A Festivus for the rest of us - Week 18

Henry and Emily - a.k.a. Girlfriend #2

Week 18 for our guy was the official start of the holiday season. On Wednesday, Laura took Henry back to Nordie's Cafe to meet up with the other Hallmark mom's that are currently out on maternity leave. As you can see, Henry was much more well behaved than the last time. However, those rings that he is holding below were stolen from Katelyn, who is sitting next to him. That must be why Henry looks as if he is bracing to get hit, and Katelyn looks like she is winding up for a right-cross!

Lawson, Katelyn, Henry, Audrey

On Friday, Laura had her annual ugly sweater party at Jenni's house. Thanks to some very appropriate gifts from Reggie's mom last Christmas, she was more than prepared this year, including her own Santa belt complete with cupholders! While she went to the party, Henry and Reggie headed over to Ryan Lorei's house for a 'guy's night'. His son Reece was already asleep, so Reggie and Ryan watched 'The Town' and took turns giving Henry life advice for a guy. For instance, if a woman tells you she will be ready in 5 minutes, go ahead and turn on the tv. It will be 30. Also, as a guy you always need to HYB (Handle Your Business)! Anyways, Laura and Ryan's wife Ashley came back from the party and we headed home around 12:30.

Getting home late didn't bode too well for the next morning, when we needed to be at Reggie's extended family Christmas 2hrs. away. In addition to the general slowdown that comes with having a baby, Laura didn't feel too well (I will let you determine why that was - hint: see above :) ). Anyways, we got to the Christmas an hour and a half late, but were in time for lunch at least! Henry got there and had a nice pile of presents from the aunts. As always, there were no shortage of people wanting to hold him! Following the extended Bogart xmas, we went to Reggie's dad's house for Christmas with that side of his family. Henry really enjoyed playing with his grandparents, and he got some great gifts!

Three generations of Bogart men!

Monday was a big day. For starters, we had Henry's orientation at his daycare facility. As I think has been written previously, he is headed to daycare in mid-January and in a room with a number of kids of friends of ours. As expected, this was an extremely difficult thing for Laura, as it symbolizes her having to go back to work and leave our guy. Other than a few tears in the parking lot and within the first couple of minutes of walking into the center, she did great and feels better about the whole thing afterward.



I love presents!!!



We did our family Christmas on Monday night. As you may have guessed, Reggie waited until Sunday to buy anything! It really is an odd Christmas for us (and I guess a number of parents) when it came to buying for Henry. Obviously, he can't open his gifts, or understand anything he is getting. All he wants to do is put whatever he gets into his mouth! So, we decided to each buy a couple independently so that at least the other parent would be surprised when the gift was opened. Thanks to good ol' dad, Henry now is a proud owner of a 6-9 month KC Royals onesie for April!!!!



Best. Gift. Ever.



On Tuesday night, our friends Chalice and Matt Lafferty (and Lola and Annie) came in from Chicago to visit. Chalice is one of Laura's good college friends from her sorority. She is an elementary teacher in Chicago, so it was no surprise when she showed up that she had a big bag for crafts for us to make our own rubber ducks for Henry! We took them to Kona for dinner, where there was a bit of scene caused. One of Henry's girlfriends, Sara (SEE I SPELLED IT RIGHT), was there and was none too happy that another woman was there with him. There was a bit of a catfight, but Henry was able to settle her down before Chalice lost too much hair!

"Don't mess with my guy!"

We took the Laffertys to Oklahoma Joe's for lunch on Wednesday. Luckily Henry was much better behaved than a few weeks ago. We were starting to think that he didn't like OK Joe's, which I would consider a parenting failure on our part!

Z-man/fry please!!!!

Developmentally, Henry had his 4-month checkup on Friday. His stats are 12lbs, 12oz, which is in the 20-25th percentile. He is 24.25 inches long, which is in the 50th percentile, and has a 17" noggin, which is the 75th percentile. What I deduce from this is that he is average height, but really smart. But then again, he is a Bogart, so was there any question he would be smart! :) Also, we found out that our little guy has a bit of a nubbin (i.e. 3rd nipple)! Essentially, it is just some extra tissue. It is barely noticeable, and will go away as he grows, but it was really funny! She said he is doing great, and it "following his growth path beautifully!"

The Laffertys

Keeping watch - Annie, Lola, and Bella



Chalice and Henry



Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow! - Week 17

Jessica, Audrey, and our guy

Henry was trying to emulate Laura's best dance moves!

This week wasn't extremely eventful for our guy. However, there were a couple of 'firsts' for him. On Friday, Reggie was let off work early due to a systems upgrade and planned to finish up mulching leaves in the yard. However, Henry ended up needing to go to the pediatrician for his congestion. As it would turn out, he had a mild ear infection, which was his first sickness requiring antibiotics.

This week also brought with it Henry's first experience with snow. He obviously is too young to think much about it, but it was fun to set him in it! We wanted to make a little snowman, but time got away from us. Who would have thought that having a baby would do that to your free time.

Yes, there is a baby in there!

Visits this week included a trip out to Laura's friend Jessica's house to visit her and her girl Audrey. Also, one of Henry's adult girlfriends, Emily, came over for a dinner date.  We think there is a battle line about to be drawn between Sara and Emily for girlfriend supremacy. That is a bit of foreshadowing to a future post, though :)

There weren't any real developmental achievements this week. Henry is still drooling like crazy. Reggie found out that he loves to be lifted up as if he were flying (i.e. Super Baby) Superman style. Also, he apparently likes to sit on top of Reggie's shoulders. It must be the idea that his is so much higher than everyone. Bella does the same thing!

Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!

Pictures from Henry's 3-month shoot

We said a few weeks ago that we had Henry's 3-month shoot over the Thanksgiving weekend, so we thought we would share a few of the shots with you all. Enjoy!

Note - Week 17 should be posted tomorrow!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! - Week 16

Henry, Jill, and Chris

Week 16 was filled with lots of holiday events. On Thursday, we all went to Holidays in Crestwood, which is an event which Aunt Jen is in charge of for the Children's Center for the Visually Impaired (CCVI). The highlights of the event are a gingerbread house contest featuring creations from pastry chefs across the city, carolers, and a living reindeer. Henry did good for most of the time, but then all of a sudden conked out for the night. Take a look at the pics and just try to guess when that happened!

Henry and Rudolph

.....and I'm spent!

Friday night was Reggie's company Christmas party, so Laura's parents stayed in town to watch after him for the night. The party was great, Reggie actually won a $200 gift card to Quiktrip. That will buy a LOT of taquitos! And what can I say about the background in this picture below. Believe it or not, it is supposed to be a snowman. "Why are there all those random colored circles on it" you say? I don't know, maybe some 5 year olds made it!

Date night!

On Saturday morning, we took our guy back to Crestwood for 'Breakfast with Santa'. Henry was able to sit on Santa's lap, get his picture taken, and tell him what he wanted for Christmas. Tops on his list ---- Royals season tickets for his dad (since infants get into the game for free)! Later on Saturday, we went to the 2nd annual Tennessee Dave's Smoke-a-thon. Essentially, four or five guys smoke various meats during the day. Then everyone else comes over in the evening for dinner/football. Henry was a hit with all the ladies as usual! It was either because he is so good looking, or because he smelled of smoked pork!

"Mom, this guy smells of beef and cheese"

Developmentally, Henry is still working on rolling over consistently. He is really good at holding his own pacifier, and is grabbing onto things and starting to pull, prompting Laura to ask Reggie to work on securing the picture frames on the wall next to his changing table!

I got this mom!

Gobble Gobble - Week 15

Leah and Henry

I need a diaper, NOW!

Well, the holidays are officially upon us, and with that meant another long road trip for Henry and the Bogarts. On Thursday, we all went down to Harrisonville to Reggie's Aunt Donna's house for the the Bogart Thanksgiving. It was great for his family to be able to meet Henry. He did pretty good, though Reggie did have to make a mid-day run to CVS for diapers. How that kid went through 6 diapers in 5 hours I don't know!

Aunt Colleen

From Harrisonville, we picked up Bella in KC and headed to St. Louis for Laura's extended family Thanksgiving, which was Saturday night. It was a long day of driving, but luckily Henry slept through most of it so we had minimal stops along the way. Half of her family had previously met Henry during an open house in St. Louis back in September. Aunt Colleen tried to baby snatch him, but ol' dad was hot on her heels! :)

On Friday morning, Henry had his 3-month old photo shoot with Stephen Seebeck, who was our wedding photographer. He got some amazing pictures of Henry, who was very open to smiling during parts of the shoot. The trick was to have a burp cloth with you in your back pocket to wipe away all the drool right before the picture would be taken.



The paparazzi is always after Henry, so we took some ourselves to make some money!

(Unsolicited plug - if you are looking for some professional photos, you should definitely check out Steve. His work is amazing, and is very easy to work with. If you are interested, his website is http://www.seebeckphoto.com/). Now, back to the blog......

On Friday night, we went over to April Sifford's family's home to catch up with some friends we hadn't seen in a while. Nothing too exciting took place, except when April was holding Henry on the couch at the end of the night, he apparently decided that he would make a move and try to pull her top down! Between this and the "cheerleader incident" something tells me that there will have to be some "father-son" discussions sooner than later about the way a gentleman should behave (or at least a Bogart male!)

After the Saturday Thanskgiving, we went to Laura's friend Jill Dauer's family home to visit her and her husband. They live in L.A., so we don't get to see them too often. Jill was natural with Henry! And, even though it was really late for him, he was very well behaved. You will see a picture of Jill and our little man on next week's blog entry. Since she is out in California, we had a cheat a little for Week 16.

"What high school are you from....."

On Sunday, we decorated the house and put up the Christmas tree. Henry absolutely loved the lights on our tree as well as Grandma Kathy's. I just wonder as Henry gets older whether he will be a present snooper like his dad, or inherent poor "good present" dance moves from his mom! FYI, the dance moves aren't too dissimilar from Elaine's dancing on Seinfeld. I like to think of it as a Festivus miracle!

Tuesday brought with it a visit out to Laura's friend Jessica "T-Rex" Lee's house to visit her newborn baby girl Audrey. Audrey is an absolute cutie! Henry's girlfriends just keep piling up :) We like to think of Henry as being a pretty small baby, but was interesting to see just how much he has grown from his newborn stage when sitting next to Audrey.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Bogarts!

The big developmental happening this week was Henry's decision to rollover on Tuesday night! He only did it once, but luckily Laura and her sister were already filming him so we got it on tape!  Next up: Walking (which I expect to happen before Christmas - he is a Bogart you know :) ). Also, we are trying to get him on a nightly schedule of the "4 B's" - bottle, bath, book, bed. So far, he seems to be taking to it well.



The funny thing was Henry was reading the book to Reggie!







Are you ready for some football! - Week 14

Henry and his girlfriend Sarah





The family



Week 14 was pretty quiet around the Bogart household, with the exception of Sunday. Reggie was able to score free tickets to the Chiefs/Cardinals game through his work. So, with the weather being in the upper 60s, we thought it made for a perfect opportunity to strap on the Baby Bjorn and take our little guy to his first professional football game! He didn't mind it at all, and even slept during part of the game. Due to Reggie's fear of the noise, whenever the Chiefs were on defense, Henry was using dad's hands as noise mufflers on his ears. Overall, it was a great day for the family!

These girls didn't stand a chance!

After the game, Laura wanted to get some pics of us next to the field. While we were down there, Henry pointed out two Chiefs cheerleaders that he wanted to get a picture with. They were gracious enough to hold him while Laura snapped the shots. As you can see in the picture, little Henry decided to "perv" up the shot by staring at the woman's chest! We actually took two shots - in the other one he is staring at the red head's chest. Is that called 'being a playa'? It is either that, or Henry was secretly filming one of those "Got Milk?" commercials. :)

We also happened to run into our friends the Howes and their baby Noah, and the Knoblauchs and their son Dolan. You have seen them in appearances previously on this blog. Their boys will be in the same daycare room with Henry in January. They are 4 months older than Henry, which apparently translates to wanting to pull each other's hair, because that seemed to be their source of entertainment!



The Knoblauchs, the Howes, and the Bogarts





Look at my "doll"

Finally, I wanted to share a couple of interesting comments from the game. First, we were approached by four separate groups asking if I had 'Carlos' with us? It took us a minute to think back to the Hangover! Second, as a woman in our row was leaving the game, she said to Laura, "Oh, it is a real baby. I thought it was a doll." Laura didn't even know what to say, other than, "yep, it is a real baby." Seriously, who would strap a Bjorn to their chest with a babydoll and go to a Chiefs game (Dave Sifford not included)? So strange!

Developmentally, Henry is starting to improve on his hand-eye coordination. He is now pulling at toys that are hanging off his playmat. He continues to be extremely verbal at times. Seems odd that hearing that little boy squeaking and coo would melt your heart, but it does! He is really turning on the water works, and by that I mean drooling all over every single thing he gets around. You would think that we were entering him in some sort of baby wet t-shirt contest daily based upon how his shirts always look! He is taking to his crib really well, and is getting better about not screaming bloody murder when we first put him in there. Finally, and this is a big step, he is starting to want to roll over. We have noticed on a few occasions where he will roll onto his left side. Just a little more and we'll be all the way there!

Henry's "gym" - where all the progress is made. He listens to the Rocky soundtrack for tummy time!

Laura also wanted to point out that Henry can now wear baby jeans as opposed to just sweatpants. I don't know if that is technically a developmental accomplishment or a fashion accomplishment (and I think Laura is prouder of the latter :) ). I will let the public decide that one.

Big boy pants!

A wild Week 13 in the Bogart household

Henry and Hues

Heidi and Henry sharing a glass!

Week 13 brought with it lots of excitement, joy, and accomplisment. On Thursday, our great friend Heidi and her boyfriend Matt came and visited us for the first time since Henry was born. We all stayed up until 1am on Thurs. night talking, drinking, and catching up. Henry just slept in Heidi's arms for most of that time. He had slept a lot during Thursday, so we tried to prepare Heidi and Matt for one of those nights where the baby cries a lot. Instead, Henry gave us 7 HOURS of sleep. So, either he did that out of respect for Heidi, or else she drugged our baby. We did notice a half empty bottly of Nyquil in her purse later in the weekend :)  

Heidi and Matt left on Friday for Columbia so she could show him the sites of the most prestigious institution you will ever see. However, before that, they all went to Oklahoma Joe's for the best gas station BBQ you will ever find. Unfortunately for all in attendance, Henry was not very cooperative. Laura, Jenni Payne, and April had to take turns walking and bouncing him around the dining area to minimize his wailing. Once back in the car, he immediately went to sleep for 3hrs.

The family - He's starting off right!!!

On Saturday we met back up with them for the MU/K-State football game in Columbia. We were joined by about 13 others, including Laura's parents. The forecast for the day was 52 and cloudy, so we were a little concerned about the cold. Luckily, Baby Gap came through with some sort of space-aged freezer suit for him. Thus, our boy was at a nice, balmy, 85 degrees! As always, he was passed around throughout the pre- and post-tailgate. He did great, and seemed to really enjoy being outside so much. Henry didn't go into the game due to the fear of him getting cold. Laura's mom and Jenni Payne's mom took him to the Kappa Delta sorority house instead to keep him nice and warm. As a side benefit, Henry was able to get the numbers of six KD's. Those girls love Bogart men!

We even took him to Trops on our way out of town (because Momma and Aunt Jen are lushes for slushes). Of course, he got lots of endearing looks from a number of the women in the bar. Overall, I would say that the Bogart trip to Columbia was a rousing success, and we will be doing it again in 2011, just earlier in the year most likely!

Sunday was a huge day in Henry's life, as he was baptized at Visitation, which is a Catholic church by our house. All our parents came up for the big moment. Laura's best friend April was asked to be Henry's Godmother.  His baptismal gown was made from Laura's wedding dress. It was beautifully done by the seamstress. Thanks Kara for the recommendation!

Henry's gown - 2010 

Laura's gown - 2006

He did not like this AT ALL

As a testament that you have very little control over a baby's disposition, we timed everything out Sunday morning so that he would be fed 30 minutes before the baptism and changed right before we walked into the door. He was perfect all the way to the church. Almost immediately after putting on the gown, he 1) needed to be changed, and 2) was fussy for the next hour. Of course, he was essentially wearing a dress, so it is somewhat understandable. Once the baptism was over, and he was out of the church, he was happy as he could be for most of the rest of the day. Oh well, we still got a few good non-crying pics!

Henry and his godmother April

Monday night was also big for Henry, as it was his first night in the crib. Laura knew this day would come, though she didn't want it to. After setting him down in his crib and going to bed, Laura just watched the monitor for 15 minutes before she could go to bed herself (this included moving the crib cam twice in order to get a better view). He did great, waking up only once in the night to eat.

Aunt Jen, mom, dad, and Godmother/Aunt/Pregnant Girl April

"What are you looking at? Yes, I'm wearing a dress. Mom forced me too!"

Developmentally, Henry has been increasingly giving us longer blocks of sleep at night. In the last week or so, he has given us 7hrs. twice! Additionally, he is becoming very verbal. Obviously no words other than "My Dad is the best," but he is babbling all the time now. Unfortunately for him, I think he inherited that from Reggie. Looks like this kid will also be missing lots of episodes of Reading Rainbow and recesses at school. (That's right, the first offense for 'talking' at my grade school was that you missed Reading Rainbow and had to do schoolwork. I think I saw may 20 RR episodes my second grade year! ) Also, his face continues to change from that of a newborn to more of an infant. He's becoming such a big boy!!! We are really excited for the holidays, and for the rest of our extended families to be able to see him! I just hope they are wearing waterproof clothes, because he is drooling a lot now!

Henry and Aunt Jen threw the ol' pigskin around at the tailgate. What an arm!