Summertime and the living is easy...

We took our first official family vacation last week. Along the way, we saw family and took bunches of pictures.

First we went to Greensboro and ate dinner with Gigi and Papa and the Johnson cousins. Henry's cousin Caroline told us all about how she was heading off to Kindergarten and his cousin Natalie, aged 3, informed us at dinner that if you get seconds, you will throw up. Actually it went something like this....Natalie: Where's Gigi? Aunt Elizabeth: Getting seconds. Natalie: That's too much food. If you eat too much, you throw up. (Mind you, we were at the Country Club buffet, so my mother was actually just getting her main course after having finished her salad. It also should be noted that despite seconds being had by many, no one vomited.)

Friday morning, we woke up at the crack of dawn and headed to Davidson, NC to visit Grandma and Grandpa Phillips, along with Great-Grandma Violet. We were excited to get to see her as it has been a year since we went out West with her. She turned 99 this past summer. Upon going to the hospital to get pictures of her heart taken recently, she told the radiologist--"It may be difficult for you as I gave my heart to Chet Whittaker over 70 years ago."

Friday night we spent the night with Uncle Marshall (Sloan's big brother, as in Henry "Marshall") and Aunt Holly and the Phillips cousins, Violet (6), Bo (4), and Gigi (11 months). Bo didn't feel like having anything to do with Henry, even when I told him he wouldn't have to wash his hands. Violet and Gigi (whose thighs are adorably huge) gave him lots of cuddles and kisses. Bo did, however, hand down loads of cute smocked outfits. (Thanks Holly!)

From Charlotte, we headed down to my parents' condo at Litchfield by the Sea. We lolled about, floated along in the lazy river, rode around in the golf cart (which Henry adored!), and even rode waves in the ocean. He slept late in his pack n play, and even took naps in the sand. He was wonderful as we went out to dinner for our third anniversary. Henry began giggling this week and continues to carry on his reign of cutest boy baby on the planet! Mommy has also learned to feed him on the go. Many a trucker along 95 got to watch me climb from the front seat into the back to shove a bottle in Henry's mouth. We are so blessed to have such an easy going baby.

Rollin, Rollin, Rollin, Rawhide

August 21, 2007. 5:45 pm
HENRY ROLLS OVER FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!!


He is now rolling over from back to front. I think most babies roll over tummy to back first, but apparently no one told Henry this. He loves to roll over to see himself better in the mirror while playing in his gym. The only problem with this is that Henry is not a fan of "tummy time," yet he keeps finding himself on his tummy. I tried explaining that this would happen every time he rolled from his back to his front, but he doesn't listen. Since this time, he has also started sleeping curled up on his side. It is very sweet to watch.

Watermelon Festival and Matthew McConaughey

My good friend Carol Chalk was in town this weekend and we got to do some crafting. I showed her how to make French memo boards and she showed me how to make those fleece knot blankets.

We also took Henry to his first Richmond Watermelon Festival in Carytown. We discovered that pushing a stroller actually makes things easier as people get out of the way for you. Henry was a little angel even at lunch, probably because Auntie Carol cuddled him and let him watch the ceiling fan.

In addition to ceiling fans, he also loves taking baths. We spray the wand and he just laughs and coos. You would think that the water in his face would make him unhappy, but he just loves it. He also enjoys watching television. He was fussing a bit this morning and so I put him in his Bumbo seat while I made him a bottle and turned on the TV. It was the movie Sahara and immediately he calmed down and smiled. I tried changing the channel so I could watch something else and he whimpered. So, like his father, the boy loves the movie Sahara. Which is good as it seems like it is always on TV.

Spoiled by an Angel

I am overwhelmed by what a good baby Henry is. He is sick and he still is smiley. He rarely cries, mainly just a few yelps to let me know I need to hurry up with that bottle. He doesn't even cry when I cut his fingernails (although he does squirm like a fish out of water.) He slept through the night last night and Sloan fed him his morning bottle, so I was able to sleep to around 8am. You know you are old when sleeping until 8 counts as "sleeping in."

A Month of Firsts

It has been awhile since I've last posted anything to our blog, but that is because The Phillips clan has been busy. But it has been a month full of doing things for the first time...

First time without Daddy--July 15th-20th. Sloan went on a business trip to South Carolina and I realized how difficult it would be to be a single mom. Like on a road trip when you have to fill up with gas and pee.

First Road Trip--July 16th--Richmond to Greensboro. It took an extra 45 minutes to get to Greensboro because apparently "someone" can't feed himself.

First Time at Gigi and Papa's (My Parents)--July 16th-23rd. Because I didn't think I could last a week as a single parent in Richmond. Both of us were spoiled with new clothes. Henry was also spoiled with cuddles and stopped sleeping through the night because Gigi and Papa held him so much that he ended up falling asleep around 5pm. This, however, made it easier to go out to dinner. We even were "those people" and took him to Ruth's Chris. He slept the whole time.

First time meeting the Johnson cousins--July 16th. Again, he received more cuddles and kisses from our nieces Sarah Grace (almost 9), Caroline (5), and Natalie (3), and nephew William (11). He also bonded with his Aunt Pam and Uncle Bill.

First REAL smile--July 24th. I went to pick up Henry from his crib in the morning and as soon as he saw me, his face lit up and he cooed. Considering this was the same day as my "procedure," it definitely made things go more smoothly. As to the procedure, Mom is doing fine and is having fewer GI problems.

First time being babysat by a non-relative--July 24th. A big thanks to Tracy Scoggins for taking care of Henry while I was at the Doctor. For those of you who may be called on in the future to babysit, I will use Tracy as a reference to how easy Henry is. He slept the entire time in his car seat and didn't even wake up when their dog licked his face.

First Rock concert--July 28th. CHICAGO. Hells Yeah!!! That's right, we spent Saturday in the Park jamming out to music Henry and I often dance to at home. I was a bit like Britney Spears, however, toting my baby around the amphitheater to get another Smirnoff Ice. He also was admired by many older people who'd had a few drinks. "Ohhh, he is just too cute. You said it's a boy, right? You are so lucky. So lucky. Ohhhh."

First Nude Photo Shoot--August 6th. This angered Daddy but when else is a person actually cute with no clothes on? He only peed twice on our bed while I snapped photos.

First Cold--August 6th. I spent last week coughing and sneezing and unfortunately, I gave it to my son despite my wearing surgical masks, religiously washing my hands, and his spending entire days in his swing. Oh well. He still is not a fussy baby. He just sneezes a lot with a couple sad little coughs and has stopped sleeping through the night. But he still is the BEST baby ever!!!

2 month check up and you're putting a camera where?

Henry had his 2 month check up on the 5th (when he was actually 10 weeks old). He weighed 12 lbs 2 oz and was 22 1/2 inches long! He is in the 75% for weight and 25% for height. The doctor said that it takes longer for preemies to catch up in height and not to worry--his feet and hands are still good indicators that he will show off his dad's Swedish heritage. The doctor was very pleased with his progress!

He also has slept through the night once. But the next day I bragged about it and so he hasn't done it since. I am hoping he will tonight as he was awake from 7:30 am to around 3:30pm today. But fortunately, he isn't screaming when he is awake so he remains a relatively easy baby. I suppose he figures I put up with enough while I was pregnant.

My pregnancy bed rest is still haunting me as I'm having some GI trouble and get to have a flexible sigmoidoscopy in a week and a half. Sigmoidoscopy is a fancy way of saying "butt-scope." Awesome!! Thankfully, the gastrointerologist's office is literally around the corner from my room at the hospital, so it will be a bit of a homecoming for me.

Happy 4th

So we headed out to my sister's for the fourth. We grilled some shrimp on the barbie and I ate my weight in mozzarella and tomato salad. I also made my traditional strawberry, blueberry, angel food cake and homemade whipped cream parfait. (Go ahead and say it in your best Eddie Murphy voice, "Parfait! Everybody loves parfait!" After Sloan's impression of Shrek's Donkey, I think my 6 year old nephew Joshua's rendition is the best.)

Henry enjoyed sleeping in his cousin Isabel's amby baby sling and even went for his first dip in the pool. And my oh my is he ever like my father, Papa, as he fell asleep in the pool. As I write this, I have been trying to get Henry to go down for a nap for about three hours, so it seems a little odd to think of Henry snoozing in the pool--but nevertheless, he did.

He enjoyed snoozing on a floaty in the pool and cuddling with his cousins on the floaty as well. Once again, his cousin Isabel loved on him and we may have to have a "You can love your cousin so long as you don't LOVE your cousin" talk in the future.