What We’ve Learned: Week 34
Just like Eve, Henry has three faces. There is the inside face, which is mostly smiles (and near constant babbling). There is is the car face, which is usually a frown (oh, how he hates the car seat). And there is the outdoor face, which is his Poker Face, a blank stare that hides the full house he’s holding (Jacks over eights, naturally).
It’s not that he doesn’t like being outside or taking walks or going with us to run errands, it’s that Henry has decided to not reveal his true happiness. So we’ll be walking through the grocery store, Henry strapped to my chest in his Baby Bjorn, and people will come up and try to get him to smile.
He’ll sigh, turn his head and look at me, as if to ask, “Really? Again? Don’t these people know!?” Sometimes he’ll give them a little smirk or flap his arms, but mostly it’s nothing. I’m okay with this and Henry is, too.
The only problem comes when we’re trying to determine if he really likes something. For example, last Sunday we went for a nice long walk and ended up at a park with some swings. We plopped him down in one, wedged a blanket behind him to keep him snug, and pushed.
And he liked it. He actually smiled. Outside! This was fantastic! We finally found an outdoor activity that he not only liked but showed it on his face! Huzzah, I say!
If it wasn’t so bitterly cold, we would’ve stayed longer, but because the winds off the lake were frigid, we swung for only a few minutes.
(An aside: While it’s an accepted fact that Chicago is not the Windy City because of its strong breeze but instead because of the long-winded touting of the place by businessmen in the late 19th century, that doesn’t change the fact that it really is windy and when the lake is cold and the wind is coming from the east, it’s even colder. What this means is that when it’s a beautiul 62 in the western suburbs, it’s an ice-cold 40 in our neighborhood. Of course, having to live in the suburbs certainly isn’t worth those 22 degrees.)
But we’ll return again this weekend (when the weather is supposed to be nicer) and again swing away, and hopefully this time we’ll get some laughs out of him.
So other than the fact that Henry needs to show of those gums a little more after leaving the house, what else did we learn this week?
We learned that it just takes one poop to get your baby back on schedule. After a terrifying five days where Henry’s colon was on strike, he let loose on Monday with something not unlike the trash-compactor scene from Star Wars. (Yes, we almost lost Chewie in Henry’s diaper.) And while Tuesday was a BM-less day, yesterday, right before his bath, he had an equally large movement (thank goodness it wasn’t while in the bath). So for those keeping track at home: five times a day = no fun for parents; once every five days = no fun for baby; once every other day = fun for everyone!
We learned that we finally found Henry’s ticklish spots: on his legs, just above his knees, and his waist, just above his hips. A few squeezes here, a poke there, and Henry gets quick giggly. (That’s really fun.)
We learned that, if he really, really wants to, Henry can sleep through the night again (or at least an approximation of through the night). Last evening we put him to bed at the normal time and he slept all the way until 3:00 AM. Now, in the past (what seems like months ago) he had slept until 5:00 AM, but for the time being, we’ll take it. That we can get five straight hours of sleep (and get Henry eight straight) is a good thing and has made us all a little less insane. (Okay, Kristen and Henry; I’m still nuts.)
And we learned that Henry’s fingers continue to do amazing things. He’s not yet playing Rachmaninoff on the piano, but he’s now able to pick things up with ease, push blocks into holes, grab stuffed animals (always at the ready to be shoved into his mouth), and take my glasses off my face (and also get shoved into his mouth). I think I took it for granted that this sort of dexterity would happen quickly and easily, but it’s been a long process (eight months now) of slowly learning how to do all these wonderful things. And while he being able to pick up his blocks and toss them over his shoulder isn’t as sweet as one of his hugs or messy as one of his kisses, it’s pretty fantastic nonetheless.
April 16th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
“Of course, having to live in the suburbs certainly isn’t worth those 22 degrees.” Ouch…those jabs HURT!