13 Months!

I love this age! Henry is super fun and busy, busy! Some of the highlights of this month are....

-Eating is going MUCH better! He now eats cheese (sticks), crackers, sometimes meat, mandarin oranges, black beans, rice, baby cereal bars, noodles, cheese toast.........among other things. Notice that veggies are not high on the list. Sigh. We will continue to try. He loves anything in a pouch.
-He is a pro at his sippy cup finally, but drops it on the ground EVERY time when he is done with it. I still nurse him one time before bed.
-He tested positive for an egg allergy. He's suppose to avoid eggs altogether (cooked in things, too) for a year and be retested in hopes that strict avoidance will give him the best chance of outgrowing it. So far it hasn't been too bad.

-He took an "official" step last night (3/25)...only with his right foot though! He did it several times and made a circle. It was funny! He was pivoting on that right foot. Once he did make a "shuffle" with his left foot after stepping with his right, so I guess that can be considered as true steps:)
-Then tonight, on his 13 month b-bday, he took "true" steps: standing on his own in front of Steven. Steven said "come here!" and he took 2 steps toward him!
-He is pushing around a walking toy now! He's been doing this for a couple of weeks and is getting more and more steady with it. He is very proud when he does this and grins and grins.
-He loves anything to do with a ball and stick (or anything resembling a stick). He will toss us the ball and we will toss it back. He love to play this. He loves to wield any kind of "stick" around like a wand or a light saber or something.
-He loves to share things....his food, his toys, anything. He extends whatever is in his hand to us to take, and if it is food and we eat it or pretend to eat it, he thinks it is hilarious! 
-Henry is starting to blow kisses. He puts his his hand to his mouth, and we pull it away. He grins and grins! He still gives real kisses, too.
-He gives high fives. His claps are still my fave, though.
-He waves "bye-bye" and "hi". He does this when I just say the words or when we are walking out of a room.
-He loves to put hats (or toys or bowls) on his head. He does it over and over once he starts and is such a ham.

 
-He still just signs more and all done. I have tried "up please" a little, but need to be more consistent. His more sign has gotten more "correct"...it used to just be a clap, but now it is the actual fingers on each hand joined and both hands brought together.
-He says the same words as at 12 months....dada, mama, quack, dog, uh-oh (so much!) and sometimes I think he says "this" when he points at something if he wants to go toward it.
-He has a new "groove" when he dances now. It used to be an up and down kind of motion with the knees and now it is like a side to side hip motion. So funny. Anytime he hears music, he will unprompted start grooving.
-He love to get INTO things now-literally. He crawls into his toy bin, his john deere gator, the cabinets in the kitchen and the bathroom. I have a wrapping paper tupperware that I was working on, and I turned around for a minute and when I turned back again he was sitting in it. He, he!

We can't wait for the next month with you, Henry! You're a sweetie!

Come One, Come All!

Three weeks after the fact....I am posting Henry's First Birthday Celebration pictures! I must admit that it turned out better than I could have hoped! I think I picked up the first circus themed item for Henry's party when I was pregnant with him...the cutest little clown cupcake toppers! I loved the idea of such a classic theme for a birthday celebration, plus I guess my way of coping with my baby turning one was to throw all of my focus into having a fun circus-themed party to celebrate! We had a great time, and I loved commemorating his first birthday. It will be a celebration we will always remember.

So, it's not every grand kid who has a clown for a grandma! Steven's mom did a clown ministry when he was just a baby, and she has kept the stuff for all these years...so, of course I wanted to solicit her "hidden talents" for Henry's shin-dig. She made Steven this clown outfit 30 years ago, and so we HAD to put Henry in it on the day of his party! I am not sure the pictures translate (he was ready for nap time), but he looked absolutely adorable in it!!

Aunt Heather (kid bday party planner extraordinaire) and Layna came a day early to help set up the party and to help Henry play hookie from school on Friday! You can't see it here, but it actually SNOWED the whole day of the party. It was kinda cool to look outside and see it coming down. It was a good excuse to all be inside celebrating. The party crowd was welcomed by a "Happy Birthday" banner...

A "Come one come all, It's Henry's first birthday!" sign...

And a "Step right up" wreath!

The mantle inside had a banner of Henry's monthly picture (including Bunky) and his "favorite things" were on display.

While I found this idea on pinterest and started it with great gusto, I lost steam and Aunt Heather and Steven had to pick up the slack. I'm so glad they did, because it was my favorite detail of the party!

These are the little details that will help me remember my little man at this age.

The party started at 11:00, so we had lunch for everyone. I tried to go circus themed with this, too, and it turned out great!

We had a dessert table complete with cake pops, cupcakes (with those clown toppers that started it all!), circus peanuts (yuck!), turquoise blue M&Ms, and swirled "lollipop" sugar cookies (another pinterst idea). There was plenty of sugar to go around!

We had hotdogs, popcorn, peanuts, nachos, and funfetti dip with animal crackers, too!

Before the crowd arrived, we had Henry meet his grandma all dressed up like a clown! He was a little unsure, but I think it was mostly because he was ready for his nap.

Here he is checking her out! :)

Grandma's talents continue to amaze us...she can make awesome animal balloons AND paint faces! The kids loved it!

My mom and sis-in-law and Henry's three cousins came from TN for the party. Here is Mary Ellen with grandma!

Here are the four grand kids with the clown!

Henry's best school bud Braeden came to his party! His mom Alicia and I teach together, and it is so much fun to watch these 2 boys grow up together. It was really sweet of them to come to Henry's party.

This is how I walk in on them every day at school nursery...two partners in crime! It is no different outside of school I guess!

I set up a "photo booth" to get a picture of everyone at the party. Here is my mom, Marie, Emma, and Mary Ellen. George was at the party, but he is too cool for stuff like this:) Oh, tweenagers! I am SO mad that I did not put Henry in a picture with them, but he was busy playing I think!

Our wonderful church small group friends Jeremy and Sarah (you know they are true friends when the choose to come to a one year old's bday party on their Saturday!). It's neat that they visited us in the hospital when Henry was born, have seen him weekly for his first year of life when we meet for small group, and are now at his first birthday party!

Here's our wonderful Kentucky family who drove all the way down just to help us celebrate. I know they wouldn't miss it. Henry is a BIG deal at their house.:) So sweet!

Cousin Camden with little cuz Henry...this is probably the best pic of Henry's shirt (and it's pretty cute of the boys, too)! I'm not exactly sure where his pants are (!), but grandma is a jack of many trades and whipped this up the night before the party for him. I was going to get one made for him, but the lady had to back out at the last minute, so grandma really came through, and I honestly think I love it more than anything else that could have been made! Simplicity is super in my book!

My amazing, super, wonderful neighbor Robin (who does me too many favors to name) and her 20 month old Bennett who is also one of Henry's best buds! I love watching them interact-so cute!

Our other wonderful small group friends Karen with kiddos Connor and Chloe.

David and Blair are friends of ours through Steven's company. We have hung out with them on and off for the last 5 (has it really been that long!!) years, and they had their little boy Clark just a few months after Henry was born. It will be neat to watch them grow together!

Elizabeth and Lyle are our friends from across the street!

Our church friends the Andrews.  I love the faces in this picture!

Henry's friend Juliet (just a week younger than Henry!) with my church friend Ashley and big sister Bella!

Our neighbors the Chris and Jenn with their son Ethan who is 3 weeks older than Henry! We are looking forward to some summer play dates with these guys!

Grandpa and Peggy came from TN to celebrate, too.

 

 

 

 

Don't be fooled. This is just him eating a Cheerio. No cake for him! The cute smash cake that Aunt Heather made for Henry remained un-smashed. We even put his finger in the frosting and put it in his mouth, and he just fussed. I think he wanted out of his highchair! I wish I had gotten a picture of the crowd from where we stood. Everyone gathered around to sing to Henry, and it was so sweet to see all the family and friends who came to help us celebrate our little guy.

I probably took 20 pictures of Juliet and Henry playing, but they were too busy to BOTH look at the camera at the same time! This is the best I could do...pretty cute of them looking at each other, though!:)I wonder what they are saying to each other in baby language?

When I realized how large our crowd was going to be and that we could not go outside, I decided it would be smart to use the garage for extra space. We set up some space heaters, chairs, and games in there. Here is Aunt Heather, Layna, Grandpa, and Peggy in the garage.

In the garage we had ring toss (seen here), a duck pond, one corn hole board, pin drop, and another bag toss game. Plus we put the riding toys out there. The kids seemed to have a fun time!

Also in the garage we had a cotton candy maker! Uncle Jimmy is the owner and sole operator of the machine. Thanks, Uncle Jimmy!

Cousin Kaia took care of the duck pond for us! We put all the cousins to work out there I think!

We asked for no gifts from friends, so once they all left we opened some family presents. Here Henry is with both of his grandmas.

Grandpa gave Henry this awesome John Deere gator which he loves (if you can't tell by the look on his face!).

One more picture of our cute little one year old clown.

And one  more of our little family. Happy first birthday, Henry. We love you so much!

12 Months Old!!

Our sweet boy is officially not a baby any longer! On February 26, 2013 Henry turned ONE! This year has been one of firsts and it has truly flown by. On his birthday, we went to school like normal except Henry wore his bday shirt and use his bday bib while eating and got lots of attention! I also gave my students pixie sticks in celebration. They have been SO excited about Henry turning one! That afternoon we opened cards and his gifts from us, then went to Chick-fil-A where it happened to be kids eat free night, so Henry got his first kids meal. He ate like one fry, spit out the chicken, but sucked down the applesauce pouch and took his milk from the straw like a dropper:) He thinks that's so fun. He got lots of phone calls, texts, and face time calls, too, from family. Everyone remembered his special day! I attempted to take his 12 month photos, but it it just getting harder and harder to do! He moves way too much. I will put what I got below, but I don't think they do him justice!:)
I will attempt to be brief on all his current details, but it is difficult!
 

Stats: As of 2/28
Height: 29 3/4 inches=50%
Weight: 20lbs4oz=35%
Head Circumference: 75%

Sleeping-Same! Great! Sleeps through the night, wakes at about 6 or 6:30, naps at 9:30 for anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 hrs then naps again around 2:30 for another 1.5-2 hrs. He sleeps with a sound machine and rolls around in his bed on his own before falling asleep. I sway him some, but he usually just needs to do it on his own.

Eating-Well, this is still an interesting game. I have just recently cut out all but 2 feedings and introduced whole milk in a sippy for those feedings instead, and it has gone way better than I expected. Weaning him has been more sentimental for me than I thought it would be. I will miss those times with him, but I am also ready for the next phase of being able to leave him for a night, etc. That being said, I think that cutting back on his feedings has helped his appetite some. He is still a picky eater, and yogurt, cheerios, and any fruit or fruit/veggie pouch is accepted. He likes goldfish and most carbs, but any type of fruit or veggie (like peas or bananas or peaches, etc) that we put on his highchair tray he just plays with and pokes at and will not actually put in his mouth. Once he decides he does not want something, he is extremely adamant about it and shakes his head no, no, no and swats at whatever it is. Ugg. So frustrating!
He eats cereal (oatmeal, fruit, apple juice or milk) for breakfast at 8:30, lunch at around noon, and dinner around 6 with snacks in between. We let him try whatever we are eating for dinner from our fork, and depending upon his mood he will try whatever it is, but he still does not truly make a meal off of something like that. He does ok with whole milk in a sippy, but he does not chug it. Me mainly just entertains the idea, then drops it on the ground and says "Uh-oh".
On a bummer of a note, the day before his first bday, I gave Henry a scrambled egg. He only ingested a tiny piece, but the second bite got on his face and he broke out. We had to call the doc and rush to get him benedryl, and it went down with that. The pediatrician wants him to be tested for allergies, so we are going next week. I SO hope it goes well.

Playing- Oh, this is the best! Henry is such fun these days! He is super cuddly and lays his head down on us and Maggie all the time, rolls around on the floor (wallers we call it), kicks his legs, etc. He also attempts to give kisses now-you know the ones: open mouth, drool, funny placement. The ones that only parents really think are sweet. :) He is an excellent crawler, but he has not really shown much interest in walking. We have not pushed it, but I think one day he will just take off. He cruises everywhere and is into everything; still loves to empty drawers and splashing during bath time. He loves books and has started pushing trucks around some.
Henry can say "Mama", "Dada", "Dog", "Uh-oh" and when asked "Henry, what does the duck say?", he is very consistent with "Quack". When asked, "Where is my nose?" he points to my nose and grins. He imitates a lot of noises we make like "grrr", and he has the funnies "courtesy" laugh that I have to get on video someday! It is so cute and gets us laughing so hard for real, then he does his fake laugh even more to try to join in with us all the more. Precious!
He is still SUCH a ham when we are out. He makes eyes at whoever is nearby and grins, shys away, grins again. He has what we call his "scrunchy face" that he makes all the time when he's being silly. The boy does not lack in the area of personality, let's just say that.

I am honestly in shock that this year is over. It has been such a joy, and we have loved each minute of it.  It makes us look forward to what is in store for the year to come!

We love you so much, Henry mouse. You light up our life!