Henry brag!

We have all finally recovered from the flu, though our house hasn't. I'm still trying to catch up on the housework that I fell very behind on during that time. I don't know what's going to happen when I go back to work in a couple of weeks! Speaking of that, I am so grateful for the time I've gotten to spend with Henry. By the time I return to work, he will have spent 5 months at home with me. Of course, some of that time was summer, so I didn't have to take those days off work. I know that some don't understand why I chose to take such a long leave from teaching, but honestly, this time was very much necessary for attachment between us. I'm sad that our time together at home is nearly up, but also thrilled that I was able to do this for him. I'm sure there will be future posts about my struggle to leave him everyday in someone else's care.

I think it's time for a Henry brag! There hasn't been one in awhile and he's been making a lot of progress, so it's time! First of all, I took him to the pediatrician yesterday and found out that he weighs 26 lbs 14 oz and is 32 inches tall. That is 75th percentile for both height and weight! The doctor called him a "big, healthy boy" and remarked at how "busy" Henry was. Henry is absolutely obsessed with eating, so I was worried that he was gaining too much weight, but actually he only put on 1 lb in the last 3 months. No worries.
Our ped. encouraged us to wean Henry cold turkey from all bottles. We kept him on the bottle a bit longer for bonding, but I agree it's time. He has gone a day and a half so far without one. He's doing well so far! I expected a much bigger fight from him about this, but he's surprising us. We are also switching him from 2 naps a day to one afternoon nap. He's also doing well with this. My baby boy isn't really a "baby" anymore (sniff, sniff).

Here are the words Henry can say:
Mom "mooomm"
Daddy "dad-gee"
bottle "bah-mmm"
dog
*He repeats lots of things we say but doesn't frequently use those words on his own (such as fan, snack, ball)

Here are the words Henry can sign:
more
please
thank you
hungry
thirsty
finished
milk
bath
brush teeth
night-night
goodbye
mama
dog (for this sign you snap your fingers as if calling a dog---Henry can't snap his fingers but he makes a motion with his hand and clicks his tongue for the "snapping" noise. So cute!!

So between speaking and sign language Henry has a good vocabulary! He definitely knows how to tell us what he wants! He picks up things so quickly. He's such a smart boy, which is funny because some of his adoption paperwork from Korea called him "clever looking." Being a teacher, I am thrilled that he loves books as much as he does. I read to him every night before bed, which is my favorite sweet-time during the day. Our house is overrun with his toys but I think if he had only a couple of books he'd be pretty happy. Oh, and the dog's toys---he loves those most of all.

His latest thing is that he is starting to climb up on things. He learned to climb up on our leather ottoman first, then the couch, and now he's trying to climb into the bathtub! YIKES! I've taken him to the playground several times to encourage him to climb there, but he's still pretty unsure about it. At our last visit, I spent a lot of time trying to get him to climb on the equipment, but he spent it picking up leaves and handing them to me. I know I shouldn't rush it because soon enough I'll be chasing him all over the playground, and wishing he'd slow down!

My last brag for now is about how sweet he is. He gives us kisses and hugs all the time. Some are encouraged by us, but many are just of his own accord. The kisses are these great, wet, open-mouthed ones that just melt my heart. He is very strong willed and has been throwing quite a few tantrums lately when we say the awful word "no." Next time he's on the floor screaming I'll just have to remember those sweet little kisses.

Just a few fun pictures:

He loves dumping all the toys out of these bins and sitting in them.

We've had this wooden toy grocery store for years in storage, but we assembled it and put it out when we were suffering from the flu, and Henry was bored from staying indoors so much. It's huge, but...

Henry loves it!! It's almost worth the annoyance of having plastic groceries scattered around our living room all the time.

Big changes

I admittedly have gotten behind on blogging. There has been a lot going on lately! First of all, we moved this past weekend. In a last minute decision, we chose NOT to buy the new construction home I last wrote about. Honestly, looking back, I'm glad we didn't. We were just making a fast decision because we had to be out of our house so quickly. That house just never felt "right" to us. We are currently living in a nice apartment. The main downside of this is that we will now have to move yet again, which is something I do NOT look forward to. This move was difficult with Henry. The change has made him clingy and unsure of himself again. The night before we moved, James and I stayed up late to pack. By the time we finally made it to bed, we were zonked. Henry, however, spent most of that night waking every hour and wailing. It was horrible. Fortunately, we are slowly getting back into our routine and things are looking up again.

Henry has been to the doctor three times in the last two weeks. The first was an appointment with a regular pediatrician just to get established and have a check-up. His doctor said he's really healthy and doing very well developmentally. He is in the 85th percentile for his height and the 80th percentile for weight! Later that week we went to an ENT doctor for his ear atresia. That doctor examined him and then admitted that he wasn't the right doctor for Henry. He referred us to another ENT who specializes in ear disorders. We saw that doctor yesterday. He had a lot of interesting information for us. First of all, Henry will need to undergo an ABR hearing test (auditory brainstem response) to find out what level of hearing he has. He had this done as a newborn in Korea, and it showed hearing loss in both ears, however we have been told that the results can change over time. We do know that Henry can hear on some level since he is talking and repeats words/sounds that we make. The same day they perform the ABR, they will do a CT scan of his head to check out the formation of his inner ear on the right side. It will help determine if he is a candidate for surgery later on to open up his ear canal. He will have to be sedated for these two procedures, which is why they will do them on the same day. Also, the doctor talked to us about Henry needing to wear a hearing aid on the ear that is affected by the atresia. The doctor explained that it will help Henry's language development immensely. He placed a hearing aid on Henry just to try out. It was amazing to watch Henry's face as he was hearing out of both ears for the first time! Down the road, Henry will also have plastic surgery on this ear to make it look more like it should. I feel sad that my little man will have to go through so much, but I know that he is blessed to be with a family that can provide him with the treatments he needs.

Here are some new things about Henry:

*He calls me "Mom." We taught him to say "mama" but he decided that I'm Mom instead! It's the cutest thing ever to hear him say it. When he's sad, he wails "mooooooom".

*He learned how to say "more" in sign language. He not only signs it when he's hungry, but he says "mo". Or, if you are feeding him something really yummy like chocolate pie in a restaurant, then he'll shout "MO" at the top of his lungs over and over.

*Henry is learning animal sounds. He roars like a tiger, moos like a cow, and we're working on barking like a dog and hissing like a snake.

*He will kiss you on the lips if you ask for a kiss.

*He's really ticklish and will let out a deep belly laugh when Daddy tickles him. We are trying to capture it on video.

*His language is really blossoming all of the sudden. For the first time in 2 months, I can say now that he's understanding some things we say. Until now, he was just repeating words, but lately he is developing understanding of what those words are. For example, I asked yesterday if he wanted his bottle and he toddled to the kitchen and stood by the fridge waiting for one!

Looking at a magazine while waiting to see the doctor.

He loves bath time!

We've been working on teaching him "nice touches" with the doggies.

Silly monkey

We have been having a lot of fun being silly with Henry lately. Here are some fun pictures.

Our little monkey jumping on the couch.

Trying out a lemon for the first time. He actually liked it and wanted more!

This is a Jessica Simpson hairpiece we stuck on him at TJ Maxx. Doesn't it look like a hilarious baby wig? She might want to remarket them for this purpose.

Enough!!

James gave the hairpiece a try too. Yes, people stared at us.

Coming...

and going!

Henry is really doing great!! Our biggest brag about him is how well he's sleeping. He takes 2 naps (about 1 1/2 to 2 hours each) during the day, and he has been sleeping through the night for the last 3-4 weeks. There have been nights here and there during that time when he would briefly wake and fuss a little bit, and one night of really sad grieving/sobbing when he got a little overwhelmed around his birthday. Otherwise, he has done very well! He's definitely a good sleeper (in addition to being a good eater!). I'm so grateful for the sleep I've been getting.

My next brag about him is how well he's walking! He was cruising furniture when he came home 6 weeks ago, and he began taking some independent steps very soon after that. However, in the last few days, he's really gotten confident about it and has really taken off! Even the pictures above where he's walking holding on to James don't reflect his current walking ability. Even though those are recent pictures, he has already surpassed the desire to hang on with every step. He has already figured out that he can go really fast if he wants to. Oh boy...

Our big thing coming up is our move to the new house (literally brand new!) next week. We really haven't started packing yet, and I know it's going to be challenging to do so with Henry.
I'm a little worried about how he'll do with the transition to the new house, but I know overall it will be better for us. I'm excited about him having a safe outdoor play area, and I'm excited about me having a large wonderful bathtub!