Milestone Minutiae

Tonight Luke came into the kitchen with a very worried look on his face, and asked how Santa would get into the house. I told him it was magic, and that generally people think he comes down the chimney, and asked if he had any worries about that. He wanted to know how Santa got on the roof, so I told him about flying reindeer, and more magic. He wandered out of the kitchen, saying he just didn't want to see it. I assured him that Santa only comes when everyone is asleep, and continued on to say that Santa brings presents, and it's not something to worry about, it's nice! He returned with a quivering lip and started to cry, so I scooped him up and carried him to the rocking chair. I spilled the beans on Santa, telling him that it's just a game that grown-ups play with kids because it's fun. No one would come into the house, and mommies and daddies put the presents under the tree. He looked genuinely surprised and relieved, and smiled big. We read "The

Henry climbs on low things (like the shelf under a table or an overturned basket) to sit himself up. He's reasonably competent at sitting - he can sit without the boppy as long as he's on the carpet. Twice now, he's reached for something a little higher and pulled himself to standing - once on the fireplace and once on the lower rack of the dishwasher. This kid is going to be cruising in no time!

Here are his stats from that checkup (a month ago!): 17.5 pounds 27.5 inches long 17.7 inch head circumference At this age, Luke weighed 8 ounces less than Henry, but Emmett weighed 19 pounds! Henry's length matches Emmett's, but his head circumference matches Luke's (both 0.5 cm less than Emmett's).

While watching TV tonight, I thought I heard Henry crying in the bedroom. Then I realized that he couldn't be, since I was holding him in my arms.

Henry is having a great time learning to sit up.

Pirate Emmett, ready for Halloween, plays piano.

At night after putting Henry to bed, he usually wakes up about 45 minutes later. Lately I've been putting him back to sleep without nursing. At first I'd rock him and then get him back into bed. After just a week or so, I'm now able to put him back to sleep without even picking him up. I don't think he's waking up as completely, either. Tonight when I went in to help him back to sleep, he seemed to be actually fussing in his sleep. The noise was then waking him up. I've been wearing Henry on my back a lot lately. It's useful to get things done, and I think he may be in that separation-anxiety stage that accompanies learning to crawl. To take him off my back, I'll sit down on the couch and remove the carrier so he ends up sitting on the couch. When I turn around to pick him up, he's always delighted to see me. It's so sweet.

Last night Luke was sick and threw up many times between about midnight and 2am. Henry was awake most of that time, but each time I was out of bed helping Luke, he stadyed strangely still and quiet on the bed. When Luke settled back down to sleep and I got ready to return to bed, Henry would start to fuss a little. It seemed like he knew that Luke needed my help. It hardly seems possible, but it happened about five times.

On Halloween night, Henry went to sleep just before we were getting into costumes to go trick-or-treating. I had hoped he'd stay asleep, but the excitement in the house was too much for him, not to mention the doorbell and the barking. I put him in the carrier and out we all went. It was so exciting to be outside walking around that he didn't go back to sleep. When Luke tired out, I started walking him back home while Emmett trick-or-treated with Oma and Opa. Henry was clearly tired and started slumping his head into my chest. I thought he would be asleep by the time we got home, but instead he started leaning back (away from me), and then he'd look up at me and laugh. I'd laugh back, and then he'd lean in again. He repeated this over and over, the whole way home.

Last night Emmett announced that he was going to get some candy. Luke called after him, "You can have some from my bag, Emmett!" (This is after Emmett stayed out longer and had twice as much candy as Luke! We've combined all the candy into one bowl to share from today.)

While crawling, Henry will stop and roll up onto his side. He bends his top leg, and grabs for his lower leg and foot. Is he just making sure his toes are still there, or does he miss playing with them?