The Pollard Place: April 2017

April is here already, I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going! My back is hurting again pretty badly, and I found out at my appointment that I am anemic. I have to take Iron pills, but they haven't made me nauseous like they did with Henry! And, once I started taking them I felt a lot better! I didn't realize how lethargic and sick I felt, but these have really helped me. I hope that they raise my Iron levels enough, because I get my blood tested again next month and if it's still too low I have to have Iron IV infusions... yuck.

We have started calling her Adeline, and talking to Henry about Della. It has really helped him to have a name to assign to "the baby" that we keep talking about. We started getting her room ready and I've been going through clothes and washing things. I'm definitely in a nesting period! Rusty is trying to get rid of stuff at the same time that I am frantically trying to collect and get everything out. This has proven to be a little bit tricky :) But we are slowly but surely getting things ready for our little girl's arrival! We are so excited!

To get ready for Easter, we colored eggs and played with the plastic eggs in the tub and did some crafts. Holidays are so much more fun with kids, and Henry is getting into such a fun age! I am loving this! We also had a little play date with Katie and Hannah to make a decoration! We couldn't resist buying them those ears.

Seriously, the rain this year has been insane. We have broken every record since they started keeping them in 1880. It has been hard on all of us, but we had a little miracle the day before Easter for our Easter Egg Hunt. The weather was awesome! It was Henry's first time, and the church did it differently than it has in the past. They just let all of the kids go at the same time and there was no limit, so most of the little kids got only one or two, or even none! Yikes. But a lot of moms had their big kids put some back so that the little ones could collect some.

After the Egg Hunt we had a little picnic! It was such a nice, relaxing way to spend the sunny afternoon.

This kid is serious about eating.

First Nerds! Apparently this is a big deal to Rusty??

Then it was Easter morning! Rusty had meetings, but we had just enough time to let Henry look through his basket a little bit before church. Rusty and I opened ours after church, when we also took Henry's eggs and put them out in the yard so he could do another little hunt. He was not interested in collecting lots of eggs, but wanted to open each one. Also, if it had a toy in it instead of candy he was not impressed haha.

Bunny pancake breakfast! And one of his favorite things! A shirt from Grandma!

This pose?! I don't know where it came from.

Rusty and I got to go out on a date to the Seattle Supercross! It was so much fun, even though it was really cold for a while! We got there a few hours early and got to see some qualifying races and walk around on the lower level, and then we went up to our seats. Our seats were really good and let us see the whole track! The 250s were crazy and the 450s were too. Tomac did awesome and came in second, and Aaron Plessinger won in the 250s! Such good races!

I took Henry on a rainy day to the Reptile Zoo and it was awesome! We went with Bennett, Carson and Amber and it was a nice break from the potty training craziness. There were all kinds of animals and he even got to hold a snake! I wasn't sure if he would like it, but he saw a little girl holding one and then automatically put his hands out and started saying, "Mine?" "Henry's snake?" and when it was his turn he was so excited! Later, he got to pet an iguana thing and he was less sure of that.

We also took Henry bowling for the first time! Rusty and I figured out that the last time that we went bowling was when we were in Idaho with my family, before I was even pregnant with Henry. So... it had definitely been a while and it took us some time to warm up. Ok, who are we kidding. Even warmed up we're not good. But I think Rusty got a strike and a spare and I got two strikes, so not too bad! Henry had a blast, way more fun than I thought he would have!

Henry is just getting to be such a fun boy! It is fun to watch his personality shine through, and surprising too. He can be so sweet and thoughtful, and then turn around and be so sassy! One of my favorite things happened though. We came back from the gym and I heard him making a bunch of sounds in the pantry. I looked over and saw two applesauces on the couch, one for him and one for me. Ahhhhhhh. He kept saying, "Henry's applesauce. Mommy's applesauce. Mommy sit!"

Henry's Highlights

I think I say this every time, but I can't believe that Henry is getting so big! The time is going so fast, and every time I think about it I get emotional. I am trying to soak up every little hug, cuddle, hand holding, and "love you mommy". It also makes it easier to get through the screaming, boundary testing, "no way"s that he does too haha. Henry is turning into a wonderful, hilarious little boy and I feel so lucky to be his mommy!

He is talking SO, SO much! His vocabulary is taking off like crazy and he is constantly saying things to me that I didn't know he knew how. Some words or phrases are really hard to understand and he gets frustrated, but most of the time I can eventually figure it out. I'm surprised by the things that he wants to say! We can actually have real conversations now. One of my favorite things that he says is, "Silly!" He also repeats back things like "Hi buddy" or "Henrito!"
Sings to Della and gives my belly hugs and kisses. Usually when you ask where Della is or who is in Mommy's belly he answers, but sometimes he just looks at me like I'm dumb and walks away. It is probably so confusing for him to think that there is a baby in my belly haha.
Testing boundaries and limits, in more than one way. He is definitely testing obedience by not being obedient haha. He started this thing at the beginning of the month where he will go into the living room and just dump all of the blocks out. After a few times I started telling him not to, or having him clean them up after. He doesn't play with them, he would just dump them out after I cleaned up. So we had a few stare downs and "Henry clean this," "Mommy, no way" moments. But by the end of the month it got a lot better.
He LOVES cars still. He got a little Hot Wheels camaro in his Easter basket, and that and Lightning McQueen go everywhere with him. Even in his pockets while he is riding his bike.

Another way he is testing boundaries is on his strider! He goes up and down curbs by himself and is going so, so fast! He likes to chase Daddy on his bike and practice tricks like wheelies and endos. I have to keep an eye on him because he tries to go down these huge hills at the back of the church. He always wants to ride on grass or dirt if he can.

He is copying us even more. I've noticed little things like shaking an oatmeal packet he copies exactly. He also helps more around the house and really enjoys unloading the silverware tray and putting them where they go.

Potty training! Man, this came out of nowhere. We got him a potty seat but he was so scared of it that we just dropped it completely. Then one day he just told me "Henry pee pee on potty" and I was shocked. Luckily, we had just bought a new seat that we thought would be better and so off we went. The first few days were rough, I was not intending on doing any potty training until after the baby came, but he was so interested and motivated that I didn't want to miss the opportunity. But I was definitely not prepared at all haha. I had no idea what to do, and this is why the first days were so awful. Once we got it figured out a little bit and I talked to my friend, things started to go SO much smoother. Monday and Tuesday were terrible, and then Wednesday afternoon when I had a plan we went and picked out some underwear and I took him potty every ten minutes. I was SO excited when he first went pee! He had two accidents that afternoon, but our floors are all hardwood or tile downstairs so it was ok. Thursday I did every ten minutes in the morning and then gave him a break after naptime, and he did awesome! Only one poop and one pee. Friday was every 45 minutes and he had no accidents, except for pooping twice.

Henry loves to play hide and seek! His favorite place to hide is in the lower rack of clothes in the closet. You have to ask, "Where's Henry?" and then he will pop out to surprise you. This happens approximately 1040923840983 times before he will get tired of it and let you move on. Another favorite thing that he does is that if he decides he wants to go and find something he will hold his index finger up and say "Hehy fine!" and then do his silly run/waddle off to find it. I also am totally in love with how he says his name.

He still LOVES his bike. It is seriously his favorite thing and we go riding almost daily. We get to the end of our little private street and he either chooses right for a little grass park or left for the church parking lot. He will even sit on his bike and ride around in the garage when Rusty is working out there.