The Goerends

23 month update

2012-01-04T19:02:00.000-08:00

I've been terrible at updating this blog! Thanks to Russ for the great Christmas letter!

As Henry was narrating his boat's movement in the bath tonight, I couldn't help but reflect on the explosion of his vocabulary and understanding in the past two months.

Some of my favorite phrases:

All Aboard! (The way he says it is just PRECIOUS!)
Be careful, daddy. (said as Russ was cooking dinner on the stove tonight)
I love you!
He's sad. (emphasis on SAD in reference to feelings of characters in books and on tv)
Jesus' Birthday!
Hiding! (He will hide, his foot will hide, his toys will hide!)
Three more bites! Then go play! (said to whatever he's trying to feed while setting them in his high chair... hmm wonder who he gets that from?)
Hold you! (meaning hold me)
Read book!

Some of my favorite things he does:

Add to/finish some pages of Goodnight Moon (Hush! Goodnight stars! Goodnight air!)
Feed and put his doll to bed
Do somersaults (He's great at it. Probably gets it from his GMom!)
Pretty much can take his coat off all by himself
Gives wonderful hugs

Some of his favorite things:

Airplanes
Trains
Trucks
Cars
Little People toys
Yo Gabba Gabba show on tv
Our iPad (The kid can unlock the screen, find, and open his own apps!)

I'll leave you with a picture of my sweet boy eating his snack after his bath tonight. (Like the sweet, after bath hairdo?) I love him to pieces!

2011 Year in Review

2011-12-17T13:27:00.000-08:00

~~Looking back, it's been a quick year.~~ All years are the same length, right? So why is it so hard to believe that fewer than 11 months ago, Henry was turning 1? Maybe because back then he was just starting to take a step or two. He was only saying a few words.

He blew past those milestones in a hurry. Now he's running and shooting hoops. He's reading and listening to music.

He's a bowler:

He's making new friends:

He's an aspiring zoologist:

He's a messy goofball:

He's a helper:

As for the rest of us, Becky took on a new job this year. She's now a 5th grade teacher in Waukee. It's refreshing to be teaching in the same district as our schedules match up well. Unfortunately, her students go to the middle school where I don't teach. I'm still teaching 6th grade Language Arts. Same classroom, new kids.

You can follow Becky's picture-a-day blog to get a look into what's up with us on a more day-by-day basis. She's been embracing her creative side this year. She has been cooking, canning, and baking more. She's also been getting her sewing machine out more often, as well as organizing the house.

I don't have a photo-a-day blog, but I plan on starting one next year. So, look out 2012 Year in Review!

We hope you had as much fun this year as we did.

Love,

Russ, Becky, and Henry

18 Months

2011-08-15T19:26:00.000-07:00

We already posted Henry's 18 month pictures. Last week he had his 18 month doctor's appointment. I couldn't go because of school, so Russ took him. He's weighing in at 25.3 lbs. and is 33 inches tall.

This month he went to a wedding, spent the weekend in Minnesota visiting family, spent the weekend with Grammy and Poppy so Russ and I could go to cabins with friends, visited Great Aunt Maureen and Uncle Sean and picked their raspberries, visited the zoo, spent some days at daycare, and was outside a lot!

We continue to be amazed by what he can do! He can:

Count to 10, though he often skips 7.
Say, "Ready, Set, GO!"
Push his mower (mo-mo) up and down the driveway and around the back yard.
Help us pick tomatoes. He's getting better at just picking red ones.
He likes to blow bubbles.
He climbs everywhere. Our kitchen chairs are currently turned upside down.
He can drink from a straw. Also, he can drink from a cup if there isn't much left in it.

He's so fun! We have been so blessed to be able to spend the summer with him. It will be hard to not see him all day long as school starts back up, but it will make our weekends and evenings that much more precious.

Instead of posting tons of pictures, here is a link to my daily photo blog: http://mrsbmg.posterous.com/

Not all the pictures are of Henry or our family, but many of them are!

18 month photo shoot

2011-07-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

16 and 17 Months

2011-07-03T19:36:00.000-07:00

Time just flies by! I can't believe that in another month our little guy will be 1 1/2! In the past two months school has wrapped up for Russ and me and we've enjoyed a month of summer We've had guests in town, visited family, been to the zoo, gone to baseball and softball games, gone to farmer's markets, ridden bikes, gone on walks, took a swim class at the YMCA, and much more.

He also got his first hair cut! You can see the difference from the first picture below to the more recent ones at the end. The good thing is, cutting his hair did not affect his curls! They are still there!

Words, he has so many words in his vocabulary! Here are the new ones I can think of right now:

Out! (He demands to get out of his crib when we come get him in the morning!)
House
Shoes...and he goes to get them if we ask him to.
Milk
Don't! (He was on a roll with this one for a while, which was very frustrating! =))
No...though many times he means yes
Off/On
Puppy
Toby (our cat...but it sounds like "doe-see"
Cheese
Snack
Button (He LOVES to push buttons!)
Bath
Bubbles...in reference to anything water. We say water; he says bubbles!!!

He's climbing more onto chairs. We've even found him on the kitchen table at one point.
He loves to GO! If we tell him it is time to go, he goes to get his shoes, lets us put them on, then stands at the baby gate to the back door and shakes it, acting like I WANT TO GO!
He can walk from the house out to the car all by himself. He can even climb into Russ's car and get into his car seat. My car is just a little too tall.
He's learning the art of the temper tantrum. We're learning the art of staying calm and redirecting him or leaving him in a safe place where he can cry it out for a little bit.
He LOVES to be outside. He says, "Outside!" then "Shoes!" telling us he wants to go play. It's been nice because we enjoy to work in the garden and he likes to "help."
He still loves Toby! Toby still amazes us with how much he tolerates Henry.
Henry loves to give kisses and hugs. He can just melt our hearts.
He is also a goof ball! He likes to do still things and wait to see if we laugh.

Here are some pictures from the past two months!

Playing with my glasses

At the zoo

Loving the outdoors!

Dad, Henry, and Grandpa

Trying on mom's shoes

Henry and Auntie AJ

Cousins

These two are going to be trouble!

15 months

2011-05-02T19:04:00.000-07:00

Henry is getting so big! Each day Russ and I are just amazed at what he can do! This month he celebrated Grammy's birthday at the farm, got his first ear infection, got to spend some time with Grammy, enjoyed being outside, spent Easter at Grandma and Grandpa's, and enjoyed the mall play place with a buddy.

He's walking most of the time now; sometimes he gets a little ahead of himself.
New words that I can think of right now:

ball, ball, did I mention ball?
outside
kitty (applied to anything animal-looking)
apple
nana (as in banana)
milk
up
down
all done

He can climb on the couch.
He is trying to use a fork and occasionally is able to stab his food.
He did a great job hunting Easter eggs and even put them in the basket.
He tackles Toby the cat with big hugs!
He had the time of his life at the mall play area going down the slide.
He will bring us books to have them read to him.

Here are some pictures and videos!

Playing with daddy's old toys

Little drummer boy

Do I look like daddy?

Happy Easter!

Loving his yard

Happy birthday, Grammy!

14 Months Old

2011-04-07T17:51:00.000-07:00

I'm a week late again, but Henry is a month older!

This month the big event is that he is WALKING! He had taken a few risky steps before this month, but now you will see him walking around the house the majority of the time. He has also learned to climb on the couch. He amazes me with what he can understand. He seems to understand what sit down means, because he does it when I tell him to in the bath tub. One day he even cried because he didn't want to sit down, but he did because I told him to. His other front bottom molar is in. He just has a mouth full of teeth! With the way his gums look, I wouldn't be surprised if another tooth pops in before next month. He still jabbers away. He doesn't have any new words from last month that I can think of, but he uses "bye bye" and "hi" regularly. He has also transitioned to just one nap a day.

This month we celebrated Henry's cousin, Emma's, 5th birthday. Russ and I both had some days off this month for spring break, so Henry got to spend a little more time with us than normal, which was a great preview for what summer will be like. Henry got to spend some great, quality time with his great aunts and Great Grandma Tiny when they drove through on their way to and from Colorado. Gmom and Gdad G. came down for a weekend in the middle of the month. They spent all day with Henry on Saturday so that Russ and I could go to an education conference.

Here are some pictures and videos from this month:

smiley boy at Emma's party

with Kaiser, Emma, and Oliver

trying to use his fork

crying on the swing when he went to the park in the beginning of the month

loving the swing later on in the month

drinking water from a cup... We forgot his sippy cup when we went out to dinner.

first bike ride of the season

sleeping little boy

13 Months

2011-03-07T15:43:00.000-08:00

My goal is to try to keep up a monthly update! I'm a little late, sorry! I am not going to continue to do the giraffe picture each month...probably just every 6 months now.

February is a short month! Henry continues to amaze us with all he does. He has dared to try to walk a couple steps, but they are always in the direction of one of our arms. His vocabulary is growing. He will say: up, down, night-night, hi, bye-bye, and uh-oh. We often find him in his room jabbering away as he looks at a book. He also is in the process of getting two more teeth! One first bottom molar is through and the other is working its way in.

This past month Henry spent a Saturday with daddy while I hung out with some girl friends and spent a weekend with Grammy and Poppy while we hung out with Matt and Cassy. He and daddy surprised me with a great birthday weekend which included giving me a plate they had painted together on the Saturday they sent together.

Here are a couple recent videos:

And some pictures:

The plate the boys made me

He climbed in this himself!

uh-oh!

Making cupcakes with mom

The finished product

12 months

2011-02-08T18:09:00.000-08:00

Henry had his 12 month appointment yesterday. He is 23 lbs. 9 oz (62%ile) and 31.5 inches tall (92%ile). He took the shots like a champ, too. Coming to this year milestone has caused me to think a lot about Henry's birth and all of the events around it. It's amazing what a difference a year can make. February 8th was his original due date, so I guess it's kind of cool that I post his 12 month blog post today.

This month, Henry enjoyed celebrating his cousin, Kaiser's, first birthday, spending a day with Grammy, spending a weekend with Aunt Cassy and Uncle Matt, and of course, the grand event of his birthday weekend with all the visitors was a blast!

Developmentally this month:

He got his first two molars on top (oh the sleepless nights!) and now is up to 10 teeth!
He climbs on many things.
He says, "Cheers," "Bye," "Dada," and "Mama."
He eats all table food and has begun throwing food...
He's drinking whole milk. We're just using up the last of the formula little by little in some of his bedtime bottles.
We're working on him using a sippy cup more. He drinks water/juice from it at meals, but isn't really into drinking much milk from it.
We've caught him standing for just a few seconds without support. He's becoming more of a risk taker "leaping" from holding onto one thing to another while he's standing. I'm guessing he'll be walking in a while.
He can open his bedroom door. It's a lever handle, not a round one.

I think that's all I can think of at the moment.

Here are some pictures from this month:

Playing in his room

Hiding behind his door.

Farmer Hank

I love this one!

Cheese!

He loves it when we push him on his car.

12 months old!

1 Year Old!

2011-01-31T18:49:00.000-08:00

Today is Henry's first birthday! It's hard to believe he is a year old, but it also seems like he's been in our lives forever. We had a wonderful weekend celebrating with friends and family. We haven't had his 1 year appointment yet, so I don't have any new weight stats. I think I will save all the weight/development info for that post next week.

Here are some pictures from Saturday's party:

Cheers!

2011-01-23T14:26:00.000-08:00

Today he learned how to do "cheers" with his cup!

No

2011-01-23T14:24:00.001-08:00

Pretty sure he doesn't know what the word means...

11 Months

2011-01-01T19:08:00.000-08:00

Henry turned 11 months old on New Year's Eve. It's been a fun month with many of Christmas celebrations.

The month began with Grammy coming to visit. Henry, Grammy, and I went to my church's Basket Bash. It was tons of fun, and Henry and I really enjoyed Grammy coming to stay the night before.

We had Christmas at Grammy and Poppy's the weekend before Christmas. We had Christmas with the G. side the 24th-29th. We spent the night and Great Grandma Tiny's on the 24th and hung out in Minneapolis with Grandma and Grandpa G. for the rest of the time. Henry also got to meet a couple friends of ours who live in Minnesota.

Developmentally, things haven't changed a ton:

He still has eight teeth!
He mimics us when we pump our arms. (I'll share a video below.)
I stopped taking baby food for lunch at daycare. He just eats whatever the bigger kids eat.
He is beginning to climb on things like laundry baskets.
He hasn't said any definite words, but "be-be" (baby) has been a common "word" the past few days.

If you turn your head sideways, you can see him enjoying Aunt Jolene's rocking chair:

Pumping!

Hanging out with Grammy at the Basket Bash

Bath in Grandma's pink tub

Sitting in daddy's old high chair

Baby's first Christmas

Opening gifts at Grandma and Grandpa's

Opening gifts at Grammy and Poppy's

Our sunshine!

Grammy has a lap full!

Cousins in matching sweatshirt

Kaiser and Henry playing with the nativity

Daddy and Henry getting ready to head out one morning

Eating on the road! We traveled a lot!

Playing with his new friend, James!

11 months old!

10 months

2010-12-05T19:46:00.000-08:00

Time is just flying by! It feels like I JUST wrote about Henry being 9 months old!

This month was filled with some not so sleep-filled nights, getting over a cold, and time with family.

At the beginning of the month, we took a short trip to Kansas City for an education conference. Henry was wonderful the whole day and was passed from person to person.

He got to spend the morning with Grammy T at the beginning of the month while I had in service at school. We spent the afternoon all together and Henry got his first taste of pumpkin cheesecake at the Olive Garden!

Russ and I both had conferences in November, so Henry got two evenings of just mommy time and two evenings of just daddy time.

Henry got to skype with Grandma and Grandpa G at least 3 times in November!

For Thanksgiving, we went to Grammy and Poppy T's house. Our friends, Kate and Luke, from Ohio also came to visit that weekend. He got to meet Luke for the first time in person.

Developmentally, things are just changing slightly from this month to last:

Henry has tried some table food like peas, crackers, pumpkin cheesecake, mashed potatoes, etc.
He pulls up on everything and can navigate around the whole living room that way.
He drives his walker across the living room. He really has no control over it, but it gets him from point A to point wherever he ends up.
He had a good couple weeks where he was up about once a night crying.
He has become a fast crawler!
He LOVES to hug our cat, Toby, and Toby puts up with it.
He loves to look at our Christmas tree.
He copies the inflection in our voice sometimes.
He still has eight teeth and really chewed up his crib rail. (I sewed a cover to protect it now.)

Here are a few pictures from this month:

Henry's first Christmas tree

Don't all kids get their picture taken with their first salitine?

Daddy and Henry on Thanksgiving day

Henry was reading to Great Grandpa H at Thanksgiving.

Grammy and her boys

Grammy and Poppy and the grandkids

Henry loves to read this book about cats!

These giraffe pics are so hard to take now!

9 Months Old!

2010-11-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

Henry turned 9 months old on Halloween. He had his 9 month doctor check up and he's growing well! He is 21 lbs. 11 oz. and 30 inches long. This month has been lots of fun!

Henry got to spend some time with Grammy a couple times this month. He also got to spend some time with Daddy while I went away overnight with some friends. Great Aunt Jeanne also came to visit at the end of the month!

Developmental highlights:

He is a master at pulling up on things and navigating from one item he can brace himself on to the next.
He can sit down well from standing, too.
He got another tooth this month, so he is up to 8!
He is eating some stage 3 baby food. With all his teeth he can mash things up well.
He makes "raspberry"/spitting sounds with his mouth. He thinks it's pretty hilarious.

Here are a couple videos and the usual bunch of pictures.

Walking to the park with mom

Hanging out with dad at the playground

All bundled up at the Des Moines farmer's market

Looking in his favorite drawer in the kitchen

Henry and his pumpkin from Poppy

Hankasaurus!

It's really hard to get this kid to sit still for these giraffe pictures!

Chatter Box

2010-10-22T05:38:00.000-07:00

We have quite the chatter box!

8 months

2010-10-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the delay on Henry's 8 month post! I can't even express how much we love this boy! Every day we are amazed at what he's up to!

We had lots of fun this month. Henry got to see lots of family including his Great Grandma Tiny and Great Grandma and Grandpa T. He celebrated Poppy's birthday at the farm, Skyped with friends in Africa, and spent a lot of quality time outside with mom and dad.

Grandpa G. brought Great Grandma Tiny to visit and along with them, they brought Henry's Christmas present from Grandma and Grandpa G., a Burley! Henry went on his first bike ride on September 22. We tried out a helmet, but it just didn't work out. He rides in a trailer anyways, and the information I've read says that a helmet wouldn't help him in a crash anyways since he is strapped in.

Some developmental highlights from this month are:

He is crawling on all 4's.
He is pulling up to standing on the furniture.
He feeds himself puffs/cheerios.
We usually find him sitting up in his crib when we go to get him in he morning.
He got another tooth in September.

Below are some pictures:

Family get-together at Great Grandma and Grandpa T's

Loving his veggies!

Hanging out with mommy

Poppy's birthday at the farm

Poppy and Grammy's kiddos

4 Generations

The Burley

The helmet that didn't stay on for long...

Blending up peas for Henry. I've been trying to make some of his baby food.

Last, I will leave you with the giraffe pictures which are getting more and more difficult to take:

7 months old!

2010-09-06T18:56:00.000-07:00

Henry turned 7 months old on August 31st! This month has brought quite a bit of change!

Russ and I headed back to school mid-month, and Henry has been doing great at day care! He enjoys his time there and has made some new "friends" with some new kids there this year. We were blessed to have Grandma G. come down while Russ was away at a conference and I had in service at school. She stayed for 3 days and watched Henry while I was at work. They had so much fun going for walks!

Henry also got to take his first trip to the Iowa State Fair with Grammy and Poppy! He tried a little cotton candy and enjoyed checking out the baby animals.

Today we went to visit my Grandma and Grandpa T (my dad's parents) and had a family reunion of sorts! All of my cousins, aunts, uncles, and spouses were there. It was fun to see everyone that we hadn't seen in a long time and for many of them to meet Henry for the first time.

Things new with Henry this month:

He's still going to bed around 7. Lately 7:00 has hit and he is READY for bed.
His top 4 teeth came in! They came in pretty much all at once. It was a crabby few days, but he did GREAT! Now he's taken to grinding them...not music to mom and dad's ears!
He's not up on all 4's to crawl yet, but he's definitely using his legs and arms to get around. He gets about anywhere he wants! Needless to say, I ordered many baby proofing items this weekend.
He sits up on his own! And, he can go from crawling/on his belly to sitting up.
He's eating some solids for breakfast, lunch, and supper. He's tried all sorts of things and we haven't had any reactions.

Here are some pictures from this month:

Stealing Poppy's glasses at the fair

With Grammy at the fair

Henry getting ready to go to church one Sunday this month - this kid melts out hearts!

Hanging out outside with mommy

A peek at the bottom teeth

Wearing daddy's old sweatshirt and new sneakers!

He loves this toy!

He won't sit still next to the giraffe anymore!

The pictures with the giraffe sum up this month. Henry is on the move!

Army Crawler!

2010-08-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

Henry has been rolling around for quite a while and can get about anything he needs. He has also started army crawling. He loves his books!

6 months

2010-07-31T19:46:00.000-07:00

Henry is 6 months old! It's hard to believe this wonderful boy has been in our life for half a year!

I just posted about out trip to Arizona this month. Otherwise, we have been home mostly.

Russ and I did go away for a weekend at cabins with some friends, and Grandma and Grandpa G came to our house to watch Henry. I don't think Henry even noticed that we were gone, but we sure missed him!

Some highlights of this month:

Henry has been rolling ALL over the place. He can roll across the living room. Front to back, back to front, it doesn't matter.
He has tried a few solid foods: bananas, sweet potatoes, and carrots. He seems to enjoy all of them.
He is consistently napping two times a day at about 10:00 and 1:30.
He goes to bed at 7:30 every night.
He is working on getting his bottom two front teeth. He has been a little crabby, but it's nothing that a little tylenol or orajel can't handle.
He tried to take a drink from my cup! I think a sippy cup will be needed soon!

Here are some pictures from this month:

We entered Henry in a Gerber baby contest. You should be able to vote for him next month. I will put up the link when you can vote.

In one of his rolling adventures, Henry rolled himself under his exersaucer. It looked like he was trying to fix it.

He was trying to drink from my cup!

Daddy and Henry were enjoying something on daddy's phone.

We did a 6 month photo session with our camera at home. This one is one of my favorites. Here is a link to more of the pictures.

Carrots are GOOD!

Last, his monthly giraffe picture. I have many outtakes of him grabbing the giraffe by the neck. It's hard to get him to sit still anymore!

Arizona Trip

2010-07-30T18:17:00.000-07:00

In the middle of July, we took a trip to Arizona to celebrate Russ's grandpa's 90th birthday! Henry did GREAT on the plane ride there and back. We also were able to stop and see my high school friend, Jensina and her little girl and husband. Here are a few pictures from the trip:

Jensina's little girl and Henry

Henry playing "Are you smarter than a 90 year old"

Henry and his great grandpa

Henry wearing his daddy's old gear, a Purdue shirt and bottoms that say, "I'm behind the Hawkeyes."

Henry and daddy swimming in the lazy river

All of our family with great grandpa and grandma

5 Months!

2010-06-30T18:24:00.000-07:00

Henry is 5 months old today. This month has been a VERY busy one for all of us! We spent the first Saturday in June with Russ's family celebrating a belated 80th birthday with Great Grandma Tiny at the Iowa Cubs game. The school year finished up for Russ and me at the beginning of the month. We left soon after to spend a week in Washington, D.C./Maryland with my family. We visited many presidential monuments, went to the beach, and visited some museums. We were home for 4 days and then were off again to Denver, CO to visit Aunties Jolene and Shelley as well as attend an education/technology conference. We just got home this morning from that!

Milestones in Henry's life this month are:

Rolling over! He's gone from front to back many times and back to front once or twice. We caught the second roll on continuous shot on the camera. Check it out here.
He has tried rice cereal a handful of times. He doesn't quite have it figured out yet, but we're not in a hurry.
He's such a HAPPY baby! He is laughing up a storm and enjoys playing in his exersaucer.
He is learning so much. Tonight when I was talking to Grammy on the phone, I put the phone to his ear and he turned toward it, staring and wondering where the sound was coming from.

Here are a few pictures from this month ending with the monthly giraffe picture:

4 months old!

2010-05-31T18:22:00.000-07:00

Henry is 4 months old today. He had his 4 month appointment on Friday. He weighs 16 lbs. 7 oz. The nurse measured him at 27.5 inches, but I thought she was off. I measured him at home today and got 26.5 inches which seems about right.

As for developmental milestones, Henry is still *knock on wood* sleeping through the night. He has been going to bed a little earlier, around 8pm, and is up at 6 or a little after. He has really gotten his head control down. He can sit in his Bumbo well. We also got an exersaucer that he can sit in with towels around him. He doesn't mind tummy time and can hold his head up well. He hasn't rolled over yet, though.

We went to Minneapolis this weekend to visit Grandma and Grandpa G. Henry went to his first Minnesota Twins game!

Here are a few pictures from the game:

A close up from today:

Here's the monthly giraffe shot!

He's growing!

2010-05-23T18:43:00.000-07:00

I know I'll be updating in just over a week with Henry's 4 month details and picture, but I had a little extra time today. I thought I'd get a head start and share some pictures and such so it's not such a huge post next time!

I'm really excited to see how big Henry is at his appointment on Friday. One great highlight is that he is sleeping through the night! He has been since about 13 weeks! He goes to bed between 8 and 9 and gets up between 6 and 6:30. We wake him at 6 during the week because of our schedule, but on the weekends we let him sleep until he wakes himself, so we can get a little extra sleep, too.

He is sitting in his Bumbo and I just ordered an exersaucer. We should have that within a week.

One of my friends found this little giraffe print sleeper and hat!

Last week Russ and I used up our last personal day of the year and took Henry to the zoo! The first picture was taken at the same spot as a photo we took almost a year ago, just a few days after we found out I was pregnant.

Lastly, here are a few pictures I took today of our adorable boy!

Henry's Baptism

2010-05-13T18:55:00.000-07:00

Henry was baptized on May 2. We are so glad so many people could make it! Here are a few pictures from the day.