More Soccer

We're having fun with Tommy playing soccer this fall.  Nathan is the assistant coach, Henry enjoys watching big brother, and Tommy loves it.  He struggles a little at the end when he's tired- I think there is a reason the game is only 20 minutes long.  I also haven't figured out why the weather on Saturdays is consistantly so yuck- rain or cold is almost a guarantee. 

The first pictures I took because I am too Dutch to pay for a picture of my child in his uniform holding a soccer ball.  Although, given the amount of bribes I had to use to get him to cooperate I may not have come out ahead!

Last Saturday, Tommy's team- the Kangaroo Kick Kickers, played the Tigers.  Here is a picture of the action!

Tommy scored 2 goals- notice how heavily defended he was!

Aunt Sarah came to watch and helped entertain Henry!

Twelve Months Old!!

Sorry- I wrote this awhile ago and thought it had posted.  It really isn't as late as it looks :)

 Henry Christopher- 12 Months Old

It's been one year since our lives were forever changed.  We are so in love with our precious Henry!  It's fun to watch his personality develop and marvel at the character traits we can already see.  It's also been neat to see the relationship grow and develop between Tommy and Henry.  They are starting to wrestle and tease each other more and more.  I am always in awe of what a wonderful Creator God is when I think of how much Henry has developed and changed in 12 short months.  From a tiny baby who couldn't do anything but eat and sleep he has grown into a little boy who crawls around and has his own mind and opinions.  It's been a wonderful year and we are looking forward to several more!  Happy Birthday Henry!!   

 At 12 months Henry weighs 23lbs, 8oz (50-75%) and is 30" long (50-75%).  His head is 18 3/4" (75-90%).  At the same age, Tommy weighed 27lbs, 9oz, his height was 32.25", and his head was 18.5". 

What is Henry up to at 12 months?

• He sleeps from 7pm-7:30am every night.  He cries for about 20 seconds when we lay him down and then goes right to sleep.
• He drinks about 24oz of formula a day and 3 meals of baby food.
• He is feeding himself lots of finger foods and especially likes raisins!
• He usually naps from 9:30am-11am and then again from 1:30pm-4:15pm.  He is starting to be ok with occassionally skipping the morning nap, but for the most part still needs both naps.
• He is in size 4 diapers and starting to move into 18-24 month clothing.
• He crawls- really crawls now with his belly off of the floor, pulls to standing, and cruises around furniture.
• He claps, does "so big", and waves "hi" and "bye".  His wave is so stiff and cute- we love it!
• He says mama, dada, ni-ni, all done, ba-ba, and hi
• He has 7 teeth- 4 on the top and 3 on the bottom.  The 8th is almost poking through, but not quite yet.

Henry's First Birthday!

Henry turned one on Sunday, September 12.  It is hard to believe that he is already so old!!  He had a weekend full of celebrations and loved every minute of his parties.  Big brother decided that Henry should have a "bug" party.  We had fun decorating and planning and enjoyed celebrating with our families.  We had the Plaisier side over on Saturday night and then the Batts side on Sunday night.  Here are a few of the many, many pictures I have!

The wreath on the door had a big "H" for Henry.

The dessert and appetizer table.  We had ants on a log and ladybug crackers for appetizers :)

The dining room table.

The candy buffet was a big hit- especially with Tommy!

I put up pictures of him that I took each month on the 12th.  It was amazing to see how much he has changed!

Mommy with the birthday boy during his party celebrating with the Plaisier side on Saturday night.

Opening his presents.  He didn't get to into it, but Tommy loved being a helper.  Henry is cute because he loves toys and has been busy playing with all of his new things.

He wasn't too sure what to do with the cake at first.

But, he soon got the hang of it!  He loved it!

All four of us

On Sunday after church we let him open his presents from Mommy and Daddy and Tommy.  Tommy was so proud to give him a new pair of jammies.

His favorite gift from Mommy and Daddy is this touch and feel book.  He wouldn't let go of it to take his nap and ended up falling asleep while reading it in his crib.  (He is sleeping here- his eyes just blinked when the camera flashed.)

He spent the afternoon playing with the new chairs and table from Papa and Nonni Debbie.  He thinks he's hot stuff when he sits like a big boy in the chair.

Sunday evening we celebrated with the Batts side of the family. 

The cousins went for a bug hunt in the sandbox. 

He loved eating his cake just as much as the day before!

The cousins at the candy buffet!

Soccer

Tommy started soccer last Saturday morning.  He was nervous, but seemed to enjoy playing until it started raining.  His games last 20 mintues with a 5 minute half :)  He is pretty pround of himself for scoring 3 goals- 1 for his team and 2 for the other team!

I love this picture of him giving Nathan a "thumb's up" after scoring a goal :)

First Day of School

Tommy started 4's Preschool at Kalamazoo Christian on Wednesday.  Parents went with for 1 hour on Wednesday and then today, Friday, was their first day on their own.  Tommy has been looking forward to the school year which surprised me after the year we had last year, but he has done really well at school so far.  He says that his teachers (Mrs. Bronsink and Aunt Rachael) are really nice and that he has some nice new friends whose names he can't remember :)  He goes to school on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings from 9-11:30.  We're excited to see what fun the school year holds!   

First day of school, September 8, 2010

The penguin backpack is back for a second year!

Standing outside of the school holding his "homework"

Standing in front of his locker.

Talking to Mrs. Bronsink

Circle time

Labor Day

To celebrate the last day of summer before the routine of fall we headed out to South Haven this afternoon.  It wasn't the best beach weather, but we had a wonderful time.  Tommy loved digging in the sand and swimming in the waves.  Henry had a great time exploring and eating his weight in sand.  They both had so much fun and it was neat to watch them.  We had a wonderful summer!

The boys at the beach

Digging

Exploring- he was fearless!

The wind was blowing in his eyes so he couldn't open them all the way, but I love this picture of him.  Once Tommy started using a shovel to dig- Henry decided to carry around a shovel too.  :)

Nothing like the beach!

Fun Day with Papa and Debbie!

On Friday Papa and Grandma Debbie took Tommy on a special trip.  He has wanted to ride on a train for a LONG time and he's wanted to visit Shedd Aquarium ever since he saw a documentary on it about a month ago.  So- his grandparents were kind enough to combine the two events and take him for a BIG day on the train to Chicago to visit Shedd.  Tommy absolutely loved everything about the day and has been telling us over and over and over again all about his adventure!

Tommy on the train

Papa and Tommy

Debbie and Tommy

Tommy with his new "pet" seal.  The seal has slept with him every night since he got it!