Henry's first Florida sunset

Tonight we stretched out our walk on the beach so we could see the sunset. We knew it was going to be a good one!

Goofy Grandpa

The things one will do to hear the sweetest sound in the world!

I HATE Dr. Ferber

UPDATE 2: Night #5 - Henry has been crying since 9:36 PM. It is currently 1:39 AM. He needed a diaper change at 12:00 AM then went to sleep until 12:40ish AM. Lovely, he got a little nap in so now he can cry even longer. How long will this go on? Do I really have to stay up all night? Can I stay up all night? Am I do emotional and psychological damage? Having him sleep in my bed sounds so wonderful right now. Who's going to win this battle?

UPDATE: The wedding is off!! Henry has been crying hysterically for the last 2 hours. I picked him up after the first hour. I had to go with my mommy instinct. Now he's crying again. Dr. Ferber, you suck. Henry is sleeping with me tonight. There is nothing in the book about what to do if "this" happens.

Did I tell you I am in love with a new man? His name is Dr. Ferber. I know, he isn't my type and he's older than my father, but he's genius. He got Henry to sleep through the night!!!

I am not sure I've really expressed how terrible of a sleeper Henry became during the night. It all started during our trip to St. Louis. I thought it was just a change in his schedule, but it NEVER got better. I was exhausted, Henry was exhausted and Brian and Spinner were tired of sleeping in the guest bedroom. So, I took the advice of a great friend and mother, Christina (Chases's mom) and tried the Ferber method. I read up on sleep association and knew that was Henry's problem.

It goes something like this: Imagine whenever you fell alseep you woke up somewhere else. Alone. You'd wonder, how the heck did I get here?! I wasn't here when I fell alseep! So, every night you would keep waking up to "catch" the person that moved you after you fell alseep.

This is what was happening to Henry. I was letting him fall asleep in my arms after lots of cuddling and rocking, then I would put him down. He only knew how to go to sleep this way and assumed when he woke up he'd still be in my arms. Far from the truth.

So, on Sunday night we gave Ferber's method of "crying it out" - gradually - a go. I fed Henry and put him in his bed drowsy, but not asleep. He cried and cried like I have never heard him cry before. I checked on him every 2, 4, 6, 8.... minutes but didn't touch him or pick him up. I only spoke to him quietly assuring him I was still there. Then I'd leave the room and cry myself. I was a wreck. It was the hardest thing I've ever done, but I knew I needed to do it. He feel alseep after 22 minutes of hysteria. Then woke crying at 1:00AM- the longest stretch we've had in a month - where I discovered a HUGE poopy diaper - all over him and his bed. Poor guy never cried so hard, he push everything out.
I changed him and put him down again and he cried a little bit, then fell asleep. He fussed again a little around 3, but I didn't go into him. Then woke up at 5:00.

The next night I was a nervous wreck again. The thought of letting Henry cry was breaking my heart in a million pieces. But I didn't want to undo what we had already done. So, I followed the same routine - eat, little rocking and then put him to sleep drowsy. And he didn't utter a peep! He fussed a little at 3:00, but put himself back to sleep. And then slept until 5:30!

Last night was the winner. We put him to bed at 8:45 and he didn't wake once until 5:30. My little man is now a baby that sleeps through the night. And so is mom!

So, as you can see, Dr. Ferber has stolen my heart. I'll keep you posted on our wedding plans.

The beach, the beach, the beach

It was a nice overcast morning so we headed to the beach with the little guy. The past few evenings we've been walking the beach at sunset and Henry can't stop starring at the waves, so I knew he'd love to sit and let them lap over his legs. He can't quite kick or splash yet, but he knows something up. Hopefully when we come back in the winter he'll be our little fish and love the water!

Ya think he looks like Brian in this picture?!!

Cool in the pool

We weren't at grandma and grandma's 5 minutes before they had the kid stripped down to his birthday suit and swimming in their pool. Henry LOVED it and has been doing it morning, noon, and night since we arrived! (And now with a swim diaper - although he loves to pee on mom while he dries off in the nude!)

Happy 4 month birthday, Henry!

For Henry's four month birthday we flew to Florida to visit grandma, grandpa, and GG. Henry was an angel on the flight, although much more wiggly than his first time flying - he was also 2 months younger! The icing on the cake once we arrived in Florida was Julie meeting us there! We celebrated seeing Julie and Henry's birthday with a big cupcake upon arrival.

Grandpa, Grandma, Julie, Henry and GG trying to get Henry to blow out his candles

Henry looking at the idiots who think he's old enough to blow out his own candles.

Grandpa insisted Henry sit on his first Harley at the Tampa airport. Hopefully that's the only Harley he ever sits on!

Ocean Grove

Last Sunday, Henry and I went to Ocean Grove, NJ to visit friends from work - Lisa, my boss and Kate, a colleague. They both work out of the NYC office. We were already down the shore and with Ocean Grove was only 45 minutes away it was perfect! And, of course, I was psyched to show off my little man. Especially to these two - they've been hearing about the little guy forever - even before he was born!

Lisa's place

Kate, Me, Lisa and little Henry napping in his stroller

We played at Lisa's place for a little while then took a long and really HOT walk down the boards. It was a beautiful and sunny day - just really, really hot. Henry and I never made it to the beach with the girls because we were worried he would cook.

The old Casino where they filmed a scene of "The Wrestler"

Grange Fair

The Grange Fair is like a farmer's fair. It filled with livestock, demos of old American farming traditions, pig races, quilt making, tractors, etc. It really quite charming. Grandpa and Grammie Garlits were excited to take Henry this year. Grammie Sue has been going since she was a little girl. After the rain yesterday, we loaded up the car and went to the fair. It was a lot of fun but Henry had no idea if he was looking at a dog, cow, pig or his mom. Next year will be a blast. Regardless whether Henry knew what he was looking at or not, we pretended like he did and took a lot of pictures of him "enjoying" the fair.

We cheered at the pig and hot-dog races.

Admired the award winning hens.

Said "Hello" to the goose

Watch the little lady clean up cow poo

Posed by the pretty cow.

Discussed how you cannot get the swine flu from pigs or from eating pork.

Grammie insisted we get pictures next to the John Deer tractors. Henry will get a lot of John Deer items from his grammie and inherit what she gave daddy.

Took a stroll with grandpa and chewed on his collar.

Checked out the tractors. (or is this a bulldozer?)

Henry's First Hair Cut

This post is a little out of date, but while we were at the lake, we cut Henry's hair. It was starting to grow over his ears and look a bit messy. Baby's gotta look good! People are amazed that Henry hasn't lost any of his hair yet. The other day a woman asked how old he was. When I told her she said, "but he has so much hair!". She obviously doesn't go out much.


So, the haircut. I held Henry while he was sleeping - this is when we usually accomplish most of our torture tactics - and "Aunt" Debbie Stroot did the cutting. We were able to get the left side, above the ear, and the back left - then Henry woke up. It's so funny because when people hold him they say, "did you cut his hair?!". I cut it again on Monday (the right side) and I took a little off the top. I cut it a little too short in one spot on the top. Hopefully it will grow back soon, because now it stands straight up. Whoops.

I'm going to get your belly

Last night, while I was cleaning up after dinner, Brian and Henry got to play. Henry was laughing and squealing up a storm. Of course, as soon as he saw the camera he stopped.




Here's another one. The video function was down on blogger so I had to use youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCmNtvlsvVo

Table Rock Lake

After spending a few days visiting family and friends in St. Louis, we headed to the lake in Missouri's Ozark Mountains. When we lived in St. Louis the 4.5 hour drive to the lake every weekend in the summer wasn't a big deal. But when you are used to the 1 hour 15 minute drive to the shore, it makes the drive to the lake feel like an eternity! Our family has been coming to the lake since I was 5 years old. It's one of my most favorite places on earth and I am so excited to bring Henry back year after year. I hope he will enjoy it as much as I did/do and make many, many memories with his family.

For the past 20+ years, our family has had a place on the same street. Grandma and Grandpa Holzapfel (Henry's great-grandparents) bought a trailer and dreamed of the lake house being a place where the whole family would gather... if only they could see it now. For years we would pack 15+ people in a 2 bedroom trailer. About 5 years ago the family upgraded to a bigger trailer. And then 3 years ago a house on the lake came available and the family snatched it up. It's a beautiful home with a stunning view of the lake, but there's a part of me that misses the cozy, crowded space of the first trailer... I was also 5 then.

While at the lake, you eat, swim, boat, play games and sleep (oh, and fish if you are Brian and Sean!) . It is heaven on earth. The first few days we were there my folks had their friends from high school and college visit. The last weekend Brian and the rest of the family came down (Holzapfel side). At the end of the visit we had 17 people in the house - crowded, loud and so much fun. It was just what I ordered and I can't wait to next year to do it again.

The whole damn family (minus Brent and Alex)

What we normally look like

Henry and his cousins

One of Brian's catches... in the first hour he was there. Thank you fish gods!!

Dad, mom and me

Henry with Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Henry

On our sunset cruise

Henry naps with grandpa at the dock

Henry naps with daddy at the house

Henry naps on mommy at the dock

Henry fits in one last nap, on a table at the dock, before we head home.

And no trip to the lake is complete without a stop at Springfields Steak n' Shake and the Bass Pro Shops headquarters.