Happy Halloween! Rahr!

I'd be "lion" if I said I didn't like Halloween!

Fired up! Ready to go!

How do you like my new wagon?

Leaves are so much fun!

One last thing...don't forget to vote next Tuesday!

The Birthday Boy

Well - it's official. According to the books, we no longer have a baby, as Jack turned one yesterday as is now considered a toddler. He can't quite toddle (walk) yet, but he's gotten very good at crawling, pulling himself up on furniture, walking along the couch and coffee table, and terrorizing the cat.


We had a small birthday party for Jack on Saturday. We were happy that Grandpa Roy was able to make it up to "represent" our Wisconsin family and we missed our other family members, particularly those overseas, but we know they were all with us in spirit and we were able to celebrate with some of our Wisconsin family in Madison earlier in the month.


I can't believe our little boy is one. The year has gone by so fast and brought so many changes for us. Many days, I can't believe that I am a mother. It has been an amazing, difficult, eye opening, impossible to anticipate and even more impossible to explain experience for me. In the past year I have learned: breastfeeding is not initially instinctive for all babies, diapers can be changed in a back car seat in a McDonald's parking lot, work is not as important as I once thought it to be, some days I want to be a stay-at-home mother, some days I don't want to be a mother at all, my husband is an amazing dad, sometimes no matter what you do, there will be tears, there is never enough time no matter how organized I am, it is possible to survive a 12 hour plane ride with an infant, and I secretly like it when my baby can't sleep in the middle of the night because it is the only time he is snuggly. I continue to learn about my identity as a mother and how that intersects with my identity as a woman, wife, social worker, daughter, sister, friend, and person. I can't imagine what the next year will bring.

I love you, little man. You truly are life's greatest present. Happy birthday and here's to the next year.

P.S. For a look at a cool birthday collage, take a look at this post from my best friend's blog. Thanks, Jen, for the tribute to Jack and the awesome pictures on this page. Motherhood without you would be much more difficult!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Grant...364 Days Early

Jack says, Happy Birthday, Uncle Grant, 364 days early, or 1 day late, depending on your perspective. He wanted me to let you know that he would've posted earlier, but he has been busy this summer with:

avoiding spontaneous geysers

sporting his Harley do-rag

riding his dad

penning his memoirs

entertaining Grandpa

trying to convince his mom not to make him wear stupid hats

relaxing in the bath after a long hard day

and, you know, all of the other baby-like summer things.

Hope you had a good one! We'll whoop it up when we see you this weekend.

Trip to New Zealand - Part I: California

Finally, I am going to start posting about our trip to New Zealand. I will do it in parts, making it more manageable to write (for me), to digest (for you) and to download (for your computer).

After a bout with the croup, a visit to the doctor for hopefully unneeded steroid medication for Jack, and a morning of harried work and packing, we left Minneapolis on May 20th in the afternoon to head for our first stop on our New Zealand adventure, Los Angeles. The check-in was uneventful; I highly recommend traveling on Tuesday afternoons to whip through airport security. We arrived at LAX around 7pm Pacific time with one tired, but well-behaved little baby.

Normally, Nick and I would travel straight on to Auckland, but we had decided that might be a bit much for our first trip with Jack, so I had booked a hotel in Marina del Rey for the night. We made our way through LAX to find a taxi to take us there. The taxi cab area was temporarily relocated due to a filming that was taking place. I assumed that it was a UCLA film student thing, until I walked through a highly choreographed scene with Jack in his stroller and heard the director yell "cut." I turned around and noticed that the director chairs all said "Entourage." Oops.

We arrived at the hotel and Nick's um, advocacy skills, landed us a crib for Jack about an hour earlier than had been promised to me. (I think the clerk had gave me a line in hopes of eating his dinner before bringing the crib to our room.) I got Jack ready for bed while Nick wandered the nearby streets to find us some dinner. Nick and I huddled in front of the bathroom sink eating takeout Mexican as quietly as possible so Jack could fall asleep and voila, leg one of our adventure was complete.

We all slept well and ate a continental breakfast at the hotel. After a nap for all, we took a walk down to the marina. It was a beautiful day, especially coming off of the long winter and chilly spring we had been experiencing in Minneapolis (highs only in the low 60s in May). Jack got to experience his first swing ride at Mother's Park (see below), which ironically was filled with nannies and the children they were minding. Such is the life in Marina del Rey, I guess.


We ate lunch outside on the deck at the Cheesecake Factory. Our waitress was very taken with Jack and told us about her daughter who was named Daesha Jade. She explained how she had wanted her daughter to have a very meaningful name and that Daesha was a Dutch name and Jade was symbolic of something precious. CK replied, yes, our son is named Jack because we got a flat tire on the way to the hospital and needed one.*

I went to the Cheesecake Factory and all they gave me was this lousy piece of bread.
It ain't the Bread Factory, people.

We returned back to the hotel, took an afternoon nap, went to the Indian restaurant across the street for dinner (disappointing compared to Chapati, our New Zealand favorite, but what one isn't when compared to the best?), and we were off to the airport for the second leg of our adventure: LAX to Auckland.

*This didn't really happen. In case you were wondering.

Happy Birthday, Grandad!

George and Jack

Today (in America) or yesterday (in New Zealand), Grandad George turned 75. We wish we could be there to celebrate 75 grand years of life with him. Here's sending lots of hugs, kisses, and well wishes across the miles. We love you!

Grandad, Jack, and Nanny at Chapati, the family's fave Indian restaurant

Give Me A Head Full of Hair...

Those of you who were particularly good at Highlights Hidden Object puzzles as a child may have noticed a couple of changes in Jack in the latest pictures. As of yesterday, he now has 5 teeth: the 2 front bottom ones, the most visible, and the top right front tooth and neighboring eye tooth which he got after screaming most of the plane ride home from New Zealand, the biggest headache...but that's another post. Also, a couple of weeks ago (June 22 to be exact), Jack got his first haircut. The CK has been pushing for Jack to get a haircut for some time. As Jack's lack of haircut edged him to resemble that of a Hasidic Jew (which he is not) or, as the New Zealand customs agent suggested, a girl (definitely not), I finally agreed that it was time. All grandparents had gotten to see his baby hair, so it was time to move onto the big boy hair. The only question that remained was what kind of haircut to get.

I advocated for a mohawk or at least a faux hawk. The CK thought cornrows might be low maintenance. Hank (our cat) expressed preference for a mullet or hockey hair as it is often known in Minnesota. Ultimately, Jack, the voice of reason won out - a simple big boy haircut.

Can you do anything about these cowlicks, lady?

I wish they served popcorn and milk here.

And then I said, hey, baby (and I do mean baby), what's your sign?

What do you think?

Happy 4th of July!

Yes, they did let us back into the country after our visit to New Zealand. We've been laying low since we got back, adjusting to the time zone, baby teeth, and (finally) summer. Now that it is a three day weekend, maybe we will have some time to update you on what's been happening in the past couple of months (if you're still reading the blog after all this time). For now, here's a look at our little firecracker. Hope all you Americans have a happy Independence Day and all the rest have a nice July 4th!

You've got to be kidding me. I'm not your little flag-waving monkey.

Will you give me a hot dog now?

We Americans have mastered the science of hands-free, self-waving flags

I WANT YOU - To give me some Cheerios

First Mother's Day

Today is my first mother's day as a mother. I don't think last year while I was pregnant counted and no, that has nothing to do with the abortion debate, but rather the fact that I believe that the job description for mom is more than carrying around a human-to-be in your belly/uterus.

I've had a wonderful day, in fact, a wonderful weekend. Yesterday, we all met up with my Aunt Linda, Cousin Rebekah and her two children at the Como Zoo. We got sprinkled on a little, but it was fun to watch the kids with all of the animals. Sparky the sea lion was inside and took a break from swimming to perch on the ledge by the glass and go almost nose to nose with Jack. We (and the other guests at the zoo) were much more impressed with this than Jack was. Jack was like, hey. Yeah, the lady next to me is as interesting as a sea lion. After the zoo, we came home, and Jack and our cat, Hank, gave me their cards and a little present. The Clever King said that those two didn't understand a calendar well enough to know when the actual mother's day was. The book from Jack is so sweet - Someday by Alison Meghee and Peter H. Reynolds. Only slightly less heartbreaking than Love You Forever by Robert Munsch and Sheila McGraw. After a trip to the grocery store, we put Jack to bed, Nick bought some wine and flowers, we cooked an Indian dinner, and settled in to watch an episode of Lost (on tape from Thursday night) and Ratatouille.

Today, Jack slept in until 7am (thanks for the gift, Jack) and then CK took Jack downstairs so I could sleep a bit more. I made it until almost 9am! This helped tip the scales even farther on the side of wellness for me; I am almost fully recovered now. Then Jack went down for a nap, and Comet came over to watch him while Nick and I went out to breakfast at one of our favorite spots. We came home, took a walk, played with Jack outside, and Nick gave me gifts from him, The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters and Burt's Bees foot cream and the promise of a foot massage. Jack went to sleep at 6:40pm and I am passing time until the season finale of Brothers and Sisters.

In other news...

Yesterday, we felt a little tooth bud for Jack on the bottom, his first one. It seems like he has been working on it for months and now it is finally emerging. Today, we felt another one on the bottom, so looks like he is getting two at the same time. He celebrated by feeding himself lots of Gerber puffs today. (Yes, Keith and Brian, he does eat that "Gerber" food now.)

We are headed to visit Nick's family in New Zealand a week from Tuesday. I don't think I have even mentioned the trip on the blog. We booked the seats a little while ago and then illness has been bogging us down. We have a lot of preparation before we will be ready to go, as I am headed to Madison this weekend with Jack for an annual get together with my high school girlfriends and CK will be having the Brodeo Part II at our house. Maybe spring will finally be here to stay in Minnesota by the time we return in early June.

I'm sure there are other things, but I can't think of any right now. All my love to the mothers and other special women out there. A special bit of love to my mom who has been gone for 22 1/2 years, but whom I think about everyday as I look into the eyes of my son.

Thanks to Jen for the lovely photo!

A Pox On Our House

It's been a difficult couple of weeks. Aside from the fact that the calendar said spring started on March 20, yet the daily high temperature has been consistently 20 degrees below average, all of the Henderlembckes have been sick. And not just the kind of sick where you stay home from work, snuggled in a quilt, watching Young and the Restless, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and maybe even Martha, but the kind of sick where, in between trips to the toilet, you lie on the bed in the guest bedroom underneath as many quilts as you can find, drugged up on Tylenol PM, moaning. (Real conversation between myself and the Clever King on Tuesday - Me: Why are you moaning? CK: I don't know I just feel miserable. Me: But why are you moaning? Real conversation between myself and CK on Wednesday - Me: Ahh, ahh, ahh. CK:Now you know why I was moaning, don't you?)

I learned a few things during this period: (1) An infant can vomit up more liquid than you think it is possible for his stomach to hold. (2) The sound of a parent vomiting can be loud and terrible enough to cause an infant to start crying. (3) There really is a point where parents can be too sick to take care of their sick child. (Thankfully, we just flirted with this line, rather than crossing it.) (4) The combination of an infant being sick and teething may be too much for any parent to handle (at least without spades of baby ibuprofen and Tylenol).

After this weekend, I think it is safe to say that we are all feeling better. Jack is back eating solid foods, drooling on everything he can get in or near his mouth, and being his usual happy-go-lucky self. CK and I feel like normal human beings and are accomplishing more each day than minimal self-care and chores.

As if this wasn't good enough news in and of itself, it is supposed to be 66 degrees here by Tuesday. Now, if only we can get Jack back on track with his sleeping.

Hopefully, more updates soon. Unless we are too busy playing in spring (fingers crossed)!

Happy Easter!

You act like you didn't know pastels are in this year

Me and bunny here are planning on eating chocolate eggs all Sunday long

The last man to call me a 'baby' I left dying in a ditch outside of El Paso

As well as being a metaphor for spring and renewal, he's also an excellent calf masseuse

Our Little Leprechaun

Jamiroquai is my fave band

Those aren't rhinestones, they're polished kibbles

abracadabra!

I'm part Irish - I don't need no funny hat

Half-Birthday

When I was young, I used to relish celebrating my half-birthday. Well, it was a celebration in my mind, at least; we never had any real celebration of the event, but I enjoyed remembering the day, nonetheless. As I mentioned in my previous post, Jack was six months old on February 25th (marking his "half-birthday"). We celebrated the event by going to the doctor, peeing all over the scale (Jack, not Mommy and Daddy), and receiving several shots (Jack again). For the first time, Jack had a bit of a reaction to the shots, but is feeling better now.

We learned that Jack is 27.5 inches tall (85th percentile), 17 pounds 14 ounces (58th percentile), and his head is 46.5 cm (98th percentile). We knew he had a big head, but didn't know it was bigger than 98% of babies his age. Hopefully, it is filled with brains and not rocks or one big boulder.

Here are some of his six month pictures that I mentioned the other day.

Giddyup, pillow!

Senior pictures only 17 years away

You're right, these do have a funky odor

It's damn hard work holding up a big noggin like this!

Beef...It's What for Dinner

Well, maybe a while down the road it will be. For now, it is rice cereal. Jack finally entered into the world of solid foods this weekend. We had been intending on getting Jack started on solids for a little while now (his doctor told us we could start between 5-6 months), but life interfered. Friends had given me the advice to start solids on a weekend because it could be a messy, time-consuming affair, and for weeks it seemed that we were either out-of-town or Jack was sick and the doctor recommended holding off so that we didn't end up with solids coming out one end or another in a more liquid form.

The actual cereal feeding itself was a bit anti-climatic. Jack didn't turn any cartwheels, our kitchen escaped relatively unscathed, and dreams of solids bringing on a longer, more restful night sleep proved unrealized (so far, at least). Nevertheless, we have achieved an important milestone, one for the (baby) books.

Fired up! Ready to go!

Whatcha got in there?

Can't a guy eat in peace?

It takes a very steady hand!

Ugh! I think some of your arm hair got in my cereal.

Mmmm, next stop, Murray's for some steak!

This weekend, we achieved a few other significant milestones as well. I took Jack in for his six-month pictures on Friday. (He is six-months old today!) And after running to one post office only to be told to go to another because "we don't process those on Saturdays, even though our own website says we do" (and no, we can't change the website), trying to find the next post office using the (wrong) address given to us by the postal staff, consulting with our friend Mike for assistance over the cell phone, and desperately using our best self-talk to keep from hauling off and hitting the oh-so-helpful mail personnel, we applied for Jack's passport. It's hard to say whether running all over town or trying to assist the Kinko's guy take a passport photo according to the State Department specifications ("he's gotta be looking at the camera with his mouth closed and the picture needs to fit between these lines, even though he can barely stay still for half a second") was more difficult. Actually, it's not hard at all. The running all over town wins, hands down. Thank goodness a passport is good for five years!

Jack has his six-month check-up tomorrow, so I'll try and "check-in" with stats and some of his new "official" pics.