Monthly Round Up!

I think I've hit a new record -- nearly a month without a post! Well, I've got some downtime this morning, plus today is Hank's 8th Month-iversary (8 months old at 1:49pm!) so there is no time like the present for a post. Right?

There have been so many things going on. Hopefully I can make a concise enough post that covers what Hank's been up to, lo these many weeks....

Developments

Hank is moving around like a maniac. He crawls -- LOVES to crawl! And he pulls up on everything, whether it is nailed down or not. He often gets up on his feet, stands all the way up, and then lets go of whatever was holding him up, and sometimes manages to stay standing for a few seconds before plopping on his behind. For several days when he was learning how to pull up he would fall over like a log and land on his head -- that sucked! I am much happier now that he has learned to land on him bottom (who would have thought that was something a person must learn? We're constantly amazed at everything Hank has to learn...).

My favorite part of Hank's new mobility is that he will crawl over to me on purpose and climb up into my lap for a quick snuggle. Melt! How much do I love this baby?

In the eating department, there is nothing this kid will not turn away, and he's getting more adventurous with each meal (or maybe his parents are just getting more adventurous with each meal? that is the more likely explanation.). In the last 48 hours Hank has sampled his first Indian, Mexican, and Thai foods, downed a huge dill pickle, enjoyed some grilled onions and fresh mozzerella, and a scrambled egg. He loves sitting in a high chair, and meals (in restaurants, especially) are highlights of his days. He loves to take the spoon away from us and shove it in his mouth himself, and his pincer grip skills are getting better by the day allowing us to give him more finger foods to experiment with. For the most part he only eats food that I made for him or that we are eating ourselves, and pretty much never gets any 'baby' food anymore. It is really amazing to watch!

Sleep has really been quite a mess the last several weeks. He was such a great sleeper at first, that we've been surprised. We decided to try crying-it-out, but that has just been so very sad to participate in. Some nights it seems to be working, in that bedtime takes less time, or he doesn't wake up for a feeding at 4 am, but the crying, the crying... it is heartbreaking to listen to. And to go in to his room to check on him, and to see him standing in his crib with his arms flung over the rail, howling and wailing and nearly asleep at the same time, and NOT BEING ABLE TO PICK HIM UP OR COMFORT HIM? It has really been horrible. We've been doing this for a week, now, and most nights I wind up in tears, too. Tonight we are going to start comforting him again, and hopefully undo some of the stress we've put him through. Poor baby -- he has no idea what's going on. We need sleep, but we need to find it a different way.

Other Happenings

• Starting Daycare

Hank started going to daycare two days a week about four weeks ago. He took to it like a fish to water. I'm glad we didn't have to start daycare for him until he was seven months old. I really think that he was truly ready to start when we did, ready to play with other kids and be in a different environment during the day. His daycare provider is very sweet and really good at managing a bunch of tiny kids at once. Hank has clearly been happy there -- every day when I come to pick him up he's in the middle of something he doesn't want to stop doing. On the first day he was in a pile of little tiny boys, and they were all rolling around on top of each other, like a pile of puppies. He was having a ball.

Of course, even though he's having fun while he's there, it is still very hard for me to walk away every morning and go to work. I just miss him, so! Fortunately the daycare is very close to my office. I haven't needed to visit in the middle of the day, yet, but I am glad that if I ever need to do so it will be easy to do.

• Haircut

Ok, Ok, so the grandmas will probably be happy to hear that we finally broke down and cut Hank's beautiful, beautiful, crazy hair last night. Sniff! Henry and I gave Hank a bath, and then Henry held onto Hank while I hacked off a few too-long locks with some extraordinarily dull safety scissors. I think I managed to salvage his rooster tail, but the sideburns are gone, and his bangs no longer touch the tip of his nose, rather they cut a crooked line across his forehead. Clearly I will not be going into business as a baby-hair dresser any time soon.... Hopefully it grows quickly. (and that people will stop asking me how old 'she' is).

Out and About

We've had some fun outings in the last couple of weeks. We've been the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco to take in the Chilhuly retrospective. The exhibit got panned in the Chronicle, but I loved it. Their reviewer doesn't seem to think this is art, but I think he is so incredibly wrong. No accounting for taste, I guess? Hank enjoyed the exhibit from a mei tai carrier on my back, and managed not to get close enough to anything to break it. (yikes)

This past weekend we somehow decided it would be a good idea to take a baby to the Crucible's Fire Arts Festival, a huge outdoor, late night, extravaganza of fire art. It was extremely loud and very crowded, yet somehow Hank slept through the entire thing. We saw some incredibly things, including giant tesla coils, and a fire tornado (made by aiming several huge shop fans at a flamethrower). We saw as much as we could, but we were all feeling pretty tired, and also pretty stressed about how Hank was handling the experience, so we packed it in early and went home to get the smell of butane and propane out of our systems.

I think that is it for now!

Hank with G'ma and G'pa Wagner

Hank with G'ma and G'pa Wagner, originally uploaded by allthingssara.

One more quick post to thank Henry and Maureen again for coming out for such a long chunk of time to hang out with Hank while my parents were away. We can't tell you how much we appreciated all this! And for Uncle Mike to come, too, was just the icing on the cake. Hank had a ball with you guys. Come back, come often!

Happy Hank!

Happy Hank!, originally uploaded by allthingssara.

Well, I've done it again -- I've let over two weeks slide by without an update to Hank's adoring fans... whoops! Where does the time go??

Thought I'd post a picture of Hank's lovely, gummy, smiley face, because I'm pretty sure that it is going to look a lot different soon. The teething drama that began when he was three and a half months old kicked it up a notch a few days ago and I swear I felt a corner of a tooth poking out from his top, center gums (I think it was the top, left tooth). We were trying to get him down to bed, and I was PMSing, and I just started bawling, squeezing Hank, not believing how fast time has been going by, just overcome with love for him, and a strong, strong wish to pause it all so we can just enjoy him just the way he is for a little bit longer.

I think the last time I posted I noted that he is just hitting developmental milestones like crazy, and that hasn't stopped. He's learning and discovering new skills left and right. It is constantly blowing all our minds. He mastered crawling, so now he's working on sitting and on picking toys out of his toybox himself. He eats everything he's offered, and likes it all. He reaches for me when he wants something from me, he recognizes the sound of my voice over the phone. He sits in his high chair at the table with us -- happy as a clam. Watching him discover his sense of self-determination is completely awesome. When we go to movies at the Cerrito for Baby Brigade he sits on the couch with us, like a little boy -- he hangs out and watches the movie (until he remembers he's a baby and wants to climb us/be held/have a baba/conk out for a nappy-nap). Both Henry and I look at him now and can really picture what he's going to be like as a toddler, and as a little boy, and it is almost too exciting to think that we created -- we MADE -- this funny, smart, teeny weeny person.

Last week the grandmas were lobbying hard for Hank to have his first hair cut. Ok, so, whatever, he kind of looks like a little hippie, and some people have started to mistake him for a girl, but whatever... We almost caved to the pressure, but when I realized that Henry didn't want Hank's hair to be cut yet, either, we put our collective foot down. No haircut. Not yet. That crazy hair is way too cute.

Now that Hank's a little more self sufficient I've been getting crafty again, and it has been so fun. One of my projects got noticed on Flickr and a crafty blogger linked to it. That was so rad! I couldn't figure out why so many people had looked at this one picture, and where all the comments were coming from, then I figured out that the picture had been linked on a blog as something the blogger had seen and really liked. I was really flattered, and it gave me the incentive I've been needing for a while to start the process of opening an etsy shop to sell different things I make. I know, I know... in all my spare time, right? Well, I figure it will give me some incentive to make time for myself to do creative things, which I've really been needing to do. I'm also really excited about the prospects. I have no idea if it will be a success or a bust, but it should be fun, no matter what, and in any event I might learn a thing or two, which is never a bad thing.

Best Outfit Ever

IMG_9748, originally uploaded by hjw3001.

I knew eventually SOMEthing would happen that would make me post to the blog again! Not that things haven't been interesting lately -- because lordy they have been, but they have also been extraordinarily exhausting. So much so that I can barely respond to an email, let alone post to the blog. Hank is a veritable Font of Development these days, and we are still really lacking in the Sleeping All Night Department. But when Henry emailed this picture to me just now of Hank all ready to leave for a trip to the zoo with Henry, his parents, and his brother, I said -- now there's something that needs to be shared with the masses.

In other news, Hank has been sitting in highchairs and crawling! His babble now includes the syllable 'da', which he repeats over and over again. Henry likes to say to Hank, 'Hank! Who's your favorite parent?' and then wait for Hank to respond, 'Da! Da!' Last night I swear he added 'ma' to the repertoire as well.

My parents went out of town about a week ago, and Henry's family flew in to pick up where they left off -- so sweet that they would come so far just to let us delay daycare another couple of weeks. We've had a devil of a time finding daycare, but I think we've finally found a good spot for Hank. And conveniently it is a few blocks from my office.

Anyway, that is it for now...

102 degrees...

.... in Oakland... 'nuff said. Hot mama, hot baby, hot daddy, hot cats..... dreamed last night of freak snowstorm -- everyone was deliriously happy.... Now we are just delirious, but it is from the heat.

sigh....

Six Month-iversary

Dear Little Hank --

In exactly twenty minutes you will be exactly six months old. Where has the time gone, little puppy? It has really been flying by, probably because we've been having so much fun. These days you are working so very hard to crawl. This had you really frustrated for a couple of weeks, but then you realized that you could simply roll from place to place to get to wherever you wanted to go. I've seen you do this now to get to certain toys, to tip over your wagon (and spill all the toys it holds onto the floor), to get closer to your bottle, and to just get from one place to another. You always looks so proud and happy with yourself when you manage to snag whatever it is you've been trying to reach. You have recently become a big fan of toys on wheels.

You sit up in your little red seat pretty well, now, and eat tons of different fruits and vegetables. A few days ago I gave you a sippy cup of water for the first time. I wasn't sure what you would think of that, but you seemed to really enjoy it -- you grab the cup and instinctively know it is something to drink from. I had heard stories of babies choking on water or refusing it all together, but not you -- you seem to be slurping quite a bit of it up these days, and you grin while you do it. You barely need my help.

You are such a smiley, vocal baby these days. You constantly make happy, high pitched shrieks. Each time you start on a "conversation" I find myself wishing I had a tape recorder running, because your "vocabulary" is constantly changing, and I hate to think that someday I won't remember all your wonderful baby sounds.

Your daddy and I love you so, so, very much, Hank. We don't know where we would be without you, and can't imagine life without you. In six more months you'll be a whole year old! I marvel that we've gotten this far, and am delighted that things just keep getting better.

Lots and Lots of Love and Smooches,
Mommy

Worth the Wait

Worth the Wait, originally uploaded by allthingssara.

My birthday present from Henry finally arrived! All the way from Hawaii! She's totally kitschy and wonderful and her hips even sway back and forth. I love her. Thank you, Henry! You are the Wag to my Mond. XOXOXOX

There are so many nice things on my mind tonight. Hank just continues to open up -- everyday he is more and more vocal, and constantly pushing his boundaries, working on new skills. It is so exciting to be a part of it all. He's been working so hard at crawling, but he can't quite get there yet. Soon, soon! He can get his behind up in the air, and can get into the cat-cow position from yoga. It is just a matter of time. He has figured out that he can roll from Point A to Point B, but at the same time I can tell by looking at him that he knows there's a better way to get there.

We are just really having a good time. We had about a week and a half there where none of us were sleeping well, and that made for a stressed out little family. But we did some sleep training with Hank -- just some 'check and console' type stuff, and that really seemed to make the difference. Of course, now that I've put that thought down in writing it will probably all go straight to hell again, but I'm going to stay positive! But we're all feeling pretty good again, I think.

So many nice things on my mind tonight...

• We had a group hug this morning, with Hank in the middle in a baby carrier. Henry kissed Hank on the head and said, 'Hank, will you be the meat in our family sandwich?' Totally sweet and cute, but of course begged the question -- if Hank were a sandwich meat, which kind would he be? Turkey? Olive loaf? Roast beef?

• Hank had his first visit to Fairyland today. We went with my friend Molly and her three little boys, and my friend Carol and her little baby boy. It was so fun to go back to Fairlyland for the first time since I was a kid! Hank was too young for it, but I felt like a kid in a candy store. Pretty much nothing about the place had changed, and every time I turned my head I was seeing something else that took me right down memory lane. It was totally, totally rad.

• Another first today, Hank had his first encounter with a bug! I was changing his diaper in his stroller (which makes an excellent changing table, by the way -- if anyone is vacillating between getting a stroller that reclines over one that doesn't, get the one that reclines, if nothing else so that you can use it as a changing table when none other is available). We were under a tree and a caterpillar fell out of the tree and was ooching its way towards Hank in the stroller. I put the caterpillar on my finger and showed it to Hank, who was completely mesmerized by it. Awesome!

• Solid foods continue to be a hit. This afternoon when Hank was getting his butternut squash, between each bite he would stick his tongue out as far as it goes and grin like an idiot.

• Hank is all about the raspberries these days. He blows raspberries constantly.

• Hank's got his first pair of actual shoes! They are so little and the first time he wore them he seemed to really like them. All I could think was 'wow, now you look like a Real Boy!' I got them so that when he uses the walker at my parents' house he doesn't rip up his socks or toes. He cruises all over the house and backyard in that thing, and has actually walked up to me in it, on purpose. We are going to be in so much trouble...

• When I went to feed Hank in the middle of the night last night, by the time I got to him he had stopped crying. I thought, 'great, he found his pacifier!' Nope, he had found his tiny stuffed elephant and was contentedly sucking on the elephant's trunk. It was super cute.

I guess that is it for the moment. Hank is snoozing and Henry is off to train club so I've got the place to myself. Sweet!