Hot Air Balloon festival

This was a fun free event.

Henry's First Birthday Party!

Party time.

Our mellow boy didn't want anything to do with his cupcake.  I predicted as much.

Henry is 1 year old!!

Henry is 1 year old!

He's an angel baby.

His favorite things:

• talking on a play phone
• dancing/singing with Elmo Rocks.
• Wrestling on a bed with Liberty
• Bottles - he doesn't do sippy cups as well as Liberty did at this age.
• Sounds - dog, cow, LION!, panting dog, airplane, car
• Foods - loves beans and tortilla soup (shredded chicken) and stick pretzles
• He really only signs "all done" - he prefers to squawk at us.
• Words - will say mama, dada if you really force him to - but he can totally say water (wawa!) and ball (ba!)
• First steps walking on 12/16 a bit after his birthday.  I write this on new years eve and he's taken 4 steps, stopped and taken 2 more - but then he collapses in a fit of giggles and prefers to be the fastest crawler we know.
• 7 teeth
• WEIGHS - 21.6 pounds LENGTH - 31.5 inches.
• Sleeps 7-7am, naps 9:30-11 and 1:30-3.

This album is video heavy - and they aren't that great and I can't figure out how to only post the best stuff....so for anyone other than Grandma, I'd just watch the first video because it's SUPER SUPER CUTE!

Henry is 11 months! MESSY EATER

I forgot to do a photoshoot of Henry at 11 months - but I took these pictures of him eating some beans!

Fall Festival & HALLOWEEN

Wow I'm behind on the blog so I'm back dating some of this and will keep the captions short and sweet.  Each year Liberty's preschool has a Fall Festival with games and a singing performance, etc.  She was dressed up as a blue ballerina.  We also went to Vertuccio farms with our neighbor friends The Gates. Henry was dressed a UA Wildcat but was sick on Halloween night so he didn't go trick or treating.

Henry is 10 months old!

Henry at 10 months old:

- MY FAVORITE - he gives KISSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Cutest thing ever, I will get it on film if it kills me.
- crawls "for real"
- cruises furniture
- can walk with the radio flyer push wagon
- finally chilling it with putting absolutely everything in his mouth
- obsessed with remotes
- yelling when he wants something
- loving the outside swing
- LOVES playing the piano - he can reach it while standing.
- interested in everything that is not a toy (closing doors, soup cans, the monitor, cords)
- finger foods galore - chipotle, beans, salasa, bananas, rasberries, green beans, mixed veggies, steamed broccoli, shredded chicken, pasta.....still hates "puffs" though.  Loves stick pretzles.
- snuggles my shoulder before nap time
- touch and go with waving/clapping/mama - these days he's into singing, barking/panting like a dog, imitating any sound you make.
- JUST started using any useful sign-language like "more" "all done" (10/17/2013)
- THE WORST during diaper changes - rolls, refuses to cooperate.
- Liberty is obsessed with caressing his cold feet and taking care of any toe jam he may have. weirdo. lovable weirdo.
- sleeps 7-7, naps 9-10:30 and 1-3
- won't sit still for photoshoots anymore.......

Wyatt Family Reunion in Maryland

I don't have the energy to write about this amazing trip - or to edit down the 200+ pictures.  It was very very special - to ride on an airplane across the country with both kiddos, to vacation with super-grandparents, to meet so many extended family members, to sightsee in Washington DC and Frederick MD...I've been a Wyatt for 8 years and a part of this family for 12 years...to say I love them is a huge understatement.  It was a great reunion and some nice quality time making Wyatt memories at the family farm.  Bonus - I got to see MY mom's only 3 cousins - so I got in a mini Wheeler/Brodar/Winter reunion too!

Air Show with Wyatts

We met up with the Wyatts in Sedona to go to the family day at the airport - air and car show!  It was so much fun and gorgeous up there as always.

Daddy Date Night

Liberty's preschool hosts a Daddy Date Night every year where the kids preform, they do a craft together, build something, do some playdough....etc - Liberty loves this night out so much she always asks to extend it by going out to dinner with daddy too - to where else - CHIPOTLE!

Henry's 9 month old photoshoot!

Henry is 9 months....and since I'm writing this a bit late it's hard to remember exactly what he was up to - but I'll try:

- weight - 19.2
- length - 30 inches
- pulling up to stand
- clapping, saying mama, waving - but not the greatest at doing these consistently!
- 1 tooth on bottom, 4 on top!
- likes drums and throwing a ball with daddy.
- does his "singing" - (hand over mouth call)
- crazy about Liberty
- his scooting - 1 elbow and 1 toe drag  (he actually stopped his scooting and started real crawling 2 weeks before he turned 10 months and I miss his fast scoot)
- sleeps 7pm to 7am and naps 9-10:30 and 1-3.
- hates grass (see attempt at photoshoot below) - the chair works much better.

Liberty Dancing

....and the video I will show Liberty's future boyfriends to embarrass her....

Dancing!

From 2013_8_29 Liberty Dancing Video

I'm so behind!! - some videos of Henry doing new things at 8 months old -

some videos ahead that quite possibly only blood relatives will be the only ones to bear the first 30 seconds of these 2:50 long home movies...

(These videos are from AUGUST when he was 8 months - I'm so behind at blogging!)

Clapping!

From 2013_8_23  Henry and Liberty (8 months and 3 years)

Saying Mama!

From 2013_8_23  Henry and Liberty (8 months and 3 years)

Scooting & sitting & dancing (kinda old news for him) -

From 2013_8_23  Henry and Liberty (8 months and 3 years)

Preschool for Liberty (4s)

Last year Liberty loved preschool so much. She was in the 3s class and is now in the 4s class which meets MWF 9-12pm.  ?Next year she'll do Pre-K 4 days a week.  She has the same teacher Mrs. Ratliff who sincerely loves Liberty and thought of her often over the summer and texted/called us to say so.  Mrs. Ratliff knows my daughter and her obsession with blue, cats, princesses, her little brother and kindness. Liberty was so excited to get back to Wilkins Learning Center and show off Henry and tell everyone that he got his first tooth and has been scooting around and other random stories I swear she saves up to tell people (including telling Mrs. Ratfliff after she complimented Liberty's blue outfit that Grandma bought her this blue skirt with ponies on it to wear for the first day of school)

Henry is 8 months! Photoshoot!

Henry at 8 months...this is HIS MONTH.  I'm writing this a bit late but I'm glad I am because there wasn't too much of a change from 7-8 months for him but now at 8.5 months old he is doing lots more!

• 1st tooth - the day he turned 8 months!
• His scooting is very fast and distinct - 1 foot and 1 elbow shove off...
• Can finally get into a sitting position after crawling around by himself.
• Exploring a lot now (find him in the pantry, under chairs, touching outlets - all babyproofed, but still)
• He is pulling up to stand in his crib and pulling up to on his knees and trying to bounce up on his feet on other stuff - so close!
• When you help him stand at the music table, etc he LOVES it and can stay up pretty well on his own.
• A few days ago he started WAVING when we asked him to.
• A few days ago he started DANCING when we asked him to.
• He's becoming a big copy cat - splashes when Liberty does. Yells when she does. Bangs when she does. 
• He can't get enough of the pool or baths.  We do baths in shallow water and he sits, scoots, crawls, and doesn't mind laying all the way back and rolling and getting a face full of water.  He laughs and laughs.
• Sleeps 7pm-7am and naps 9-11am and 1-3pm and 50% of the time he takes a short 40 min nap around 5pm.
• Trying more finger food like strawberries/blueberries/graham crackers.

Henry Playtime 7.5 months

Just hanging out and eating some play-food.

Videos - Jumping and Swimming

EDIT: don't know why these videos aren't working......so you can go to the photo album here and watch them: https://picasaweb.google.com/113950548607099469105/2013_7_20HenryJumpingLibertySwimming?authkey=Gv1sRgCPbGvajKmuj0dw


Henry isn't crazy about the jumperoo, but has started to at least jump a little....

From 2013_7_20 Henry Jumping, Liberty Swimming

Liberty has gone from barely swimming and not floating at all a few weeks ago to REALLY SWIMMING and can float for 16 seconds!  She can swim the shorter length of the pool.  This video is not that great because I was home alone with both kids and didn't get fully in the water to make her perform like the swimming monkey she is.

From 2013_7_20 Henry Jumping, Liberty Swimming

Henry 7 Months Old

Notes for the baby book....

• twirls his feet at the ankles when anything exciting is happening (sister is performing, food is coming, etc)
• can truly throw! (balls, binkies, blocks)
• only food he dislikes - puffs
• no teeth - tons of drool
• sits independently, scoots, can't get into sitting position by himself.
• Has no interest in using his legs to stand or jumping in the jumperoo. *edit - 7.5 months old now and he is finally jumping in that thing!
• naps 9-11am and 1-3:30  and sometimes has a tiny 40 min nap at 5pm.
• Sleeps 7:15pm to 7am

COLORADO VACATION - Road Trip 2013

We broke in the new minivan by driving almost 2,000 miles for a week long adventure in Colorado.  First we spent 1 night in Flagstaff to visit with Grandma Jo (Grandpa was rafting the Colorado River).  Then, we drove about 6 hours to Durango, CO and stayed 4 nights with our friends Molly and Josh and their 10 month old Brooklyn.  We rode a steam powered train to Silverton, took a day trip to Pagosa Springs to enjoy the hot springs along the river and bopped around historic downtown Durango.  Then we took another 6 hour drive to just outside Denver to where Molly and Josh live and stayed with them for 2 more nights.  We celebrated the 4th of July with them and saw some fireworks from the view on their deck way up in the mountains of Evergreen. We visited the Denver Aquarium, ate ice cream and shopped in Boulder, CO.  Saturday we ventured the 13 hour drive back and everyone did awesome - dressed in PJs for the car ride at a dinner stop in Kayenta and went right to sleep when we got home!  It was so nice to see my best friend from 5th grade and to vacation with 75* temps!

325 pics/vids ahead.....

Father's Day

Father's Day was a good day.  We went out for pancakes, grilled, and swam.  And celebrated having a SUPER daddy in our family.

From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime

From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime

From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime

From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime

From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime

Henry and Liberty Cuteness

Some random pictures from the camera...

From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime

From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime

Henry at 6 months

My baby angel turned 6 months old on June 5th.

Weight: 16 pounds 10 ounces (25%) (liberty was 19 pounds 7.5 ounces)
Length: 28 inches (95%)  (liberty was 28.25)

Likes:
sister - no one makes him grin/laugh like her.
bathtime - holy splasher.
tv - sorry American Academy of Pediatrics.
drinking out of my water cup - he goes crazy for it
smiling at anyone that looks at him.

Doesn't Like:
ummm...nothing!

Can SCOOT! army crawls when he wants to get a toy.
Can sit for about a minute before tipping over.
Had his first babyfoods - bananas, carrots, apples, etc
no teeth - I'm still shocked.
sleeps 7pm - 7am
naps 9-10:30 and 1-3pm

Swimming!

We like to swim in the evening around sunset to avoid the sun (and sunscreen) completely.  Here are some pictures of Henry's first time in the pool.  Our pool is such a light color it doesn't warm up unless it's really really hot - so it was almost too cold to have him get all the way in with the floaty.  Next time.  Liberty is "bold and enthusiastic" according to her swim teacher - so she wants to go in the water all the time and really likes playing with her 4 watering cans (thank you dollar section!).

Pickin' Peaches

We really like to pick peaches at the nearby Agritopia Farms rather than going all the way to Schnepfs Farm (the heat, the crowds, the travel)...so instead we had breakfast next door at The Coffee Shop and strolled over to get some peaches!  We might come back for Apples in a month or so...

Henry on Playmat 5.5m

Henry would spend all day on his playmat if we let him...he is so easily entertained and can roll around, spin 360* and tries to lunge and scoot (he can scoot backwards a bit).

Henry's Baptism

Welcome to the Catholic Church little buddy.  Kelly and Doug will be awesome godparents to you.  So happy I got to share Mother's day with this special occasion.

Henry 5 months - sibling photoshoot

Took some pictures and videos of Henry at 5 months.  Time is flying by and the part I love most about having 2 kids of the undeniable sibling bond.  Liberty can't get enough of him, and he thinks she is the coolest.  Savoring that while it lasts:)

Henry at 5 months:

thumb sucking didn't happen:( - he's a binky boy.

moved out of our room and now naps and sleeps 100% in his crib.
has turned into a belly sleeper! Try as we might - he rolls and sleeps on his belly.

naps 9-11am and 1-3pm and maybe a snooze at dinner time.  Sleeps through the night 7:30-6:30am.

Not quite scooting - but spinning around 360* on his tummy on playmat.  Lunges and reaches for toys.

Starting to get very interested in what we are eating/drinking.  He likes to drink out of my water cup.  Will start baby food very soon.

No teeth - guess he's just a drooly child that chews on everything.

Squeezing into 6 month clothes.

Shouts.  

Liberty calls him Henry Boy Boy or Henry bobo or my precious darling or a million other endearments.

Hall of Flame Playdate

Fun little playdate at the Hall of Flame Firefighters museum!

Liberty (3) Henry (4 months)

We took both kiddos for their Dr. well-visits and came home with these stats:

Henry:  15 pounds and 27 inches - - 97% in height and 46% in weight.
Liberty: 34.8 pounds and 40 inches - - 96% in height and 86% in weight.

*readers beware, annoying mommy bragging to follow...

In other milestone news Henry is enjoying tummytime, grabs at toys and puts them in his mouth and is the smiliest/laughiest boy on the planet.  He rolls and drools. He naps 2-4 times a day (usually 3 - 9am, 1:30pm and a snooze during dinner or in between those big 2 hour naps).  We are trying to consistently get him to nap in his crib but it's touch and go.  Some days he does, and some days we give up and put him in the swing.  He still sleeps 7:30pm to 6:30am with the occasional wake up at 4am to cutely coo like a bird until I pop a binky in his mouth because I am not a nice mommy at 4am.  We talk daily about wanting to move him to his room.  He loves bathtime with Liberty, the TV, Sophie the Giraffe and when Daddy makes him dance to techno music.

Liberty is so bright.  Her vocabulary is insane and she is a sponge for learning new things (dog breeds, types of rocks, flowers, presidents, every name of all my friends, and their husbands and babies and dogs and everyone's favorite color and favorite princess...) She knows simple addition/subtraction and can count to 25 but her real love is letters.  She's known the sounds of the alphabet for over a year and she can tell us what almost any word starts and ends with and loves figuring out what is also in the word (spelling).  She can write her name and mommy.  She can sound out simple words.  She CANNOT rhyme worth a damn and she is the most uncoordinated kid ever (she has just figured out a 3 wheeled scooter).  She doesn't like scary things (this includes villains, tall slides/roller coasters, alligators, etc). She loves cats, the color blue (royal blue to be precise, followed by green, then pink, then purple), princesses (Cinderella), her cat blankie named StrawberryRose, arts & crafts, Henry and bratwurst.  She asks me for a baby sister almost every day. "When you are pregnant some other time can we get a girl baby with a blue and green dress? That would be adorable.  But. You never know what you are going to get, a girl baby or a boy baby. It's a mystery."  I hear this speech often.  Naps 2 hours a day, wonder how long this blessing will last...

Children's Museum of Phoenix

Nothing like an expiring Groupon to get your butt to the Children's Museum of Phoenix.  The last time we went Liberty was 18 months old I think - so it was definitely time to explore again!  My mom got to come along and it was a fun time!

Easter Farewell Party for Martis!

We've celebrated Easter with good friends a few times in the past and this year we celebrated the weekend prior because our good friends Kelly, Ben, Adalyn and baby Nora were moving back to their beloved St. Louis.  We have a lot of good memories of meeting at bookclub and married women's meetups, GNOs, boating, Kierland Staycation, Flagstaff road trip, celebrating pregnancies and births - and simply starting a new friendship from scratch in 2008? 2009?.  We will miss them and their great family.  The Heppner's hosted as usual and outdid themselves again with another potluck feast that included Samineh's dessert like White Chocolate Cheesecake and the best sugar cookies I've ever had (that the kiddos decorated).  She also crafted bunny ears/tails for the girls to wear for a bunny hop race.  The Easter egg hunt was a ton of fun and it was great to sit outside and enjoy our growing families. Cameron was away in California getting his Project Management Certification from Stanford so he missed out on our farewell party - but Samineh took on the roll of photographer, thank goodness, to capture some of the fun.

Liberty turns 3!!!!!!!!

Liberty's blue/Cinderella Princess party was a hit - she wore a blue/green dress and headband she picked out, had some of her favorite people over, bounced in the bounce house, decorated cupcakes (her request - but never again!), and enjoyed the generosity of so many friends and family members.  Uncle Andy even flew in from SF again, which is becoming one of the most treasured parts of her birthday parties.  Liberty is a bright, thoughtful little girl now - no more baby... she has been a loving daughter and sister and we are as proud as parents can be.  I'll end up doing a separate blog entry to mark some milestones for our own memory...but for now - the BIRTHDAY ALBUM!

EASTER 2013

We celebrated Easter in Fountain Hills with my mom and dad.  We had a great brunch and Easter egg hunt.  Liberty got so many goodies in her 3 baskets from grandparents and us.  She told us her favorite holiday is still Valentine's day but she liked dressing up in a new blue outfit for Easter.  We also celebrated Easter with friends the weekend before and I'll share those pictures later.

Tummytime & Siblings

This was a really cute photo shoot of Henry finally enjoying his playmat.  He rolled over the day after I took these pictures.  Liberty decided she was in a camera mood so there are some funny pictures of her posing with Henry - It cracks us up that the happier/cuter Liberty is - the more miserable Henry looks...he puts up with a lot of smothering love from big sis.

Henry 3 months old!

Henry...
...cheerful as can be.  This photo shoot sums this kid up.

Other notes:
Finally some routine and predictability to the day.  4oz bottles usually at 7am, 10, 1, 4 and 7pm.
Still sleeping during the day in a bouncy seat and nights in our room.
Goals for April: get him napping in his crib and move him to his room. Because ...HE'S SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!  *angels sing*  We are talking 8pm-6:30am!  IF he ever wakes around 3am we just give him a bottle and he goes right back down and will probably sleep until 7:30am that way!
He's trying so hard to suck his thumb but isn't quite there yet.
He rolled over for the first time on March 14th. Belly to Back.  Once he figured it out he did it all day long - like 8 times!

Happy Henry Video

Henry is chuckling a bit these days.  He's happy and he knows it.

Conversation with Henry

Once a day, usually during Liberty's naptime, Henry gets real chatty.

Henry is 2 months old!

Henry is 2 months old!

12 pounds 11 oz, 24.5 inches
He is so mellow and smiles so easily for just about anyone (his doctors, my doctors, friends, family, neighbor kids - anyone who pays attention to him)
Chuckles now too (video to come)
Loves diaper changes.
Just started sleeping much better...usually something like 7pm-2am and 2:30am-6:30am. Still doesn't nap much in the morning time, so we hang out and do tummy time, etc.
Mommy got the first smile, but daddy got the first laugh.
Hair is growing.

A note about the crazy amount of pictures:
1 - I cannot figure out how to make my camera take good pictures inside the house, so there is a lot of experimenting with different settings/flash going on here.
2 - I don't have time to go through and delete and make a perfect album that is blog worthy.
3 - I can't bring myself to delete much anyway because every picture is cute to me, I'm the mom.
4 - It's much easier for me to just share the entire family album link even though I know many of you don't need to see 47 pictures of Henry propped up in a chair.

Drawing People

Liberty has just started to draw things that actually look like what she says she is drawing! She is so excited and frequently asks us if we want to "buy some of my famous artwork?" This is a birthday card she made for Grandma...she started by drawing Grandma (complete with ears, hair, hands, feet and my favorite - a belly button!) and then she decided to draw the rest of her family - of which Liberty is a baby. Hmmm... She told me this is a picture of Grandma taking care of baby Liberty.

Henry found his voice!

3+ min, excuse the mommy voice...

SMILE HENRY!

Oh it's hard to capture a smile on camera...but here are some attempts:

From 2013_1_5 Pictures from Cell Phone

playmat playmates:

From 2013_1_5 Pictures from Cell Phone

From 2013_1_5 Pictures from Cell Phone

Henry is 1 MONTH!

Highs: There is nothing like a sleeping newborn on your chest. He is super cute. Cuter than I expected. lol. Liberty loves Henry WAY more than I thought was possible. She tries to soothe him, is sooo gentle and lovingly touches him, invites him to do things like lay on his playmat or do tummy time, brings him toys/blankets, tries to problem solve his fussiness ("maybe he has a blue line on his diaper mommy? I can go get a clean fresh diaper for him! Maybe he needs his binky? A bottle? Mommy, he needs a grown up to hold him! Henry, go back to sleep buddy boy.") I didn't think she'd be so PROUD to have a baby brother - telling strangers his full name "Henry James Wyatt" and all the things he does.

Lows: He doesn't cry at night but the sleep stretches are still short - 2.5 hours usually. But they are increasing and we are getting more like 4 hour stretches now, with the occasional 5 and ONCE 6 hour. I have hope more sleep is on the horizon soon. And, it is really hard to get out of the house with 2 kids. I knew this was going to be the case, but between getting 3 people dressed (and fed would be nice too), making sure a diaperbag has everything we may need, making a bottle to take, and remembering a jacket for Libs...it takes like 30 mins to prep and pack up...so no quick runs to Target, the Coffee Shop or even the park. We are inside a lot. I also do not like Winter.

A few notes to remember about my baby boy... (for my own memory really, sorry if TMI)

 ...you are not a sleeping champion like your sister was...yet.
...you are big. 9 lbs 2oz at birth - 11 lbs 5oz at 1 month! (Libs was 10 4) and 22.75 inches long (Libs was 23). So we have another 95%er in the works.
 ...your mommy didn't have enough milk to keep breast feeding but I tried for a month.
 ...you hated one boob and loved the other (it really was quite funny).
 ...you like to have your head and face touched.
...you have awesome wizard eyebrows.
 ...you hate to have wet diapers. We go through diapers like crazy.
 ...you smiled early and smile often.
...your big sister has been nothing but nice to you. This may change, but I think it's a small miracle that she has done nothing but love on you for 30+days straight. She also likes to call you "buddy boy" and "Henry my baby".

Photoshoot when I remembered Henry turned 1 month a few days ago and I better take a picture!

Impromptu Concert

cousins decided to use the drum sticks to preform for us on Christmas! Thanks Kelly & Doug for the video.