Dr. Laura and Jeffrey

Well, I am relieved that Charles is home from Mexico where he was doing some watershed modeling with one of his engineering classes. I was talking to my brother Jeff about it a few days ago and I said something like, "I am glad I can hand him the screaming baby and go on a walk or something." Jeff's reply was, "you shouldn't. It's not like being at work all day is more fun than being with a screaming baby all day." I have been thinking about that a lot (especially after handing a screaming baby to Charles while I went running just a few short hours after this conversation with my brother!)

Coincidentally I have been reading "The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands" which goes right along with the topic in hand. My mom gave me the book a few years ago. (The card on it said, "from Charles" in my mom's handwriting.) It seems that the last two years I have been explaining to Charles how women are extremely different than men, while not giving much thought to how men are extremely different than women. Well, I think the most interesting thing is that really, what Charles does want is for me to be happy. I have found that concentrating on that alone has made a big difference for me. The past few days when I have wanted to tell Charles something that I think he should be doing differently I have first let go of my frustration (really let go of it and not just burying it) and doing something different for awhile, then later, we can talk about it in a very non-confrontational way. It has been great! I do have to say I haven't read the whole thing, but I am enjoying it. It is refreshing to read something that is honest instead of trying to be politically correct- especially when it comes to feminism! Well, those are a few of my thoughts. I definitely recommend this book for every wife.

Giggles

Well, it is official. Henri has taken over the blog. But, let's be honest- that is why we started a blog: so that people who are not around get to see Henri at his cutest. The most important person who is not around this week is Charles. He is in Mexico with a class doing watershed modeling.

So, for Charles: here are Henri's giggles from today.

Love you Daddy!

Three Months

Henri is three months (and a half already!) Sometimes I look at him and can't believe how fast he is growing. The other day I got to hold a three day old baby and I was overwhelmed with how small she was! Even though Henri was never quite as small as she is, I still can't believe how three months has changed him!

Just a few days old

Two weeks

Two months

Three months

Winnie the Pooh looks a lot smaller!

Our Concerned Boy

His first reaction was to look around for the person.

The Wide World of Toys

In the past three days Henri has learned to reach out and grab things. It is amazing to see how fast he learns to do something. It may seem little, but considering that a few weeks ago he didn't even know he had hands...

Sometimes he just gets a little frustrated when he can't stuff both hands (and whatever is in them) into his mouth at the same time.

Fun Weekend

A few weekends ago the Hopes came down from Idaho to visit. They came for Henri's blessing, but before that we had a fun weekend. We went out to an authentic Mexican restaurant, had skookies, went hot tubbing, and had a pizza party with Charles' aunts and uncles.

Henri with Aunt Annabelle in his room. We LOVE the quilt Jojo gave him for Christmas!

Somewhere between the hot tubbing and the pizza party Henri had a blowout. I had taken the outfit that was in the diaper bag for such occasions out a few days before. That outfit had been in there for weeks and it didn't fit him anymore. My mistake was that I didn't immediately put in a new outfit, so I then forgot about it. Well, after Henri's clothes became unwearable Charles created a makeshift onsie from his blanket. Here is the outcome:

It was so fun to hang out with the Hopes, we can't wait until we get to have more fun when they come in April!

Ode to the Best Visiting Teacher/Frustration!

Our little Henri has been sick for almost two weeks now. He has been very congested and is waking up again in the night. For the most part he has still been his cheerful little self, but, of course I worry about him. My friend and neighbor Reba (who is the most awesome visiting teacher EVER!) is a nurse and she came over a few times to check Henri out. She told me to call any time during the day or night. Yesterday she told me that the night before her phone rang at 2 in the morning and she jumped up so fast and ran to the phone because she thought something was wrong with Henri. It turned out to be her mom, who is in Spain and forgot that it was so early. When Reba was telling me the story we were laughing to hard, but now whenever I think of it I want to cry because we have so many people watching out for us. (This, by the way was not the frustrating part of my story.)

Well, going back to Reba helping with Henri: she told me that if certain things happened to take him in. One of those things was inconsolable crying. That happened yesterday. Henri was crying for several hours and so I made an appointment. He then cried for several more hours until the appointment. As I held him I could feel his on his little back that his lungs were rattling and he was so congested. At 4:15 we headed across the street to the Health Center. He literally stopped crying right as we walked out of the door. We got to the doctor's office and I put him down on the examination table and he started smiling and cooing and being his usual cute self. AND, miraculously his congestion: GONE!!! Wow, I felt silly. To make things more embarrassing, the doctor was the same one we saw two weeks ago... and two weeks before that! Well, what can I say, I am a first time mother. The doctor's diagnosis? A viral infection and he is probably teething. Teething at three months!