Picture Every Hour: Henry's Birthday

I took Henry's birthday off of work so I could soak up the entire day with the birthday boy.  I took a photo every hour to capture the day.

8:00 a.m.-- Up and ready to celebrate!

9:00 a.m.-- Dropping Daddy at the Metro to head to work.

10:00 am -- Gotta get my beauty sleep!

11:00 a.m. -- Snack time!

Henry always puts his feet under the tray while he eats.  So strange, but so cute!

12:00 p.m. -- Grocery shopping! (Yes, I looked ridiculous snapping photos of Henry with my big camera in the middle of the grocery store aisles).

1:00 p.m. -- Helping Mommy unload the groceries

2:00 p.m. -- Playtime in Henry's room!

3:00 p.m. -- More beauty rest!

4:00 p.m. -- Off to the mall to kill time before meeting up with Daddy and heading to Mommy's work social event!

5:00 p.m. -- Tired of Shopping.

6:00 p.m. -- Hanging out with Mommy's co-workers!

7:00 p.m. -- In the building lobby getting ready to head home.

8:00 p.m. -- Enjoying a birthday cupcake before hitting the hay!

9:00 p.m. -- Playing on Mommy and Daddy's bed before snoozing the night away.

I loved getting to spend Henry's birthday with him!  We love you so much Henry.

Twelve Months

 On June 26, 2013, Henry turned one year old!

Sleeping
I'd say Henry's sleep schedule was about the same this month as it was the prior month.  That is, he is finally, finally on a semi-regular schedule and sleeps for predictable amounts of time!  A couple of hours after he wakes up, usually around 9:00-9:30, Henry takes a 1.5 hour or so morning nap.  Then, around 2:00 or 2:30 in the afternoon, he will take another 1.5 hour nap.  At night, he goes to bed by 9:00 now (we're working on inching back to 8:30) and sleeps about 10 hours. 

Eating
Henry ate more and more "big boy" foods this month: chicken nachos, grilled chicken nuggets, french fries, hummus, greek yogurt, and pieces of granola bars, to name a few.  He also tried some red meat (in the form of a hamburger) at a neighborhood party.  There isn't much Henry doesn't like.  We also can take him to restaurants and he will happily sit in the high chair as long as you keep a steady supply of food in front of him!  One funny thing about this category is that Henry makes a funny face when he eats spicy or new foods.  He crinkles his nose, closes his eyes a bit and shivers.  He knows it's cute, because he sometimes does it even when the food is familiar just to see our reactions.

Moving and Shaking
Still no signs of walking independently.  However, Henry stands unassisted for much longer lengths of time now, probably as long as 2-3 minutes.  He does this particularly when he's playing with toys and wants something in each hand to inspect or bang together.  Henry also walks while holding onto our hands, and can do this while holding onto just one of our hands.  He also pushes around his walker, chairs, his tricycle, you name it, so I think he'll take his first steps in the next month or so.

Henry does this really adorable thing we call the "lean in."  He does it to Rowan mostly, but he will also do it to us or to visitors, especially babies.  He crawls up to Rowan, sits up and does a three point turn so that he's facing away from her, and then backs/leans into her.  It's so cute.  She tolerates it amazingly well, which is remarkable given that he's bigger than she is and weighs about 5 pounds more. 

Verbal and Emotional Development
The biggest news here is that Henry officially has said his first words!  He said "mama" at around 11.5 months.  He often says it multiple times in a row, and usually when he wants me to retrieve him from his crib.  Then, towards the end of the month, just before his first birthday, he said "bath" (or 'ba" in Henry-speak) and dog ("da")!  He repeated bath when I said the word while bathing him, and he's said it a few times since.  What's cute is that he has this new toy kitchen that includes a faucet that plays a running water sound.  When he hears it, he says "ba," because it sounds like his bath water running!  And he said dog when looking at one of his favorite books about dogs.  Oddly, he doesn't say it much when he sees Rowan.  But he's said it multiple times when looking at the dog book.

Henry is also chattier than he used to be.  Most of what he says doesn't make sense, but I see him watching me when I talk and I know he's trying to figure out how to repeat the sounds.  He has this "ohhh" sound he makes when he's interested in something.  He does it frequently when we're reading books together, like he's interested in what's on the page.  Henry also loves to blow raspberries.  He did this more at the beginning of the month than he does now.  But he can make some really loud pffft sounds and produce an impressive stream of spit!

Henry's receptive language ability gets better and better.  He will look for the fans when I say their name or look outside if I ask him to.

Other Notables
Henry's stats at one year old are: 23 lbs, 9 oz. (63%), 30.5 inches (75%), and 18.5 inch head circumference (70%).  Above average all-around!

Henry finally started clapping!  I was getting a little worried about this milestone.  But he claps on command now, as well as in response to your clapping or when he's particularly proud of himself!

Henry does a modified form of pointing.  When he wants to touch something and we're holding him, he reaches his arm and hand out to it.  He does this often when he wants to touch the ceiling fan pulls, the windows, or tree branches/flowers outside.

Henry can open his arms wide when we play the "How big is Henry?  So big!" game.  He doesn't do it consistently, but he often will mimic us if we open our arms and sometimes does it on his own.

Henry loves to look at himself in mirrors and brings the mirror, if mobile, or his face, if the mirror is stationary, right up to his face.  He likes to press his lips against the mirror.

Henry is figuring out how to manipulate objects.  He can stack a few blocks and also loves to put smaller objects (such as a small ball) inside larger ones (like a plastic bowl), or to put items in containers that have hinged lids that he can then open and close.  He also absolutely loves to remove all of the items from our pantry shelves.  Sometimes he even puts them back!  And he likes to remove ziploc baggies, one at a time, from the box and leave them strewn about on the kitchen floor.

Happy first birthday, Henry!  We can't wait to see how much you will change in the coming year.

One.

For as long as I can remember, I have dreamed of becoming a mother.  When I was young, I had dozens of baby dolls, all of whom had names, and I spent hours each day mothering them.  When I outgrew the doll stage, I compiled lists of suitable names for my future children (Henry was not on the list, FYI, but most of the names had an early-1990s charm--think Mariah--so that's not too surprising).  And then, as soon as I was old enough, I began babysitting.  But my greatest desire was always to have a baby to call my own.

One year ago today, my dream came true when Henry Cole entered the world.
 
But even on June 26, 2012, I didn't know that being a mother to Henry would be so much better than anything I could have ever dreamed or imagined it would be.

Several people have asked me over this past year whether I "love" motherhood.  And, honestly, the first time this question was posed, it threw me for a loop.  I simply can't imagine not being in love with motherhood.  It brings me more joy, by far, than anything else in the world.  Even during the early days of no sleep and round-the-clock feedings, and despite the fact that I'll probably never sleep past 8:00 a.m. again.  Watching Henry grow and develop into a toddler with a cheerful, easygoing, determined, vivacious personality.  Seeing Mark, the man who had never once changed a diaper or even held a baby prior to Henry's birth, become a devoted, instinctive, wonderful father.  Hearing my son say "mama" and realizing that he actually connects the word with me.  It's all I could have possibly dreamed of, and more.

So thank you, Henry, for making me a mama.  Happy first birthday.  We love you more than you will ever know.

Mommy and Me

I love soaking up as much time with my baby boy as I can.  He won't be this cuddly and snuggly for long!

I'm hiding his pacifier, not doing some weird pose...

Grin!

Ready for His Close-Up

Baby model in the making. 

How precious is this face?!

Eleven Months

 Henry turned eleven months old on May 26, 2013!  Here is what Henry was up to last month!

Hey--look at my top teeth!

Sleeping
After a fairly rough last month due to teething, this month has been phenomenal sleep-wise!  Henry finally, finally takes regular naps of predictable lengths.  About two hours after he wakes up, he takes a nap of about 1.5 hours.  Then, he takes an afternoon nap of about the same length.  Sometimes he'll take a quick cat nap in the early evening, around 6:30 or so, sleeping for 30-45 minutes.  Henry also regularly sleeps 9.5-10.5 hours at night.  He is asleep around 9:30, and he sleeps anywhere from 7:00 to 8:00 generally.  It took 10 months, but it is so nice finally to have a decent sleeper.  Now, I'm worried when Henry's molars begin coming through that this will all go to pot, but hopefully we'll at least get another month or two of rest!

Eating
The biggest change for us this month was that I weaned Henry completely.  It was a gradual process.  My milk supply decreased greatly when I was feeding him only twice a day, and by the beginning of the month I only fed Henry at night at around 7pm.  But after a week or so of this, he would eat for only 4-5 minutes, and I knew he wasn't getting much milk.  Additionally, while he never bit me, I think just the presence of his teeth was causing me some damage, and it was painful to feed him.  So, I decided that one night would just be the last time.  It was a bit emotional for me; Henry could not have cared less.  He was never a huge comfort feeder; I honestly don't think he would have cared if we had weaned much earlier.  So, he is on formula now until he turns a year old, when we can introduce cow's milk.

As far as solids, Henry still eats yogurt and fruit in the morning.  But we have introduced many more table foods to his other two meals of the day.  His regular rotation includes pieces of cheese and bread, black beans, pieces of steamed carrots, peas, chicken, and cut up fruit.  We also have given him parts of our meals in small bites.  He was a huge, huge fan of ground turkey tacos!  He also liked guacamole, quesadillas, macaroni and cheese, and a lasagna bake.

Moving and Shaking
Perhaps the biggest news this month is that Henry can now stand on his own without holding onto anything.  He's probably only done it a dozen or so times, and once he realizes what he's doing, he sits down in a jiffy!  But he has pretty good balance.  He has never attempted to take a step when standing alone.  He does, though, love to cruise around with his walker.  He does laps around the house!  It's too cute.

Henry also cruises along furniture regularly.  He now can walk along ottomans, our day bed, the glider in his room, and various dressers. 

Henry is a master at climbing stairs.  He can scale the stairs from the first floor to the second floor of the house in about 15 seconds flat.  We climb right behind him, of course.  And the scary thing is, he has absolutely no fear of falling down, because he's tried to climb down the stairs the same way he goes up.  Once we carry him down, he goes right back up.  I don't discourage it too much because it's good exercise for both of us!  But we now have a gate that we can put up in front of the stairs to prevent Henry from climbing them, and we also frequently block his access with a large ottoman.

 
Verbal/Emotional Development
Henry has gotten much better at sitting still and playing with toys for several minutes without constantly needing to move onto a different activity.  He'll even let me read him three or four books, as long as they're short, and particularly if they involve textures or pull tabs!

Henry also figured out how to put toys inside of boxes and bins, and how to pull them back out.  He has this one toy that's essentially a large plastic block, and one of its sides has openings in shapes of circles and rectangles.  This side opens with a handle.  Henry will put smaller toys, such as balls or blocks, through the openings, and then pull the handle to retrieve the toys.

Still no words, as far as I can tell, but he babbles to himself all of the time.  And he knows lots of words.  He looks for Rowan when I say her name, and will look out the window when I say outside.  I'm really hoping Henry will say his first word by a year, but we'll see.

Other Notables
Henry now has seven teeth!  Four on top, and three on the bottom.

Henry began a music class this month!  We go weekly, and he learns some basic sign language and plays with musical instruments.  We both have a blast!  It's good for Henry to interact with other babies his age, too.

I am just in love with this stage.  Henry is the sweetest, smartest, giggliest, loveliest little boy.  I feel so fortunate to be his mom!

Stepping Back Sunday...

I realized recently that I never posted the pictures from our maternity shoot revealing Henry's name.  In fact, I don't think I've ever shared these with family and friends (other than my Uncle Tom, the photographer), because we were keeping Henry's name a secret until his birth.  So, without further ado...