies me to write the “what has the last year been like?” posting.  Don’t you?

Since you asked…the past year has been, well, marvelous.  I can’t think of a better word.  Henri is absolutely, without a doubt, 100% and then some, the bestest baby ever born.  Those of you with children: don’t even think about contradicting me on this.  This kid is way too cool.  And those of you thinking about having children: don’t.  Your [future] kid can’t possibly be this cool.  There’s only so much good-baby-ness that goes around every 100 years or so, and we got the majority of it.

In case you don’t believe me (CYNICS!), witness this:

• Most parenting magazines have generous and lengthy columnar advice on the hassles of feeding anyone over, say, 2 days old.  Let me tell you, we have not had a problem in this area.  Henri has yet to meet a food he doesn’t like.  Well, the first time he tried a pickle, he did look at us like WTF did you just give me, bitches? but the next time we gave it to him, he sucked it dry.  So, that totally doesn’t count. I read these articles warning and cajoling parents of picky toddlers and finicky babies and I think, God, parenting a non-Henri must be so HARD. Seriously…I can still recall the day when his doctor forewarned us that babies prefer non-green veggies.  Clearly, Henri wasn’t listening.  His first favorite vegetable was definitely peas.  And he’ll still eat the gigantic Stage 3 “Pea Soup Medley” like there’s no tomorrow.  So, yes, to recap.  H-man = liking food. (color doesn’t really matter)
• And yet, there’s no indication of this love.  Mark was just saying how whenever he mentions Henri being  a “good eater” to his dad, the remark is “But he’s active. He’s not…overweight.”  Which, of course, we laughed about, because being a “good eater” is our favorite thing about Henri.  But Grandaddy Steve makes a good point…for a baby that eats like Henri, he’s nowhere neaaaaaaaar overweight.  He’s not even in the line of sight of overweight.  He only has one chin and no cankles, so…definitely NOT overweight.  He has a big head.  That’s it.
• Henri loves nighttime.  Okay…”love” might be a strong word.  But, if you time it just right, you can actually put Henri in his crib and give him a couple “dawgs” and 1,000 (or so) blankets, twirl his mobile up tight, kiss him on the forehead and say “night, night, Henri” and he’ll WAVE AT YOU.  Now, I’ve had an experience or two with kiddos, and this is Not Normal Behavior.  Even Emma–the former most-perfect child ever–would usually complain about “night night” time.  I mean, kids don’t like to sleep, especially firstborn children.  But it’s like Henri has a sixth sense or something that tells him when he’s had enough of the day.  He’s just like me, only better.
• Which brings me to my next “great thing about Henri” point.  He really is my mini-me.  He’s onery and stubborn, but he can’t stay mad for longer than–oh, about a second.  He knows what not to do and does it anyway, but only after he’s made sure you’re watching.  He loves dangerous situations.  He drinks way too much, way too fast.  When Mark enters the room, his excitement is palpable.  He wants to do everything for himself, until he realizes he can’t…and then he asks for help.
• UNLIKE me, Henri is very verbose.  He talks more than my friend’s 18-month old.  Nevermind that every word begins with the sound of “d,” we still know what he’s saying and it’s still amazing.  And it’s not just one syllable words, either; he can say “bottle” and “again.”  And he understands even more than what he can say.  I don’t know…I just find it fascinating that he is so perceptive.  He just seems to get it.  (Like I said, this is a quality we don’t share.)

There’s plenty more I can brag about, but some other first-time-mom is probably bragging in much the same way right this very second.  I mean, parenting is a global experience.  And I know I’m not the first one who thinks their kid is a genius.  But, I do think he’s a little ahead of the curve.  I didn’t even talk until I was four, after all, and Mark didn’t know his middle name until he was something like 12-years-old (!).  And, even if he isn’t a genius, he’s still way ahead of any expectation of what I might’ve thought a kid would be like.

I can finally say I’ve found my true calling: being Henri’s m-o-m.  It didn’t take a lot of preparation or, really, even that much thought…it’s just a good fit.  Me, and mini-me.  (And McKnight, of course.)

dog! 2008/11/06

we’ve officially called it. henri’s first word is “dog.”  he has a little trouble with the gutteral ending, so–instead–he says something akin to “daw.”  but we know what he means.

some time ago, we all agreed that his first word would be not just when he says something that sounds like a word we say, but when he says something and he knows what is that he’s saying (i’d say this is a pretty standard definition of “first word,” but there was some disagreement in the family-of-henri household…).  so, yes…he definitely knows that “daw” is dog.  when he sees a dog, he says “daw”–excitedly, i might add.  AND, to one up that, he also does a cute little barking sound, if prompted.  okay, it’s actually Wicked Cute.

of course, this is his one and only word, so it also has to suffice for all of the other animals he sees (or sees a picture of), including cat, horse, pig, sheep, etc.  you get the idea!  everything is “daw.”  sometimes even da-da is “daw.”  but, it’s so darn cute, nobody minds.  say it all you want, h-man. you have a beautiful voice.

belated happenings (lazy post) 2008/07/24

i haven’t been doing a very good job of keeping this blog going. alas, some other things have taken over my life/mind. rest assured, henri is still growing and changing and being remarkable every single day. while he isn’t yet crawling, here are some things he enjoys:

• gritting his teeth together. yes, he only has 3 teeth. but that doesn’t seem to stop him from constantly gritting them.  i wonder if he’s just like, hey–what are these things in my mouth? or, if he actually does it to relieve pain or something.  either way, it is superbly annoying/slightly painful to listen to.
• climbing.  not being able to crawl doesn’t stop him from grabbing on to whatever’s closest to him (fabrics work best) and pulling himself across your body, the floor, the bed, etc.
• falling off the bed. how many times does this have to happen before he realizes it hurts? oh wait, am i supposed to keep this from happening??? oops.  i guess fear is a learned thing, b/c henri certainly doesn’t have any.  combine that with his constant need to be going, doing, moving, etc. and you have what we call a “thrillseeker.”
• singing.  henri has this little walker that has a musical feature and we just noticed the other night that when you put him in the walker, he’ll hit the button to make the music play and immediately start crooning right along.  when the music stops, he stops.  also, the other day, he sang along to bob marley.  i always knew i’d have a reggae kid.
• walking. well, in his walker, that is.  actually, he more scoots around in circles using only one foot.  unless he gets stuck, then he can use both legs to back up.
• drumming on anything.  we got him an actual drum, but he really didn’t need it.  tabletops work just fine.  i firmly believe his penchant for drumming is due to mcknight’s constant drumming on my pregnant belly during henri’s last month in utero.
• giving love bites.  i’m not sure if he’s kissing us, biting us, or just experiencing us through his salivary glands like he experiences everything else that is a part of his world, but henri loves to grab on to you and plant a big wet one right on your shoulder.  regardless of intention, it makes me feel loved.

well, i could go on, but that should update you for now.  basically, henri enjoys pretty much anything that doesn’t involve sleep.  that, he avoids like a plague.  in fact, he has decided sleep actually isn’t a necessity after all.

we’re legal! 2008/07/21

(official announcements coming soon!)

is this for real??? 2008/06/30

I just received this email:

Dear MomofHenri,

Thanks again for shopping at Toys”R”Us & Babies”R”Us. We’re pleased to tell you that your item(s) has been shipped!

If there are remaining items in your order that were not shipped at this time, you will receive a similar email notification when they ship. You can click on the link below to review the status of your entire order, including any items that may have been shipped separately.

Item: 4484966
Description: Simplicity Kingston 4-in-1 Crib – Chocolate/White
Quantity: 1
Status: Shipped via: FedEx Ground

YOU MEAN HENRI IS ACTUALLY GOING TO HAVE HIS OWN BED?????? I thought this dream would never come true!

yay! 2008/06/20

henri gets home tonight!!