The first Royals game - Week 37



Jerrod Mitchell and Henry



It was a relatively light week of happenings in Henry's life, however there were two big events. First, on Saturday, Grandma Janith came and visited to cover off Easter, Reggie's birthday, and to assist with Aunt Allison's move. Of course, Henry made out like a bandit, getting even more Easter gifts, and lots of time playing on the floor with Grandma!

Kickin' it with Grandma on the sunporch!

On Sunday, Reggie, Laura, Aunt Allison, and Grandma all went to the Royals game - Henry's first!!!! It was  a cool day, with temps in the 50s. Luckily, Reggie was able to score some indoor seats/table for everyone. Henry looked out at the field and jumbotron a little, but he was more interested in playing with the peanuts dad had bought, and banging mom and Allison's pretzel cheese containers :) He did love it when the Royals would score or make a big play and everyone would clap. I'm sure he thought they were clapping for him, as mom and dad clap for him anytime he is doing something good. Though the timing of the game messed up Henry's nap schedule (i.e. he didn't get one), he was very well behaved until about the 7th inning, when fatigue finally took over. We ended up leaving in the 8th. I think that is a pretty good length of time for your first game! Oh, and as you would expect, the Royals won big, 10-3!

The greatest day ever!

Grandma watched Henry along with Aunt Allison on Monday. Henry continually tried to pull up on the coffee table using a little assistance from Grandma. In addition to this pulling up development, Henry has also started long distance army crawling. On Tues. morning, Reggie was making Henry's bottles for daycare, and had sat Henry in the living room with his toys. Within a couple of minutes, here comes Henry rounding the corner. Reggie thought he was coming for him in the kitchen, but then he veered off and headed for Bella's water bowl! This has been repeated many times since then. We have no idea what it is about that water dish.

The first of MANY father-son outings

Lovin' my new hat.  Thanks Aunt Jen! If I got mom's skin, I'm going to need it!

First Family Easter - Week 36

Susan Heck and Henry

This week brought back Grandpa and Grandma Bogart, who came up again before grandpa had double knee replacement surgery on Tuesday. Reggie and Rick went to the Royals game on Thursday night, while Laura got together with her friend Mary and subjected Henry to Bravo television shows all night :)

Reggie and Laura were both off on Friday, so while Grandpa Rick watched Henry, they went off and met with their State Farm representative about life insurance, and finalized their wills. We definitely are adults now! Luckily, Henry was great for his grandpa, who loved spending the 'guy time' with him.

On Saturday, Laura's friend Rebecca came over to the house with her son, Lawson, after we got back from swim/splash lessons. Rebecca actually owns an Easter Bunny costume, so she dressed up and took pictures with Henry. April and Dave Sifford brought Jack over as well for a few pictures. It was great to be able to get these pictures at the house, and not have to take Henry out to the mall, where we would have to wait in a long line to get a picture with an Easter Bunny that smells of cheese and Marlboros :)

Lawson and Henry

Saturday was also Reggie's 32nd birthday. However, he must have gotten something bad at the game on Thursday, because he was on the couch all afternoon and night! No more Royals BBQ for him! However, in what was the best gift possible, Henry actually slept on Reggie's chest (a first) in the afternoon while Laura ran errands. After an hour nap, he woke up and just stared at Reggie and offered him his pacifier :) It was absolutely awesome!

On Sunday, we headed off to Henry's first Easter service, where he played on the floor in the back half the time with a couple of toys we brought. Laura's co-worker (and Henry ex) Emily came with us and did brunch afterwards. She actually brought Henry an Easter basket, filled with some ducks and a fire truck! He's not too into the fire truck yet, but LOVES the ducks!  Afterward, Henry made the decision to drop Sara, and make Emily his #1 girlfriend! It was a situation that had been brewing for a few weeks. The cold part about that is that Sara has to learn about it from reading this blog!

The new girlfriend!!!

I love to get presents!

The family outside church

They say Sunday is the day of rest. Henry takes that literally!

Developmentally, Henry is really being talkative, particularly in the morning. In fact, at daycare on Wednesday, he squeaked and babbled so much and so loud that another baby, Emma, started to cry! He is also starting to try to pull up, and even stood by himself with the assistance of a toy music table this week. I give us about 3-4 weeks before we are in real trouble and this kid is going all over the house!

Our kids

Look at our great seats at church!

Henry's posse grows by 1 - Week 35

Henry & Jack David Sifford in coordinating jammies

This week we welcomed Henry's new buddy, Jack Sifford, to the world. Laura actually got a bit more involved than she ever thought when April called her to drive her to the hospital when she couldn't contact Dave. Then, Laura made it weird by staying for 12 hours and cutting the cord at 5am. :) Seriously, Jack is a perfect little boy, and Henry already likes him. We went over to their house on Monday, and Henry actually leaned over and gave Jack a kiss on the head (he actually just opened his mouth and drooled on Jack a little, but we will call that a kiss :) ). I'm sure all parents say this, but it is crazy to think that Henry was actually smaller than that just 8 months ago!

Henry and Jack - BFFs!

On Saturday was the Trolley Run, which is ran by Aunt Jen and benefits her not-for-profit. Laura ran the run, and Grandma and Grandpa Anderson walked it. Henry and Reggie stayed at home due to it being cold that morning, though they did go to the finish line afterwards to go to say congrats, and to go to the kids walk area. Over there, Henry was reunited with one of the Chiefs cheerleaders that he had taken a picture with last fall (see below for the progression). Luckily, this time he didn't spend the whole time staring at her chest! Must be because he is now on formula!

Long time, no see!

From last fall......

Aunt Jenni and KC Wolf - Henry didn't know what to think of him

As I said above, the Anderson's were in town for the Trolley Run, and to see Henry. They brought him a little Easter basket/cart that can be used this spring to pull him around the yard. As always, Henry loved the time with his grandparents!

On Tuesday we all went to a 30th birthday happy hour for our friend Jonathan at the Well. Fun times, right up until Henry decided to have a significant blowout. So, after about an hour or so, we had to leave to go to April's to change our little guy.

Developmentally, Henry is definitely recognizing, and responding to hearing his name. Also, he is starting to try and pull up on the coffee table and his crib, prompting Reggie to have to lower his crib the next day! He is really army crawling nowadays. He hasn't figured out that using his legs would allow him to get to where he wants to get to quicker. But it certainly is hilarious and cute to see it! We have started to introduce more food into Henry's diet. Reggie thought he like peas, but we have figured out that that is not the case. He does sort of like these Baby Mum Mums, which are similar to crackers. As you can see, perhaps the best part about Mum Mums is that Henry can (and does) feed them to Bella!!!

One for me, one for you.....

Aunt Jen and our guy

Henry learning that Bella loves to play tug-of-war

The Snowbirds return - Week 34

Jani, Dan, and Henry

This week's big highlight was the return of Grandma and Grandpa Bogart from their wintering in Florida on Thursday. Henry was super excited to see them, as I am sure they were to get to hold him after 3 1/2 months away! We didn't do anything in particular, just caught up and they played a lot with Henry. They really enjoyed getting to go to swim lessons on Saturday morning and seeing him splashing around.

Henry and Grandpa in a stare contest - loser eats carrots!

On Saturday, we had our first housefire of our lives. Somehow, the heat from a candle we had setting on our new dining room table caused the finish on the table to ignite. Henry was upstairs napping, Reggie was gone, and Laura was just getting out of the shower when she heard the smoke detector beeping. She came down the stairs to see foot and a half flames coming off the table!!! Luckily, she was able to quickly put it out and no further damage was caused. Somehow, Henry slept through all the commotion. He must get that from his mama.

Reggie and Laura headed up to Weston on Saturday night to meet some friends from St. Joseph. It was a great time, and especially nice to get away for a short bit to just have fun with adults. Thanks to Jenni for watching Henry while we were gone!

The girls raced to see who could finish their flight of beers first.  Two hours later, Ashley won!

On Saturday afternoon, Laura took Henry up to Brookside to meet up with her friend Rebecca and her son Lawson. The boys eventually started to semi-wrestle, which you can see at the bottom of the Week 32 pictures (sorry, we couldn't resist posting that picture early!). Later that afternoon, girlfriend Sara came by to try to explain herself as to why she had been going out on dates with guys. Henry is still on the fence about what to do. Stay tuned........and Emily keep your cell phone on!

Lawson showing Henry how to shut up a bird

Developmentally, Henry has really found his voice. He is continually squeaking and talking (just like ol' Dad). We try to encourage him a lot by somewhat repeating back to him what he had just said/mumbled/squeaked. If this keeps up, I see Henry missing a lot of Reading Rainbows and recesses for talking (again, just like ol' Dad). Also this week, we attempted to introduce meat into Henry's diet. So far, he is not a fan of pureed chicken. He also generally hates vegetables. Reggie tried to surprise Henry by giving him a spoonful or two of pears, followed by a spoonful of chicken and carrots. That worked two times before Henry was ready to give up on the whole dinner! Finally, his new favorite toy is a dump truck and blocks that our friends Carie and Emily got him. As I am sure all kids love to do, he dumping out all the blocks from the truck more than actually playing with them :) He does like that they are of different shapes for when he puts them in his mouth!

Bella, please play with me!

No peeing in the pool! - Week 33

Chris Freeman and Henry

Week 33 featured the beginning of a 6-week run of swim lessons for Henry at the Troost YMCA. Laura and Jen went out and got him some sweet swim trunks to wear on Saturday. Needless to say, they were very long on him. However, I think that is the look that all the true 'ballers' are going for these days, right? Henry took right to the water, and loved splashing around and going in and out of it! Apparently, the point of this session of lessons isn't for the kids to actually learn anything, but rather to just get used to the water. One of the lifeguards commented to the other that Henry was "ready to go" and didn't appear uncomfortable at all. Upon hearing that, Reggie wondered if he could get 5/6ths of the swim lesson fees we paid back :) It was also really nice that his friends Dolan and Noah were also participants. All the boys played and splashed together most of the time, though I think Henry enjoyed himself the most. Reggie apparently messed up when he went to put Henry completely under water and plugged his nostrils so that water wouldn't go up his nose. Reggie countered that it is much like a baptism whereby the preacher would plug your nose before submersion. I guess that is a debate for another time.......

Baywatch eat your heart out

Ready to swim!

We knew we were potentially playing with fire on the timing of the lessons considering that Henry normally goes down for a nap between 9 and 10. However, we never thought it would show up the way it did. After splashing for a bit, Reggie tried to put him on his back in the water to work on his backstroke. Almost immediately, Henry would shut his eyes and try to go to sleep! This happened repeatedly throughout the lesson, and was absolutely hilarious to everyone! After the lesson, Reggie took Henry into a deeper section of the pool (4ft) next to the water slides. Another father had his daughter sitting on the edge of one of the slides, and for some reason Henry couldn't stop staring at this. We don't know if it was the girl or the slide he was interested in, but Reggie had a discussion with him that it is hard to pick up a girl when you longingly stare in their direction. :)

Dolan and Noah also had their 1-yr old birthday parties this weekend. On Sat, we went across the street to Dolan's house. The Knoblauchs had bought a ball pit for all the kids. This was definitely Henry's favorite place for the whole party. I am pretty sure he slobbered on about 70% of the balls! On Sunday, Laura and Henry went over to the Howes for Noah's party (Reggie went to the 5-hr long Royals game). It was outdoors, and had a sailboat theme (complete with sailboat cakes for the kids!). Overall, our little party animal held up really well!

Look at my breaststroke!

Hey, Noah, how do I open this?

Henry and his buds

Partied out!

Peek-a-boo!

Knoblauchs and Bogarts

Welcome to the jungle! - Week 32

Rebecca and Lawson Muller with Henry

This week brought Grandma and Grandpa Anderson back into town on Thursday for Craig's work. Kathy brought Henry to Hallmark on Friday for lunch with Laura and Jen. Also, it was a great chance for some of Laura's Hallmark friends (including his old flame Emily) to see him. Also, we all went down to the Plaza for shopping and dinner at Coal Vine's on Friday night with Jenni Payne. It seems so easy to go to dinner with your child when you have six sets of hands around to help appease the little guy! He actually was very content drinking his bottle and playing with sugar packets (which by the way, he LOVES to play with sugar packets).

Chillin' with the grandparents!

On Wednesday, Laura had April and Anne over to the house to watch Top Chef, drink wine, and catch up/gossip. I think Anne came over primarily to hold Henry because she wouldn't hardly let go of him (and he loved it!) :)

Reggie showing Henry just how much mom has spent on clothes this month!

When Reggie dropped Henry off on Wednesday, Trina (the lead "teacher") showed him this rainforest/jungle-type setup that they had apparently constructed. When Laura picked him up that afternoon, Trina said how much Henry loved sitting in it since it had lots of toys hanging down from it. However, our friend Lindsay e-mailed Reggie the next day and told him that when she picked up Noah that Henry was sitting in there just crying away!!! Do you smell that.....it is the stench of deception!

On Saturday, Reggie headed down south to play poker while Laura and Henry went over to his godmother's house to "look at nursery stuff." For those that don't know, this is "Laura code" for sitting around drinking wine and talking. Dave played with Henry, right up until the point when Henry's face got real red.........Laura changed him :)

After a busy week, a guy's got to sleep!

Developmentally, Reggie thinks that Henry is starting to recognize his name. He can be sitting there looking around, and generally when you say his name he will look back at you! Laura thinks it is just a function of him hearing someone talking. Who knows? Also, he is starting to get his second tooth! This one is also on the lower jaw in the middle, right next to the first tooth he cut. Finally, it is amazing what kids find amusing. Henry has lots of toys to chew on, throw, beat together, and yet it is everyday things that he seems to like the most. In the mornings he loves to play with an unopened small makeup jar of Laura's. You have seen the colander picture in the kitchen. This week, we put him in an empty diaper box and called it a spaceship, and he absolutely was in heaven! Of course, the bottom of the box started to bow a bit from the weight, so "Spaceship" came to an end real quick :)



"Negative Ghostrider, the pattern is full"



'Baby Maverick' after another safe landing! Where's Goose?

This happened while trying to take this picture. It's Baby WWE!