Henry at Five Months

Dear Henry,

I am supposed to be napping, since YOU are napping and even at five months the adage to sleep when the baby sleeps still occasionally applies...especially when said baby wakes up hungry at 5:55 on a Sunday morning (soooo early for me!).  But you are five months old today, and I want to mark the occasion.

The biggest event of your fifth month was starting daycare.  Everyone said that it would be harder on me than on you, but two weeks of daycare was not enough time for either of us to adjust.  I think we were both very happy when the House cancelled its last week in session so that we could hang out together all day every day until after the election.

Over the past month you decided to make laughing out loud a regular part of your day instead of a once-in-a-while event.  And no one can make you laugh like your daddy can.  You sure think he is the cat's meow.  I love to watch your eyes light up when you hear his voice.  Your smiles are so big they fill your whole face.  After you went to bed last night, Dad and I were asking ourselves what we used to do when we didn't have you to play with.

You are good at grabbing things when you want to, but mostly you would prefer that things go directly into your mouth without having to use your hands (cue hilarious moment of holding a Sofie giraffe with just one foot and your two teeth)...unless, of course, the things in your mouth are your hands.  It's a toss-up whether your favorite toy is your binky (apparently the whole thing is for chewing on, not just the rubber part) or your hands.  You like to hold them together, admire their handsomeness, and put them in your mouth...and then stick them all over my face and arms.  It is disgusting.  It turns out slobber from one's own child is just as gross as anyone else's.

We aren't going to talk about your eating habits this month, since bottle feedings at daycare were a bit of a disaster and Aunt Jenny had to coach us through a major crisis.  But you are starting to show serious interest in what Dad and I are chewing on, so rice cereal is on the grocery list, just so we're ready...

I feel like having you around is the most normal thing in the world.  And that a girls' night out, dressed in clothes that don't smell like spit-up, sounds like heaven.  I think this means we've officially settled into being a family of three.  And to think that next month will probably be even better than this one!

Love,
Mama

Book Festival and AKR

I finally managed to go to the Library of Congress's National Book Festival this year.  Inevitably we are out of town or it is raining during the festival, and rain makes Jason melt.  We were this close to going and listening to David McCullough a couple of years ago...and then the thunder started...

Ready to get our Encyclopedias signed

Mom, Henry, and me on the Mall

Anyway, in spite of the sunshine this year, Jason stayed home, nursing his lacerated ankle (more on that later), so I took Mom and Henry.  We met up with Dawn and Calvin just in time to hear Amy Krouse Rosenthal read the last few pages of her book "Spoon," then we got a nice little September sunburn waiting in line to meet her.

Awkwardly telling Amy that I, too, have a brother with three sisters

Dawn getting a note for Cal

Dawn and I have a little crush on AKR (or "Amy," as Dawn familiarly calls her).  She wrote this neat little book called Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life that we've been passing back and forth for the past seven years or so (except that now we each have our own signed copy).  Plus, Amy writes mostly kids books these days, so Henry now has a nice AKR note in "Bedtime for Mommy."

With our new best friend

Anyway, it was cool to meet her.  I always feel a bit awkward and ridiculous meeting authors (movie stars, singers, etc.) and am relieved to remember that we will never see each other again.  Except maybe Dawn will, since she boldly gave Amy her blog info (if you aren't reading Dawn's blog, you should be).  Plus, it was a pretty amazing fall day, and who doesn't love an amazing fall day on the Mall?

SMC4 for the Weekend

Fabulous surprise last weekend--Scott, Lindsay, and their kids finally came back to Northern Virginia for a bit.  As I recounted here, back in the day (like, the pre-Jason-plus-Missy days), SMC-squared were some of our dearest friends here.  We still think about them all the time (case in point:  when we were walking into the hospital to deliver Henry, we were reminiscing about going to visit Scott and Lindsay and brand-new-baby-Jake in the same hospital, eight years earlier).  We share a friendship that easily picks up right where it left off.

Two little friends (Addy and "Hen-roy")

So when they emailed on Thursday that they were coming through from Tennessee the next day on the way to a wedding, we were thrilled to drop everything.  We stayed up late laughing and catching up on the last five years of our lives.  We introduced each other to our newest arrivals (Henry, of course, and Addison, who is almost three).  We celebrated together Scott's recent return from a year in Afghanistan (talk about dancing on the tables!).  It was a good, good time together.  How blessed we are with these dear friends, even after all this time! 

Back in the Saddle

It was back to work week at our house!  (It was also "everybody get sick!" week at our house, too, but that is less momentous.)  I finally fished my blackberry out of the depths of some box it has been in since April, put on some high heels, and ventured out into (horrific) morning traffic.  Henry, meanwhile, spent a few days with Ana and Felicidad, who take good care of him.  I am happy to report that we all made it to the end of the week in good order.  And we were very happy to be together again, come Friday afternoon.

Out the door on the first day

For now, me going back to work is part time and temporary (though a long-term decision has to be made soon).  My feelings about the whole thing are extremely complex--much more so than I expected--but on the up side, I loved spending time with my little work family again.  I have missed them!  If only that daycare in the office thing was a reality... 

An Ohio Introduction

We completed the "Introducing Henry" tour this past weekend with a long awaited visit to Mount Vernon to spend the long weekend with Jason's family.  It was Henry's longest road trip to date, and he continues to be a good traveler.  We stopped halfway in Morgantown, WV, and stayed overnight to space out the first leg of the trip.  It was fun to have our first real "vacation" as a family of three, even if just for a night. :)

Henry at his first hotel

The family with Grandmom

Once we got to Ohio, Henry was the main event, and we spent most of the weekend admiring him with Jason's parents, Grandmom, and Justin and April and trying to get him to smile (pretty easy feat these days).  He is more and more fun, and I'm so glad that his Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Justin got to enjoy him for a few days!

Henry and his great-Grandmom

Hanging out with Grandma...

...and Uncle Justin

During our visit Jason got to introduce Henry to good friends like the Browning family, as well as one of his college roommates and his wife.  His grandma got to show him off to everyone at church, as well.

Henry and the ladies

The Small men

The fam

In addition, it was special to take Henry over to meet his Great-Grandpa Small.  Jason's grandpa has advanced Alzheimer's, so it was a quiet visit, but it will be very special to someday show Henry the picture of him with his great-grandpa.

Four generations of Smalls

Handsome baby and handsome daddy

We headed home yesterday and made it without incident.  Henry was a trooper and made it home without a major breakdown...though we were all happy to pull onto 5th Road last night!  Good trip and wonderful visit!

Yikes!  Whose drivin' this flyin' number of 'em?!?