Farewell to the Rat tail

Most parents don't have to worry about their child's first hair cut until they are a lot older than 6 months. We put off cutting Henry's hair for awhile, but when he began to get a long rat tail we decided it was due time for a trim. I've found that other babies Henry's age are bald or just have patches of hair. He had a head full of hair when he was born, and it has grown very fast. (And in case you're wondering, YES I had TERRIBLE HEARTBURN during the last few months of my pregnancy. There's conflicting views on whether heartburn is an indication that your child will have hair. All I know is heartburn was my biggest complaint through my pregnancy & Henry's got beautiful hair to show for it!) Henry's first official haircut was December 13.... and his Grandma Tracy was person who gave him his new do.

This is a BEFORE picture. It looks like a botched haircut has already taken place. This is a great picture of the "Rat Tail"

It just had to go....

The first snip... I think I was more nervous than Henry

Look at that shaggy hair

It's easiest to cut a baby's hair when they're asleep, but that was hard to accomplish since Henry only takes cat naps. It was quite a process getting him to hold still... me holding his face, Tyler occupying his attention with teething toys, and Tracy working her magic

We had some fun with him by giving him a mohawk

Then we made him a porcupine

The new hairdo! (We rewarded him with cereal for doing such a good job holding still!)

Looking an awfully lot like dad with his new haircut

Who's ready for Christmas?

For all of you who don't know, my mother (Henry's Grammy), loves Christmas. During the entire month of December, there's always Christmas tunes playing in her house... anything from Reba to Nsync holiday songs. She usually puts up about 7 trees all around the house that each have a theme. (ex: gingerbread, stocking, snowmen, etc.) All of the Christmas movies shown on ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas and FaLaLaLa Lifetime..... my mom's watched them all. If you'll refer back to a year ago on Christmas, she bought us all matching holiday pajamas. I'm sure that tradition will continue, and I will definitely post pictures because who wants to forget that? So with all of this being said, it's no surprise that I'm carrying on the tradition with my child. In his defense, he wasn't feeling the best when we took these pictures. I was frustrated when we were trying to take the pictures because he didn't smile and kept choking himself with the candycane. Now that I look at them though, I think they're pretty cute. This is only the beginning though, because me and my mom have several ideas for holiday pictures so there'll be more fun photos to come.

What a pose! He's all about his feet and toes these days so this picture is perfect

All cuddled up with stocking number 1. This one stays at Grammy's and Grandpa Kev's. (It's way cuter than the stockings for the rest of the family so this one hangs all by itself in the kitchen! *L*)

Stocking number 2. This one's from Uncle Todd and it's for Mommy and Henry's house.

On a side note, this has also been a bittersweet week. Henry turned 6 months old on December 7. Half a year gone already!! When people tell you it goes by fast, they aren't kidding. While it seems impossible for him to be half of a year already, I can't remember my life not including him. I had a rough day with finals for nursing, but he made all my worries fade when he smiled at me when I walked through the door. His smiles are the best! Because I haven't kept up with my blogging, I should give some highlights from the last couple of months.

Henry is very long and skinny. He must have a high metabolism because he eats all the time! He's now wearing 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers. We used to use Dr. Brown's bottles to prevent his "spitting up" episodes, but now that he is on Enfamil AR (a special formula for spit up babies) he rarely spits up. We now use Playtex bottles because they are much easier to clean. Henry also has a short patience because we have to use a fast speed nipple or he refuses to take the bottle. *L* He loves bathtime and his new favorite thing to do is to try to kick so hard that he jumps out of the tub. It terrifies me, but he seems pretty proud of himself for splashing so much. He also loves grabbing the washcloth and sucking the water out of it. Again, a little irritating for mommy but he gets a kick out of it.

At about 5 months, Henry started to suck his thumb. Such a horrible habit to break, but I don't know how to stop it. He also has a blankie and he finally takes his pacifier. We've been trying babyfood and I must say I never knew carrots could be so messy! In the last two weeks, he's really been jumpy and fidgety like he wants to move. He almost has the sitting up thing down, but sometimes he falls too far to the side or front and then he gets ticked off. He can't crawl yet either, and I'm not sure that's a bad thing. My apartment isn't baby-proofed yet! One last thing that is significant is that Henry chews on and tries to eat EVERYTHING! His mouth is like a faucet of drool that never stops. I like to think that he gives me kisses when he grabs on to both sides of my face and "kisses" my cheek. Tyler claims Henry's just trying to eat me, but I know he does it with love. hahaha. No teeth yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if one popped out soon!

I get four weeks off of school for the holidays so I'm going to try to update my blog more with old photos and stories about Henry so I won't forget them. I must say its a little sad to go shopping and realize that he's not a tiny baby anymore. But, with getting older he's developed such a funny personality and I love him more and more each day. Happy 6 months Henry!