Henry is TWO!!

It's been a few weeks since we celebrated Henry's second birthday, but I didn't want to let this big day pass without sharing a few photos of the little guy in all of his glory! Here he is with his new guitar, the two are pretty much inseparable!

Henry continues to be the eternal charmer. His quirky little personality is so ridiculously infectious that it may not be possible to look at him for more than a minute without cracking a smile. He delights in making others laugh and is coming up with new ways to do so all the time. He was born to be the middle child... easy to please and impossible to ignore!

Henry and Andrew have really hit a new stride in their relationship over the past few months. Watching the two of them develop this relationship, tenuous as it may be, is hands down my favourite part of being their Mom.

This kid is absolutely incredible. 

Happy Birthday Little Man!

xxx

These days...

Life has been hectic (as it always seems to be) in the Leeper House. In the month (!) since I've posted, we've had special visitors and travelled for the better part of 3 weeks! It's been a fabulous time and before I get back to sharing some projects that are in the works, I thought I would share a few photos of our adventures!

My best friend Sara and her sweet son Jake came to Baltimore to visit for a week in March. We had a lot of fun showing them our favourite spots in our new city and loved every moment of playing at home pretending that we don't live so far away! Jake and Henry are only a month apart in age and after an hour or two of testing each others limits they are the best playmates. 

We travelled to Oklahoma City for a family wedding and spent 5 days visiting with family that we don't see enough and enjoying our favourite OKC restaurants (the "barbecue" is like nothing I've had before!). We finally met a second cousin (adorable Isaac) and the boys were fast friends. Every time we leave we vow to make it back sooner, life needs to slow down!

And finally, the boys and I travelled back to Canada and spent two amazing weeks visiting with family and playing with friends... babies grow so fast when you live far away! I was lucky to have lots of help with the boys, which afforded me numerous nights out with my girlfriends and a chance to celebrate my "soon to be sister-in-law" at both her shower and bachelorette party!

It was an action packed month and I am so grateful that everyone takes so much of their time to be with us when we travel. We miss you already!

A Crabby Party!! {Henry turns 1!}

This weekend we celebrated the first birthday of our little man! I love birthday parties and can get a little carried away with all of the details, but having recently moved to a new home in a new country this party was a little more low key. We were happy to have Henry's Nana, Auntie and two cousins fly in for the event and coincidentally some other family friends were in the city so they stopped by to join the celebration!

We decided that "A Crabby Party" would be a fitting theme for Henry's first birthday, now that we live in Maryland. To get ready for the party I cut out some beachy shapes on my silhouette, hung some beach balls around the living room and placed some snacks in sand pails (including "Oh Henry" bars of course!).

The kids made some simple crab hand print art using red finger paint and googly eyes.

I baked white cupcakes with Cookie Butter frosting and graham cracker crumbs, to resemble the beach, and placed a few little crabs made from edible moulding dough. I also made a matching smash cake for Henry to tear apart!

We all laughed as Henry politely sampled cake. He needed some help from Daddy to really get the idea! 

A good time was had by all. We got some fantastic pictures and made some great memories. As it turns out, Henry doesn't really care if the water bottles are personalized and napkin rings match the goodie bags. He's just happy to have his family there to play!

p.s. I go crazy for personalized water bottles and matching napkin rings, 

so I am totally doing that for his second birthday!

Henry is 1!!

It has been an exciting week in the Leeper house! Henry turned one this weekend and we had some special visitors from home make the trip to Baltimore to help him celebrate! Nana, Auntie, Alana and Jacob arrived last Thursday and we spent 5 days running here and there enjoying all that this new city has to offer to keep little fingers busy and little minds active! We partied on Sunday and showered our little man with love and attention to mark his first birthday!

Now that Henry is one, he has a few new tricks! He fearlessly motors around the house on two feet, with his hands high in the air and a silly grin on his face he looks more like a baby chimp than a baby boy! He yells "dada" as soon as Rob enters the house each evening and makes a beeline for the door (why is that always the first word around here??). 

Henry's "stringbean" physique continues. I haven't had his height measured recently, but he weighs about 5lbs less than his big brother did at this age, and is definitely taller. He has a total of 8 teeth, 4 up and 4 down. His appetite is fantastic, but he has become quite picky and would be happy to survive on a diet of crackers, yogurt and blueberries!

It has been a fabulous year with this sweet boy and I can't wait to see what he has in store for us next!

Henry is 11 months!!!

It is crazy to me that in one month's time I will have a one year old! I now completely understand why it is the youngest child's fate to be forever referred to as "the baby"! However, in looking through the pictures that we have taken so far this summer I can definitely see that our little bug is growing by leaps and bounds and looking more like a toddler all the time.

Henry is not walking yet, but getting pretty brave about standing up by himself. He crawls around the house with such enthusiasm that his poor knees are swollen and bruised at all times. He still only has 6 teeth (which he has had for 5 months) but uses them to try lots of new foods. He has become much less patient with being spoon fed, grabbing and swatting at the spoon and squealing until we give in and let him have a bite of our sandwich, or pasta, or whatever is on the menu for the night. Henry is finally consistently sleeping through the night!!

Last month I missed snapping a 10 month photo of Henry, but I do have this side by side comparison of him and Andrew, enjoying a ride in the stroller at 10 months of age. The similarities between the two are pretty obvious; their eyes and nose are practically identical, but their differences are what I find the most interesting. Andrew, from day 1 was referred to as "all boy" (a silly comment when you think about it). Henry, on the other hand, has much finer features and I have been asked on more than one occasion "how old my little girl is"! I guess he is kinda pretty!

So, next month is the big 1 year celebration! Andrew and Henry's cousins, along with my Mom and sister, will be visiting us here in Baltimore. It wont be quite the event that Andrew's parties have been so far (we know nobody in this city!) but I can't wait to watch him smash a cake and be the centre of every ones world for the day!

Henry is 9 months!!!

Henry is nine months today and after reading his last update I cannot believe how much he has changed.  It really seems like he went from a little baby to mobile little man over night! He is crawling all over the place, pulling himself up on anything he can grab and beginning to cruise around on the coffee table and couch. Just this week, Henry has started to wave his little hands and clap them when we cheer "Yayyyyy!!".

Henry now has six teeth and I think he is working on a few more. He can eat small pieces of food all by himself, and is even starting to eat some of the food from the family table.

Silly faces with Nana!

This past month, Henry enjoyed some fun trips with his friends and family! We spent a weekend at Great Wolf Lodge, in Niagra falls, where Henry had lots of fun splashing in the pools and chillin' on the Lazy River. He experienced his first of many trips to Story Book Gardens, with his pals Jake and Abbie, and he met all of his extended family in Kingston at a Youngman family bbq!

Every child in London needs at least one picture a year in front of this miniature church!

He is growing so fast, which makes me excited for what comes next, and a little sad that some stages have been left behind. However, I know this is going to be a fabulous summer, full of picnics at the park, and trips to the pool. I can't wait to watch both of my boys enjoy these fun experiences together!

Henry is 7 months!!

Happy St. Patrick's day, from our little leprechaun! What a coincidence, "lucky 7" on St. Patty's day!

This past month saw some pretty awesome gains in the Henry department! The biggest one for me was the two straight weeks of 8 hour sleeps! I was beside myself with delight when this little man conceded to sleeping most of the night, so excited and surprised that it took me a week to sleep for all 8 hours myself! Unfortunately, the inevitable (and painfully slow) arrival of his top teeth have put us back to waking twice through the night... Oh well, we will get back on track later. Henry has been enjoying all sorts of new food this month, and has become quite a pro at sitting up all by himself!

We spent some time in Bowmanville (with my family), where Henry enjoyed a nice visit with his Great Grandma (aka GGMa). It was fun to see how they both enjoyed inspecting each other, Henry exploring her shiny glasses and GGMa investigating his toes and chins!

The interactions between Andrew and Henry have been amazing! Henry is always so happy to see his big brother and it is already so obvious that he idolizes him! He was so excited, in the picture above, to sit up like a "big boy" in the grocery cart, and Andrew was very proud to have him there! I can't wait for the snow to finally stop and the mud to dry up so we can get outside and play!

Henry is 6 months!

It's hard to believe we are already half way through our first year with Henry.  He seems so much younger than we remember Andrew being at this age. I'm sure that has much to do with perspective, having a "big boy" to compare him to. Looking back on the past six months, I am amazed at how seamlessly he has become a part of our family unit. He just seems to go with the flow and happily tag along in all that we do!

Henry hasn't had his official 6 month weigh in yet, that is scheduled for next week, but I would predict he weighs about 17.5 pounds... not a giant like his brother, but still a pretty solid little dude! He is having fun sitting up (almost) by himself and has really begun to examine his toys. Henry has popped out his first two teeth (on the bottom) but seems to be taking a break before working on the top. I am happy about this because we are both getting a lot more sleep! In fact, for the last two nights he has gone from 11:00pm until 7:00am without nursing!!! He is still waking a few times, but is getting back to sleep by himself! (I really hope that putting this in ink doesn't jinx our progress!!). He is also really enjoying his first foods! I think that oatmeal and sweet potato are at the top of his favourites list.

Henry's sixth month has been a month of travel! He has made use of his adorable little passport on a family vacation to the Mayan Riviera and quick weekend in Baltimore/DC. While in Mexico he enjoyed his first dip in the ocean and charmed all of the staff with his silly grin. In DC, he had a great time meeting his Great Uncles, Kevin and Gary, and became the object of serious affection from their pup, Eddie!

Things are really starting to get fun with this little man, and I am happy to say I think we have gotten to the point where maternity leave becomes more vacation than work! Yay!!

Henry is 4 months!

So... I am super late posting Henry's 4 month update, but I figure, better late than never! We have had a super busy holiday season and Henry has enjoyed every minute of the chaos! I will save Henry's first Christmas experiences for next month, since technically they happened after his 4 month birthday.

Our little bug is getting quite big (notice the delicious rolls around his thighs!) and his personality continues to charm everyone he meets! He has really found his voice this month and will carry on a conversation with anyone who is interested! He is quite ticklish, laughing out loud if you find the right spot on his chubby little neck. Henry is still up at least two times a night, and naps on and off throughout the day... not much routine for this one yet!

You can definitely see that Henry and Andrew are brothers, but he is beginning to develop his own "look". I am absolutely delighted to hear people say that he looks like me! That NEVER happened with Andrew! We were recently comparing his gummy grin to that of his Nana's (my Mom) at a similar age. Pretty obvious family resemblance if you ask me!

This month was also quite special because we had Henry baptized. We were so blessed to have family members and close friends join us to celebrate this special event. The baptism took place at St. Paul's United Church, in Bowmanville. St. Paul's is the church I grew up in and is also where we were married and Andrew was baptized. It was so meaningful to have a congregation of people who have cared for my family for many years there to welcome Henry to the church!

Time is flying by so quickly and I am trying to really savour every moment. Funny how you stop reading ahead in the "Baby's first year" books, looking for the next big milestone when you are raising your second babe!

Henry is three months old!!

It's hard to believe that three months have already past since Henry joined our little family. I feel like we have successfully emerged from that newborn haze, due a little more sleep at night and some more predictability during the day. 

Henry continues to pack on the pounds, weighing in at a chubby 

14 lbs... just look at those yummy thighs!

Henry really has turned that corner, from a sleepy little bundle, to a playful baby boy! His big brother has really taken notice of this difference and is beginning to have a lot of fun playing with his new best friend.

Time for your check up!

... and a quick laparotomy!

Henry's third month also included his first Halloween.  He looked good enough to eat!

I cannot get over the giggles that come out of this little bug! Here are a few I caught on my phone to email to Nana and Auntie.

I have a feeling the fun is just beginning!