8 weeks old

Hi! I'm baby Hank!

I'm 8 weeks old today.

My mommy likes it when I wear shoes (especially when they match my shirt). She says that they are boy accesories. After all, boys can't wear bows.

I've been so very busy growing, can you tell? I now weigh over 14 pounds, so thinks my mom, and I fit reallllly well into 3-6 month clothing. I am sensitive, I really dislike dirty diapers and people or toys too close to my face. I also dislike loud noises, and I cry when my brother cries. I'm sleeping until about 5 am, and my Mommy is really happy about that!



My parents say that I am completely adorable and they hug and kiss me constantly. My brother seems to feel the same way! He calls me "baby Burr". I like them a little too. I give them lots of smiles and I'm pretty easy going as long as my needs are met and my emotional tank is full.

My brother Colin and I had a babysitter Friday night, and for the first time, I stayed too! Brittany took outstanding care of us, she is a great babysitter. Colin tried to get her to let him stay up late, but she wasn't outsmarted by him.

Speaking of Colin, Colin is potty training this week. He is doing such a great job! My daddy can't wait to forego buying diapers in two sizes, and mommy is happy about not changing as many diapers. Mommy also thinks that toddler undies are super cute, especially on a barely 2 year old hiney.

Unfortunately, our poor neighbor has seen Colin in the nude a few too many times now, and the whole cul de sac has probably seen big brother in just his undies. Oh well!

Happy Halloween!

The Rhino and the Sippy Cup, and other things I learned from my BFF- By Colin

This is a Rhino.

Apparently my mom needs a lesson in the difference between a Rhino and a Hippo. So does PT's mom. Anyway, I digress.

This, my friends, is a rhino.



We went to see the Rhino at the zoo, half expecting to also see the baby rhino. But he wasn't there. And I was up to my usual shananagains. You know, running away from my caregiver(s). And so, as you can probably predict, when the baby rhino wasn't there, I decided to run. Kelly chased me and caught me, and Patriot made his move.

And this, my friends, is a sippy cup:



This is my friend, Patriot:



Patriot aimed, he launched, and Patriot beautifully soared that sippy cup into the rhino's home.



The rhino was not impressed.



The zookeeper told us to clean the cup before we used it again.

Um, we threw it away.

We had such a fun visit with our friends when they were here! I learned a lot from my friend, and he took home the divine treat of whining to his parents, after I taught him the tricks of the trade. Mommy calls it teething. I call it, the shock and awe of manupulative tools.

It works folks.

I learned to tackle (and how to be tackled)

I learned how to say, "thats....... mine"

(Patriot learned to whine... from me!)

I learned that it's important to share my toys. And even more fun to play when we are sharing. But it's still a hard skill to master.

I learned how much you miss your best buddies when they leave. And how much my Mommy and Daddy miss their friends when they leave too.



photo taken by krystle kay

7 Weeks

This little dude is 7 weeks old today!


photo taken at 4 weeks by krystle kay.

He is such a little star. Anyone would be lucky to love and be loved by him, I'm certainly sure. I'm so glad that God gave him to us.

Hank seems to have gotten over the latest crying hump and he is mostly smiles, most of the time. I delight in his sweetness!



Stats: Hank is 13 bs 11 oz and 24 inches long as of Monday. Go baby Hank!

While Henry is busy packing on the ounes and inches, Colin is so so busy being two. He is working hard at keeping his baby punmpkins nice and watered, and tomorrow (or realistically, this weekend) we will be repotting them. FUN!

On Monday, Colin was weighing in at 26 pounds and 33.5 inches.

I have one child in the 25th percentile for weight and one child in the 97th, guess who is who!?

Somebody

Somebody is crazy about Alladin.



And Alladin is crazy about him too.

Pumpkin Patch Photo Fail

Last year, we took Colin to a pumpkin patch. He was a new walker, alive with independece and with chub abound.

While we were there, a family had a brand new baby there, in a precious pumpkin outfit and hat.

I oohed and aahed over this tiny wonder. And thought, maybe I'll have another fall baby and do that very same thing!

And low and behold.......

I do have a baby this fall! Who knew?

I couldn't wait to head over to a pumpkin patch with my tiny duo.

And due to many circumstances outside of my control, this is what I got in the way of a pumpkin patch picture.




I guess we'll try again later.

Oh, and all the pumpkins were rotten in one spot or another. Apparently this was a bad harvest year for pumpkins (but not for punkins).

Through the Eyes of a Mom

Earlier this week, on October 19, 7 year old Orange Park girl Sommer Thompson went missing on her way home from school. Apparently there had been a squabble on her one mile walk home with her two siblings, which could have happened to any child, and she ran ahead. Sommer didn't come home.

I used to work in a field that somehow numbed my emotions. You just have to pack them away sometimes in order to get the job done effectively. Up until two years ago, this case would have made me feel so sad, and make me wonder all the same why's and hows that everyone else is wondering right now.

And now that I'm a mom, I'm 100% devastated.

My sister in law told me about this case on the phone just a day or so after Sommer disappeared. They live in the area, and have a school age daughter. One with big permanent teeth who is as sweet as can be. This particular six year puts on her big girl backpack and goes to school with a number of other pupils, and just like them and just like Somer, has begun to walk the world independently with the guidance of her parents, just like Somer.

It could have been anybodys child. I'm so sad that it was anybodys child.

Since becoming a mom, this child and her mother, this case, all of it, devastates me. It has aroused emotions in me that I didn't know existed, although I still can't wrap my brain around the depth of the hurt that this must have caused.

I couldn't stop thinking about Somer all afternoon. And when I heard about a birthmark on her leg, I thought about my toddlers birthmark on his arm, and my six week old's birthmark on his back.

It could have been anybody. I'm so sad that it was anybody.

Most of all, I couldn't stop thinking about Somer's mom. My heart is broken for her. There is so much about this that is against the nature of the ways ought to be, and the way that we think things will be when we welcome our children into our homes.

A child should never be dumped in the trash.

I'm so sad that this happened. I'm so sad that such monsters exist among the human race. Hold your babies tight tonight.