Roadtrippin' - Week 51

Pat, Dana, Ben, and Anna Kirn and Henry. Aunt Dana's fish face can't beat the original!

The Bogarts have been road warriors this summer, and this weekend was no different. We headed out on Thursday night for St. Louis, the first leg on our ultimate trip to Morton, IL for Laura's cousin's wedding. On Friday morning, we had set up a photoshoot with Stephen Seebeck to take Henry's 1yr. pictures. As would be our luck, within 15 minutes of arriving in Forest Park, it started to rain/drizzle. We headed under cover and continued to take pictures. The rain stopped, and we headed back out into the park. Again, after about 5 minutes, it started to rain, this time pretty hard. We also had a further run back to cover. As you could guess, after getting rained on twice (coupled with the humidity), Laura's hair was wrecked, and she was done with pictures. We attempted to shoot some shots of Henry with a little cake, but he was very turned off by the icing texture, and wanted nothing to do with the cake. He was more interested in trying to get to the various cigarette butts on the ground!

About to get the best frozen custard ever made! 

On Friday night, we were able to go to dinner with Reggie's friends Jana and Jeff Sindelar (and their son Jackson), Jani Schramm, and her boyfriend Dan. We went to a pizza joint, and Henry and Jackson loved watching the guys throw the pizzas up into the air! Even moreso, Henry was mesmerized with Jackson. What I wouldn't give to know what Henry is thinking when he looks at kids that are just a bit older than him. Great weather, and great to catch up with them! Afterwards, we hit the original Ted Drewes for some ice cream until Henry melted down. He had had a big day!

The Kirn cousins

On Saturday morning, we loaded up again and headed to Morton for the wedding. All of Laura's extended family on her moms side were in attendance which is a rare treat considering it's a large crew (Kathy is one of seven), and several family members live out of state.  Henry was the
hit of the party and at one point had a circle of guests dancing around him while he stood (assisted by Aunt Jen) in the center.  He just loves to be center of attention, wonder where he gets that from?? He also loved interacting with Laura's cousin Jeff's two boys, Rylan & Mason, who are both under the age of 5.

Adam & Henry

Takin' over the dance floor

Boogeying down with Aunt Pam and Amie

Henry with Aunts and Uncles

Derek and Samantha with Henry

The Kirn men

Jeff, Rylan, & Tina 

On Sunday, we did the whole drive back to KC (approx. 6hrs.). When we got to Hannibal, MO, our car's four-wheel drive system almost broke down, so that cost us some time to get it taken care of. It must have been the amount of carseat time Henry had had over the last three days, because he was so mad that he decided to blow out of his diaper three times that day. There is nothing like walking through a Wal-Mart in Hannibal holding a baby out away from your body as you beeline to the family restroom

On Thursday, we took Henry back to Bright Horizons so he could see his old "teachers." Also, deadbeat Reggie still owed the center money :). Trina was really excited to see the little guy, and played with him for a few minutes. There is a ball chute there, and Henry was able to quickly put together that you are to put the ball in the top and get it from the bottom. So, we did that for about 5 minutes.

Developmentally, Henry continues to sporadically take steps, with the maximum still being 3-5 steps. He is getting better at standing for a more prolonged period as well. His daycare has a step apparatus with games on the sides that Henry loves. When Reggie drops him off in the morning, he always goes straight for it, and when Reggie picks him up, he is always on it still. For some reason, he likes to pull the sidewall on it back and forth. Also, I guess he must like being able to get higher.

It was pointed out that we had overlooked a big relationship happening in Week 49. Laura had gone out with her friends Emily (Henry's "girlfriend") and Jessica from work. After a night on the town, Emily had decided to stay in our guest room, and to stick around for waffles in the morning. Is it too soon to have a sleepover after dating for 4 months?

They call this "The baby walk of shame!"

Stepping out! - Week 50

Jeff, Tami, Mason, & Rylan Kirn & Charles, Tina, & Campell Quijano with Henry

Week 50 featured Henry's first trip to Grandpa and Grandma Bogart's house in Carl Junction (Joplin). We all loaded up and headed down on Friday with Aunt Allison. On Saturday, Grandpa took Henry and Bella on a morning golf cart ride. Henry at least got to act like he was driving the cart. The kid absolutely loved this! As Grandpa would pull forward, Henry continually made a squealing sound to show his excitement! Later, we all went to lunch at the Under Cliff grill, where Grandpa fed Henry french fries and other non-healthy things. Also, one of the waitresses loved Henry, and kept wanting to take him behind the bar. As always, Henry had a huge smile the whole time.

The Grandparents

On Saturday night, Uncle Rusty and cousins Courtney and Grant came over for dinner (Week 47 picture). This was the first time they had seen Henry since Christmas, so obviously there were a lot of changes!

Love my Aunt Ally!

On Sunday, we took Henry to church. As you may remember from a few weeks ago, the last time we attempted this Reggie ended up in the church basement all service playing with him. Sure enough, after about 10 minutes, Henry was done with the service. Grandpa scooped him up and took him to the nursery to play. Laura went to check on him, only to notice the girls watching the kids were about to give Henry a PB&J sandwich. Laura quickly explained to them that full sandwiches are a bit above his current culinary level :)

Now, at some point during our visit, Henry officially dumped 'ol mom and dad. All Henry wanted was his grandpa. Heck, he was giving him hugs, yet never gives mom or dad a hug! As we left on Sunday, Henry started to cry when grandpa shut the car door. We determined that between the golf cart and french fries, grandpa had an ace up his sleeve! It is a rough feeling as a parent to know that you can be dumped for a basket of fried food!

The greatest toy ever!!!!

On Friday, Laura took Henry over to Elizabeth Mills' house to play with her son Cormac. For some reason, the boys were infatuated with the magnets on Elizabeth's fridge.

Just two dudes playing with magnets

A huge developmental point happened on Friday, where Laura noticed Henry taking three steps in the house! He was in the process of falling, so she didn't know whether to count it or not. This was repeated on Monday and Tuesday at daycare, as well as back at the house on those nights. The babysitters at Union Hill predict he will be full-on walking within a three weeks! Watch out world!

The only other developmental item/game Henry has developed relates to ball throwing. For some reason, Henry now finds it hilarious to pick up the ball and throw it away from the other person. The only exception is when he is playing with Bella, who still gets them thrown directly to her :)

Stand up and cheer - Week 49

Janna, Jackson, & Jeff Sindelar with Henry

This was our first weekend at home in the last three weekends, so there wasn't a lot of big happenings for the week as we utilized it to get caught up around the house. The big event was that Henry started to stand on his own this week! He is able to stand for about 3-5 seconds before he drops. Funny how something as trivial as being able to stand on your feet can make two adult parents cheer like crazy :) When he stands up, he starts to get really excited because people are cheering for him. When he tries to clap for himself...down he goes!

Look Mom, No Hands!!!!

Happy 30th Bday JP!!!

This weekend Laura threw a surprise birthday party for Jenni Payne on Saturday. Knowing we would be out late, Aunt Allison came over to watch over Henry. They got to play and eat dinner together. Most importantly, no one got locked in or out of the house! It is so great having our sisters in the same town as us. We know Henry loves it. He has been missing Aunt Ally now that she doesn't watch him twice/week!

Developmentally, Henry has developed a case of separation anxiety. It all started on Friday when Laura dropped him off at the gym daycare. Henry went into a huge cry when Laura set him down. This repeated itself the following week at daycare when Reggie would drop the little guy off. It lasts for only about 5 min, and then he is back to his fun-loving self. Laura had to drop Henry off at daycare one morning, and just about couldn't leave him. Reggie's cell phone rang, and for the first 10 seconds, he couldn't tell if it was Laura or Henry himself calling due to all the sniffling and whining :)

Cleared for takeoff - Week 48

Bella (looking dejected), Jen Waldrop, Henry, & Brandon Bertz

Attempting to make an "H" for the week pic. Henry was not amused! 

This week started out with Henry's first day at his new daycare facility, Union Hill. We were a little nervous as to how he would respond to having teachers and kids who were all new to him. However, as we should have known, Henry had no issue adjusting, immediately smiling and playing with their toys. The ladies at the facilities told both Reggie and Laura that he is already the most chill baby they have, and they wished that they have seven more just like him in the room! Also, they love his "fish face," which is something that Henry somehow developed on his own. It is extremely cute,
especially if you overlook all the snot running
out of his nose from teething!

The famous "fish face"

Cute, huh?! :)

On Saturday, we all packed up and went to St. Louis for a U2 concert on Sunday. Which on a side note was the best concert we've ever seen hands down!!! Once we arrived, we found out that Grandpa and Grandma Anderson had gone out and bought Henry a Mickey Mouse airplane which Henry could use to either ride on top of, or walk behind it. This has immediately become Henry's most cherished possession! All weekend, all he wanted to do was push it around or have Dad push him around real fast. (On a related note, ol' dad needs to get into shape! A 32 year old shouldn't be out of breath after 5 minutes!)

Blast off!!!!

U2 at Busch Stadium - before we melted in the 100 + temps

On Sunday morning, we all went to brunch with our friends Stef and Tim, and their girl Ella (See Week 20 pic). Great time, Ella was very good at sharing her dolls with Henry and vice versa. When he wasn't sharing with Ella, Henry was making fish faces at everyone all during the meal!

Henry, the doll Tim made Henry hold, & Ella Jerry

Nothing really to report on the developmental side. It is interesting to note how much older having four teeth (or 3 and 1/4) makes a baby look!

"The slap" - Week 47

Courtney and Grant Bogart with Henry and his spatula

There wasn't a lot of happenings this week in the World of Henry. This was our first weekend home in over three weeks, so we spent much of it trying to catch up on some to-do's. Laura had plans both evenings, so there was a lot of "guy's time," which is always great!

On Saturday morning, after changing Henry's diaper, Reggie brought down a very happy boy to Laura. As Reggie handed him off, Laura's face got in the crosshairs of Henry's swinging arms, and got slapped!  What made it even funnier is that Laura was asking Henry what he thought of something as he was being passed to her! :)

On Sunday, Jack Sifford came over while his parents went on a dinner date. Between Reggie, Laura, and Aunt Jen, we were able to cover two babies at once! I really don't know how a single parent could handle two infants at once! Even though Jack was a total angel, you still have to hold him. All the while, Henry is trying to throw things at Bella and/or climb the stairs. Exhausting!

How do you like this hat?

On Monday, Grandpa Bogart came up to visit. Henry and him played all day long. As an added plus, while Henry napped, Grandpa took care of getting our broken window taken care of!

Love the outside!

Developmentally, in addition to needing to now guard your face when holding Henry, both top teeth are now visible. A lot of crying and runny noses have gone into making those teeth, but I think he will love having them around now! Also, the newest game that Henry loves is throwing balls to Bella. He will literally follow around Bella for 30 minutes taking her balls and chucking them at her. It is great for everyone; Bella loves the attention, and it takes actively watching Henry off our hands for a short while!

Fun and Fireworks - Week 46

The boys - Henry and Jack Sifford (Jack is 2 1/2 months old, yet 3lbs. less than Henry!)

This week brought Henry's first 4th of July holiday. To celebrate, the Bogart clan headed down to Lake of the Ozarks with the Siffords to April's family lakehouse. April's parents were there as well for part of the weekend, which was great since it freed us up a bit to enjoy the lake. Obviously, Henry didn't go into the lake, but he did get to walk on the shore with his mom, and really enjoyed the water hitting his feet. The lakehouse already had a baby pool, so we were able to fill it up and let Henry play on the boat dock. Again, the kid LOVES to splash!

On Saturday, Henry got to go on his first boat ride. I don't know if it was due to the motion of the boat, or that it was close to nap time, but Henry slept through about 90% of the ride. Also, I don't know if you can tell by the picture or not, but those infant life jackets are tight! We put it on Henry, and were mildly concerned that we were cutting off his air supply. However, he seemed fine with it, other than the fact it made him hot and sweaty. While we were out, we pulled up to a floating coffee shop that happened to also have popsicles. We gave one to Henry, which he loved. Of course, when you have your big front teeth pushing through, I'm sure that something really cold feels really good!

Ready to go boating!!!

Pulling over for lattes and popsicles

Mmmm, feels good on the teeth!

The other big development is that we have decided to take Henry to a new daycare, Union Hill Day School. It is a Montessori program, which essentially means that he progresses at his own pace. Also, based on the lack and type of toys on our visit, I think the kids have to make their own out of a block of wood :) This new daycare is literally a minute and a half from Hallmark, and so it is very easy for mom, dad, or even Aunt Jen to get to him quickly if needed. Reggie told Bright Horizons, and one of Henry's teachers, Elaine, has been accosting Reggie ever since with comments like, "You mean you are pulling him out because you can't get out of bed early enough in the morning!" It is all in good fun, and he will definitely be missed. Trina and Elaine were very good to/with Henry.

We started setting up appointments for bids to fix the busted window from "the lock-in," and every person was telling Laura it would be $800! Luckily for us, Grandpa Rick came up, took the window out, and took it to a guy that can just replace the glass for $100. It is good to know "handy" people!

Developmentally, Henry's top right tooth has finally started to push through, and you can see signs that the left is also about to show itself. All this has meant is that our house runs out of Kleenex every two days! It's hard to believe it, but there are only 6 more posts left before Henry is 1. Seriously, where does the time go? It seems like only two months ago we were bringing that little guy home for the first time, not really knowing anything about what to do. These last six weeks are going to fly I'm sure!

Henry likes to show his 'pecs' and 'guns,' while Jack is more reserved :)

Rescue 911! - Week 45

Katie Seymour and Henry!

There comes a time in almost everyone's life where you will have to call 911. This week was our moment......

A week and a half ago, Reggie received an e-mail from our good friend Heidi's boyfriend that he was planning to propose to Heidi on Friday afternoon. This was only a mild surprise, as Reggie and Laura had already been assisting a bit with his ring selection process. After the proposal, he was planning to go to dinner with her, and wanted to see if we would be available to come share in the surprise/celebration. So, taking the risk Heidi wouldn't say no :), we took off on Friday morning to drive to Chicago. (Since the focus of the blog is on Henry, I won't go into our trip any further, but it was an absolute blast and are very happy for Heidi and Matt!!!) We had lined up both aunts to watch Henry over the course of the weekend.

Newly engaged!!! Same ring size!

Surprise engagement party crew!

On Saturday evening, we get a frantic call from Aunt Allison telling us that Henry was locked inside of the house with Allison outside! It's a long story, but we have a tricky lock on our back door that can result in this if you aren't experienced with it. Luckily Henry was just sitting in the kitchen looking and crying at Allison. Understandabley, both were very upset! Reggie told Allison that the only real immediate danger was if Henry went over to our staircase and started trying to climb up them (remember last week when we stated that teaching Henry that "skill" might not have been a great idea :) ). While Reggie talked with Allison, Laura and Jenni Payne (who was with us in Chicago) called everyone we knew who lived within a 10-15 block area of the house. Not having any luck, our friend Chalice suggested we call 911, and the fire department could break into the house. Thus, Laura called them. Oddly enough, as Reggie was talking to Allison, we realized that the fire dept. seemed to be taking an awfully long time to arrive at the house. About that time, Laura gets a call from the CHICAGO fire department saying that they can't find that address! In the middle of all this, we were able to get ahold of Jenni's sister, whose husband luckily had a couple of buddies over as well. They rushed over and started looking for any potential windows that might be unlocked that they could easily get into. Finding that they were all locked, Reggie made the decision to have them break one of our back windows in order to crawl into the house. Crisis was averted, the boys boarded up the window, and Allison sat down with a glass of wine to calm the nerves! It's funny, Henry cried the whole thirty minutes that this all went on. Then, the second they were back in the house, he immediately went back to smiling and pointing at everything!

The "lockout" was something like this, except Allison was Bella, and they were both in tears! :)

On Sunday, Aunt Jen took over for Allison, and took him up to the pool so he could splash around. He loved that, as always!

Big thanks to the Aunts for watching the little guy!

Developmentally, Henry is starting to really like eating the food that mom and dad are eating, especially when we go out to dinner. I don't know if this this a referendum on Laura's cooking or not, but it has been noted! Also, as I said above, Henry LOVES climbing our stairs. I don't know what the great allure of all this is, but we spend approx. 70% of our free time chasing him to the stairs, carrying him back to the rug and his toys, and then back to the stairs.

Mom and Dad - It doesn't look like it here, but we missed our guy like crazy!