Henry's first haircut...

My very gracious hairdresser agreed to come to my house to give Henry his first haircut. I had originally scheduled it this way so that both sets of grandparents could come and watch, but unfortunately, my parents had other plans, so it was Grandpa Bob & Grandma Sharon who were able to attend. Henry was initially very upset with the whole haircutting process, but eventually seemed to warm up to it. I didn't want a very drastic change, just a good trim...especially around the ears and on top. I think it turned out perfectly.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

It's hard to tell in this picture, but his hair is shorter and much more manicured. He even got a certificate of first haircut completion for his baby book. A fun memory to be sure!

One...

Happy Birthday Henry!

52 weeks...

With stuffed animal:


52-week highlights:

• Henry is beginning to shake his head when we say "no".
• In the mornings, right after we say good-bye to John & close the front door, Henry will immediately walk directly to the front window and watch John walk to his pickup and drive away. It is just about the sweetest thing I've ever seen.
• Henry seems to whine a lot lately. Not really my favorite thing, but it comes with the territory I guess.
• Henry really likes to play with my kitchen utensils. I've taken to putting a few small blocks in a plastic mixing bowl and letting him "stir" the blocks with one of my wooden spoons. If he's in the right mood, this can occupy him for a good 15 minutes.
• Henry is going to bed between 7:30-8pm and waking up between 6-6:30am.
  
• Naps this past week were terrible. If anything, Henry is a consistently inconsistent napper. Drives me nuts!
• Henry got to play with Miss Suzanne's toys for the first time today, and boy did he love them!
• Henry's favorite thing is playing with daddy. I hope this remains true for a good long time. (I think playing with Henry might be daddy's favorite thing too :)
  
• Henry still LOVES pears!
• He is never still...ever.
• He is into everything.
• He likes to be held...especially when I am trying to make breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

**This is the last weekly photo post in this series. I plan to take monthly photos on the same blanket and with the paper plate through his second year. After that...who knows?**

One year ago today...

...I looked like this:



And my day went like this:

• 7:30 am- Final ultrasound & NST appointment. Confirmation of scheduled induction by doctor.
• 10:00am-Checked into birthing center.

• 11:30am- 5cm dilated but not a contraction to be found...rupture of the water bag results, and was thought to be sure to carry me into labor nicely...
  
• 12:30pm-Pitocin started (The first of 3 rounds given...)
• 3:00pm-Contractions start with great force & almost no relief.
• 6:00pm-After 3 hours of intense labor the nurse tells me that I'm a whopping 6 cm...all that work for 1 cm. Nice. I break down and get an epidural.
• 6-9pm-sleep
• 9:00pm- 10 cm!
• 9:30pm-start pushing
• And yeah, Henry's birthday isn't today...it's tomorrow...I spent 2 hours & 40 minutes pushing to get that son of mine out. But oh was it worth it!
  
• So, even though his birthday is the 29th of April, I think it appropriate that I spend today remembering my experiences on the 28th. What a day!
  

Cloth diaper...

...removal. Why did I think it was a good idea to let Henry wander around the house without pants?

Felt Playhouse (finished!)

I did it! I finished Henry's 1st birthday present. I'm feeling pretty proud of myself right about now, this was a lot of work (fun work, but work none-the-less). To complete the playhouse I took my four panels and sewed them together to make a slipcover for our card table. This way it is easy to pull out when Henry wants to play, and equally easy to put away when he doesn't. I can't wait to give it to him on Thursday! (Felt Playhouse inspiration found here).

Full home tour below:

FRONT:

TOP:

Flowers in flower pot (with pipe cleaner stems):

Mailbox (I still need to make Henry some felt mail):

GARDEN:

Corn:

Apples (secured to tree with velcro):

Carrots:

WINDOW/ANIMAL PANEL:

Drawn curtain:

Owl:

Bee (for my Wee Bee):

Bird (silhouette found here):

Baseball panel (with baseball card pockets):

I have plans to make Henry a harvest basket, but his rocket bucket will have to do for now.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HENRY...on Thursday!

Outside...

Henry's love for the outdoors has been well chronicled on this blog. He's most content when outside, which is perfectly fine with me. Today, while I watered my garden & scraped peeling paint off the garage, Henry milled about. His activity of choice was playing with the hose (& the water puddles the hose created). A great day for Henry!

My garden...

flowers

basil, peppers. lemon thyme, zucchini, & beans

tomatoes & squash

Felt Playhouse (part 4)...

This is my new favorite panel! Although working with felt is incredibly fast & fun, nothing beats the color & pattern found in fabric. This is the only panel that isn't all felt, and I like it that way. Hopefully Henry will too. This panel doesn't offer much in the way of interaction, but it's nice to look at, I think. The curtain can be raised & lowered, so hopefully Henry will have fun peeking through the window. Next playhouse post will be the finished product! WooHoo, I can't wait!

51 weeks...

With stuffed animal:


51-week highlights:

• Henry can now stand up all by himself. He doesn't need to pull himself up on anything to get to his feet.
  
• I rarely see Henry crawl these days. I'm so glad we captured his crawling on video because it's almost completely gone!
• Henry loves to play with blocks. He can now stack 3 big wooden blocks on top of each other.
  
• Henry likes to bob his head up and down for some reason. We really need to try and capture this on video, it's pretty cute.
• Henry loves pears. I'd classify them as his current favorite food (besides bread).
• Naps are currently still going well (Wow, 2 weeks in a row of good naps...I don't think that's ever happened before!)
• I've noticed that when my allergies start to act up (as they have currently been doing) Henry will also develop a runny nose, start sneezing, and have watery eyes. I'm hoping he has not inherited my allergies, but signs are pointing that way at this point. We'll see.
• Henry likes to copy John and I. If John taps the table, Henry will tap the table. If John takes the napkin and wipes his face, Henry will take the napkin & wipe his face. Pretty cute.
• Playing with John has to be Henry's #1 favorite thing to do. When John comes home for lunch or walks in the door after work, Henry will always stop what he is doing and immediately head towards John. As has been the case since Henry's very first chuckle, there is no one that can make Henry laugh harder or longer than his daddy.
  

An alphabet bib...

...for Henry's upcoming alphabet party. I'm a bit annoyed that I didn't pay more attention to my fabric placement. I purposely chose not to place an "H" in the middle, but by attempting to hold on to the randomness of the letters I ended up with a HUGE "N" smack dab in the center. I'll either add a pocket, some sort of applique or just decide to make another in order to remedy the situation. Not sure yet. Oh well, despite the large "N", it's still pretty cute.