What We’ve Learned: Week 21
My goal in life is to make Kristen and Henry happy. Really, there’s nothing else. I mean obviously I want to help in keeping everyone fed and clothed and sheltered, but that’s not a goal as much as it is a necessity.
With Kristen, this can be tough. She has a keen understanding humor (I mean, she’s been with me for a long time, so she knows what funny is), and if I’m not on the top of my game, she will shred my jokes and stories to bits. (Even worse, however, is when she says, “That’s funny,” when responding to a humorous tale instead of laughing. Telling me that it’s funny automatically means it’s not funny.)
With Henry, however, it’s not very difficult to get a laugh or a giggle or, at the least, a smile. Funny faces, silly noises, and a combination of the two make for some good chuckles. For giggling, however, we go above and beyond. We make the faces and noises, but then we also have to bounce.
At first this meant I would hold Henry facing away from me with Kristen in front, and I would hop a little. This jiggling made Henry good and happy and we got some smiles from him, but we wanted a giggle, a laugh, even a guffaw.
So we tried something a little different. As I held Henry in my arms, I would bounce up and down, bending my knees. Kristen, right next to us, would do the same, though in the opposite direction (as we went up, she’d go down, and vice versa). It didn’t always work in correct syncopation, but Henry didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he thought that this could’ve possibly been the funniest thing ever.
We do this every day now and caught one of our bouncing sessions on camera. A few things before you press play:
1. The camera work is a little shaking, considering we’re flying around all haphazard (think Paul Greengrass). A dramamine might be in order if you get queasy easilly.
2. I want you all to take a little pity on me and my knees. Henry, now tipping the scale at 438 pounds (okay, 16 1/2) is getting heavier by the day, and squats have never been my forte. If we continue with this, though, I won’t have to go to the gym ever again. (See, that’s funny: me going to a gym.)
3. Check out those great pajamas. So wonderful.
4. Note the kiss on the forehead about 40 seconds in. You have to understand how difficult it is to not give that cute, round head smooches all the time. The fact that I was able to hold off for that long is really a testament to my willpower.
So, enjoy.
What else have we learned about Henry this week?
Well, we learned that while Henry has yet to roll over or pop out a tooth, it hasn’t stopped him from wanting to do both. With the roll, he seems to be doing it the hard way, which goes something like this: arch your back quickly so that your entire body is being supported by the back of your head and your toes and then try and FLING yourself over to the left. No rolling for Henry. He wants to jump from his back to his stomach. As far as teething goes, he’s still drooling like Pavlov’s dog but instead of a constant flow of saliva coming out of his mouth, it’s comes and goes. His latest trick was pretty funny: yesterday when he was in his excersaucer, I offered him his rainbow ring (a wooden ring that he loves to hold and shake and pass back from one hand to the next). Instead of reaching for it with his hands, as usual, he just chomped down on it with his mouth and smiled. Good times.
We learned that Henry’s ready to stand. Lately I’ve been pulling him up and letting him lock his knees and “stand” while I supported him. At first, he would put weight on his feet for no more than a few seconds; then it went to half a minute; now he steadies himself for around a minute and even gets a little annoyed at me when I try and help him from falling over. (I have to tell you; Henry is growing up way too fast. He has to slow down with all these new things.)
We learned that of all the stores I’ve been in with Henry strapped to my chest in his Baby Bjorn, I got more “cute baby” comments at Costco than anywhere else. Cheap diapers and compliments for the kid: renew my membership!
And we learned that even though it’s cold outside (something of an understatement as today’s high will be -2), the days are starting to get longer and the sun is still out (but barely) when I get home from work. This is a wonderful thing in that I can now clearly look to the future and see a time where Henry and Kristen and I will be able to again go for walks and go to the park and actually do something outside instead of being holed up by the fireplace day after day after day. A man can dream, no?
January 16th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Cutest video ever!!!