Responsible Parenting

Every once and a while I have to do something that I know is in John Henry's best interest, but will momentarily make him upset. One example is sucking his nose with the obnoxious blue bulb that we received at the hospital.  I realize this isn't a big deal but it upsets him (for a few brief moments) and although I hate to do it, I know it's best for him.  I also realize that these instances of having to do the right thing will only get harder as he gets older. 

The other day I had to something that I knew would make him angry.  I wasn't really sure how angry he would be but knew that I had to be a responsible parent.  I had to cut the tag off of his favorite toy.  Yes, I realize this sounds simple.  Yes, I realize it sounds like it shouldn't be a big deal.  And yes, I realize that I should have done this in the beginning before it ever became an issue.  But I didn't.  I didn't even think that the tag would be noticed.  I was sorely mistaken. 

We received a wonderful jumpy toy from the Calverts and Weeks as a baby shower gift.  John Henry loves the heck out of it.  He jumps, plays the piano, and grabs at all of the toys that hang from the sides.  However, what he really loves to do is play with the tag.  He jumps with it, pulls on it, and does his best to eat it.  When I saw the bite marks around the tag and the place where he was obviously trying to tear with his teeth, I decided it was time for the tag to go.  Now that he's getting a mouth full of teeth it wouldn't be long until he finally got a chunk of the laminated tag in his mouth and potentially down this throat.  

This is a before shot.  He was happily jumping and holding onto the tag, pictured on the left.

Trying to jump and chew on the tag.

The last shot I got before all heck broke loose.  Can you see the concerned look on his face?  I was holding the scissors at this point and not that he knows what scissors do, but he knew that something was about to happen.

Needless to say, it didn't go well.  I cut the tag and he wanted nothing to do with the jumpy after that.  Thankfully, he has a short term memory so he was back in the jumpy having a great time later that day.  Lesson learned from this experience: cut the tags off new toys the second we get them. That, and start practicing the line "Trust me, this is for your own good."

8 Months

Oh my gosh.  My child is eight months and soon I'll be planning his first birthday party.  So scary.

We don't have a check up until next month so it's anyone's guess as to how much our little man weighs.  I would guess at least 20 pounds but I don't really know.  I do know that we have a happy little baby.  I really think he is a great baby.  Not that I have anything to compare him to but he sleeps through the night, doesn't have any issues with eating, and is rarely fussy.  That in my mind, is a great baby!

John Henry taking his 8 month picture.  I think he's beyond cute but obviously I have a biased opinion.

Rockin the fedora.  It added a little extra height for his picture!

I like to call this his MJ pose.  Who doesn't love Micheal Jackson?  I think John Henry really pulls it off!

As usual, this month brought about a month of new developments.  One of our new developments was the high chair.  (Special thanks to Ms. Calvert who gave us her high chair).  John Henry looks so small in it but he seems to like it!

Another new development, different food.  We put a variety of meats in front of John Henry to see what he likes.  In the picture below is a hot dog.  It's a staple in our house so we wanted to introduce him to it as early as possible.  He liked it, but wasn't too keen on feeding himself.  To be honest, he refuses to feed himself.  He's perfectly content to let us feed him.  I guess we're the suckers because we continue to do it...

We've also tried to introduce John Henry to TV.  Not that we are trying to raise a couch potato but we were curious to see what caught his attention.  In the picture below he was watching Sesame Street.  He didn't last for more than 10 minutes.  Most of the show was about Big Bird.  Jay and I both agree he's a whiny character, so maybe he'll like the show when Big Bird doesn't play such a big role.

This month John Henry has discovered phones.  Not toy phones.  But real phones that call real people.  Don't try to trick him with the fake ones.  He'll know the second he puts it in his mouth!  They must be delicious and he loves to make it light up or make sounds...

He's also more affectionate this month.  He loves to sit on his Daddy and then he buries his head into his body.  He really just wants to cuddle.  We love it.  I can't think of anything that makes me happier.

We've also tried to spend as much time as possible outside. John Henry is no different that any other baby. He loves being outside so we try to walk and play outside when it's cool enough. We have this great backpack carrier for him. It's perfect for hiking through the Sope Creek trails.

This picture is a little misleading.  Yes, we are Sope Creek but calling it hiking is what's misleading.  We're walking, and we only walked about a mile and a half.  We weren't on a difficult trail but I was winded at the end.  You try carrying a John Henry on your back in the heat and see how far you go!

John Henry continues to love the pool.  I'm going to miss it once September/October comes.  JH thinks it's great to splash and loves watching the big kids play in the water.

In all his pool glory.  He's so fair skinned, with such little hair on his head that he has to have a hat on in the pool.  I know he looks a little silly but I can't have that perfectly round head getting sunburned!

John Henry is still our little rolly polly baby. He's not crawling yet so he's still got all of his baby rolls. I love them!

He's really into certain toys. He likes trucks or toys that make noise. If it doesn't make noise, he'll bang it on something to make a noise. We pile a bunch of toys around him and let him choose. Since he's not crawling, we just have to make sure we put them within arms reach. It's kind of nice being able to plop him down in the middle of the room and know that he's not going to move.

John Henry also likes the zany zoo that Aunt Gail got him.  He plays with it every day and loves to move the pieces around.  He looks so serious when he's concentrating.

John Henry continues to love bath time.  Thank you to the Benich family for letting us borrow his bath seat.  It allows him to sit up during his baths and play and splash without falling over and hitting his head.  Bath time has become father/son time in our house.  Jay gives him his bath every night and then I'm the one that puts the lotion and pj's on.  John Henry loves bath time.  He does NOT like lotion/pj time. 

Our little man has 5 teeth.  Three up top and two on the bottom.  You can't ever see his top teeth in pictures but they're there!  Try putting a piece of food in his mouth and not getting your fingers out of the way in time.  You'll know they're there then!

Like I said before, John Henry really is a happy baby.  Unless he's hungry or overly tired, he's in a good mood.  We couldn't wish for a better baby. 

Beep Beep!

We were able to spend some time at the Calvert's pool the other night and it was wonderful!  In addition to swimming, John Henry was able to take his first drive.  Hunter was very sweet and allowed John Henry to take his car for a short spin around the pool. 

Mrs. C making sure JH had his seat belt securely fastened.

Hunter making sure the hood was down so JH could see where was going.

"Seriously, Dude.  DON'T wreck my car!"

Beep, beep!  "Get out of the way people!"