Say Hello To Henry (Day 127)

Henry is a shade over 4 months old now, and a giant among infants. Acquaintances have mistaken him for a toddler. Strangers have fled for safety. Local scouts have been sizing him up for the 2012 CFL entry draft. He is wearing clothing for 12-month olds, and diapers for horses. Terri is going to start him on solids early because why not. And now, if drool flow rate is any indication, it seems he may be teething (whether they will be adult teeth remains to be seen).

Henry can now reach for, clutch and grab items in front of his face, and - just like Lydia - brings them straight to his mouth. Toys that are attached to, say, his exer-saucer or seat and can not reach his mouth get yelled at until Mom or Dad intervene. Little Man has yet to roll over or sit up on his own, but this is not for lack of trying - both on his part and ours (we try to guide him with Sophie the squeaky giraffe). Bathing Henry is becoming something of a challenge because he spends much of the time trying to sit up from his bathing "recliner". It looks like he's doing baby crunches; Henry is wants to have a solid core. The rest of his time in the bath is spent kicking and splashing and giggling at his own kicking and splashing.

While not yet sleeping through the night, Henry is still pretty laid back. He coos and smiles and laughs pretty easily, but is starting to get a little weird (read: fussy, not King's weird) when he finds that he is in the arms of someone who is not his Mom or Dad. Lydia went through a similar phase, and all broken hearts have since mended…

Meanwhile, Lydia has taken to obsessing over "scary" books (and hiding and bed jumping and cartoons and babies) - specifically a Disney Jungle Book story and a Snow White board book (which she has memorized). The Jungle Book story has Mowgli being tormented and chased by evil monkeys and Kaa the Python, and I made the mistake of saying that it might be a little too scary for her. Well, of course, now she wants to read it every night, leaving Mom and Dad to make up happy words for images of a little boy being strangled by a snake and left for dead in a deep pit by said evil monkeys. Our interpretation changes each night, so I'm sure Lydia has no idea how the story goes - but she loves it. As for Snow White, in her words, "the Wicked Queen is meeeean... but she's got a pretty dress!"

Little Miss's love of handling plastic babies has been carefully applied to both Henry and her new cousin Michael, and her parenting skills honed on her two dinosaur toys, Steggy and Chachi, whom she bathes and puts to bed each night. She has also been found, on occasion, pretending to breastfeed her dolls (not dinosaurs). She even burps them. Her attention to detail is noteworthy…

In other news, two of my closer friends have had babies in recent weeks and I have yet to make any non-Facebook contact with them. And I'm feeling the guilt. Damn you distractions and convenient impersonal social networking! No excuses...