Hard Day's Night

Henry loves to bounce! Please disregard the dirty bib... all that bouncing is usually "productive!"

Ready for Summer... Almost

I have my sunglasses, but perhaps I should work on my abs before swim season!?!?

So cool!

Okay, enough playing around... let's hit the gym!

Balloons!

We celebrated Dada being done with the bar by spending a few days doing NOTHING in Indianapolis! It was fantastic! Henry was charming, as usual, and the girls in the baby/kids department of Nordstrom LOVED him! Hence, he ended up with his first balloon. It was a big hit! Here is the evidence:

Hugs for the balloon!

Hey... you get back here balloon!

Uncle Sebastian... Will you play with me and my balloon?

Thanks man!

Fashion Police

This is our super-cute Taggie's outfit with matching blanket! Adorable! It is a 6-9 month, so it should be around for a while, but I was so excited to put him in it!!!

A Message For Daddy

For those of you that don't know, Kevin is taking the bar exam. I am a day late on posting this, but he is taking the second half today. Good luck daddy!

Updated ScrapBlog

A few months ago, I discovered scrapblogging. I love it, but I rarely find the time to actually work on it. My goal is to do one for Hankster's 1st year. Slowly, but surely, I'll get it done. Here is the updated version. I will need to go back and fill in the missing months/events, but it is a start.

Henry and Austin

A few weekends ago one of my besties, Meredith, came to visit for the weekend. She brought along her 8 month old, Austin, who is destined to be one of Henry's besties. Wow, life has changed since our college days, but we still managed to have a great time. (Outside Henry's fever and a string of bronchitis that traveled through the bunch). We were sad that illness kept away our other friend, Whitney, and her baby, Alden, but we completely understand! Here are some great pics from the weekend!

Generally, when in car seats, one of them was crying... they took turns! We had lots of adventures in the car that weekend! We even went to Michigan City to shop at the outlet mall... lots of great deals, and the boys were such troopers!

Let us get this straight... you want us both to sit still, look at the same camera AND smile at the same time... you are crazy! (Note... Henry is exactly 4 months younger than Austin and they are nearly the same size! Henry is about 1 lb less than Austin at this point (but a lot less mobile)!)

Austin: "Seriously, you just need to lean forward and start moving... it is easy!"
Henry: "eh... I don't know... my mom carries me everywhere... why would I risk losing that?"

Austin (clearly disappointed): "Dude... you have to at least make an effort"

Austin: "I'm outta here... this baby is bo-ring!"

Finally... somebody that wants to play!

Gangster lean - a universal baby pose!

Austin: "Mom... I look so handsome in this mirror!"

Henry: "Austin... shake the bars and make the lights work..."
Austin: "Okay, but can't you do this yourself?"
Henry: "I can, but why would I... I have you to do it for me!"

Austin being gentle...

Henry loving it!

Austin showing Henry how to have fun in the Around-We-Go!

Henry still unsure of the Around-We-Go, but willing to try!

Sick boy - resting with his glow worm and Kiki!

~Danger and Trouble planning their next adventure~


Thanks for visiting Mere and Austin! We cannot wait to see you again!

Fashion Police

With the boy growing like a weed... I am finding myself devastated when he outgrows his adorable clothes. Thus, I plan to document his fashion on the blog. Here is an outfit that my Aunt Dee brought Henry when she first came to visit him. He finally grew into it, but at the rate he is growing, he will be out of it next week! I even got him to wear the hat today! (He generally hates hats, but wore it for an hour this morning...).

Toth Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Pedigree - Family pictures

Really... this was a little shocking to me, but it should make Kevin better. He has been getting a little annoyed/hurt/mad/whatever with every stranger in the world commenting that Henry is like a tiny/giant baby version of me... I don't know how scientific this is, but I will take it as proof that the mister is a perfect blend of both of us!

Kiki Monkey

My good friend Carol gave Hankster a monkey for Christmas this year. This monkey, affectionately named Kiki by my nieces, is Henry's new best friend. He loves Kiki. Kiki was originally named Bananas, but after his constant smooching of the monkey, the girls thought a girl name was more appropriate. Here is a quick video of Henry and Kiki. (Please ignore the annoying voice in the flick... note to self... don't talk when filming. Ever.)

A Boy and His Dog...

Okay, so my mom will hate this pic because one of my four-legged babies is *gasp* touching HER baby, but it is too cute not to post. Wrigley has really come around and loves to snuggle with Henry. ADORABLE! It was also too perfect that Hankster was wearing those jammies! Lovesit!

From Henry to You...

Just Because...

...I could not end today's posting extravaganza
with a post not containing a pic of the star of the blog.

New Friend Alert

Last week, our good friends Jill and Adam welcomed baby Lucas Michael. Congrats guys!

26.5 Inches

No, I'm not talking about how tall my baby is anymore... Ironically, that is the amount of snow that was dumped on Valparaiso in about 12 hours last night/today. There has been more since then, so I do not have an updated figure for you, but driving on some of the side roads feels as if you are in a snow maze. The plowed snow on the sides of the roads is literally taller than the cars. It is surreal. I tried to get some pics, but these do not even come close to showing how much there actually is on the ground right now!

Teeth

You heard right. Hankster had two teeth break through over the weekend. This resulted in Kevin and I altering our exciting Superbowl plans of the three of us going to Wings, but staying home was fine for me. (My how things have changed... while I was pregnant last year, the few years prior, the Superbowl was like a holiday at our house... lots of good food, friends and alcohol). After a day and a half of a crabby baby, we are getting back to normal. I cannot complain... he has not been this fussy EVER, and it really was not even fussy by normal baby standards. Here is my attempt at capturing photographic evidence of our first teeth. Look closely.

Adventures in Baby Food: Bananas

No pictures for this one, but bananas are a big hit! What I am now confused by is why anyone would feed a baby bananas from a jar?!?!? Here is the recipe I used to make his bananas:

Banana Baby Food

Ingredients:
Banana

Mash ingredient. Feed baby.

Optional: Mix in a little formula/breast milk to thin out if necessary.

Not hard. Not even a little bit.

Adventures in Baby Food: Rice Cereal

Good thing he likes the cereal... it is a staple!

Adventures in Baby Food: Pears

This is a new segment I will be featuring on the blog. Henry has started his adventures into solid foods. It is a slow process, but we are introducing one food a week. First up... Pears




Okay, so the pears were obviously not a huge hit. However, these pics were taken with pears from a jar. I made my own pear baby food and he actually loved that.