One Whole Year

How can it be that I have had my sweet Henry Boy for one whole year? And why is it that when I finally understand just what it is that brings me true joy in life, time kicks it into high gear and speeds right along? This past year of life has been a level of joy I never knew was possible to obtain.
To celebrate Henry's first birthday, I felt a little silly throwing a party when I knew he wouldn't know the difference, but when I found out about a place in Provo where you can rent puppies, I knew that I just had to rent Henry a couple of puppies. It was so fun to get family and friends together and see just how much Henry is loved! We have been blessed beyond our wildest dreams with an abundance of friendship. Henry is a lucky boy to have such an endless amount of love.
Henry is doing so many cute things lately that it really is hard not to be his biggest fan. I've written a few things in his baby book, but since I haven't given an update on here in a while, I will use this first birthday milestone as a way to remember all the cute new things he is doing now before he moves onto even newer things.

Henry crawls all day long and loves to explore and touch everything. The night lights I have plugged in around the house are a particular favorite of his to track down and unplug.

He loves to imitate the things we are doing and has become so interactive and fun. If I am talking to someone on the phone, he loves to have me hold the phone up to his mouth so he can squeal and babble into the phone. If his cousins are laughing at something silly, he is pushing out a laugh to fit right in. It is so great to see him doing so many social things and to see them come so naturally.

Books. Henry has a serious thing for books. He has for months now, and it makes me so happy that he enjoys them so much. He has yet to go through the rip out pages or just chew on books stage. He loves to pull them off the shelf, turn the pages, and "read". He is particularly fond of books with animals. He will point to a book with a cow in it and say "moo" to get me to read it to him. For church and long car rides I can generally just bring books and that will keep him entertained.

Henry is still a great eater. The other day he chowed down asparagus,tilapia, and scalloped potatoes with us, and just like his mama, he loves pasta and anything bread. He drinks great from straws and loves a smoothie in the morning with me.

Henry's communication has really taken off in the past month. I am constantly amazed at everything he understand and all the words and sounds he is picking up. Just the other day we noticed that he can follow really familiar one step directions: "Go get the ball"

The sounds, words, and signs Henry are using:
Signs: more, all done, please, dog, cat, elephant, bird
sounds: cow, dog, cat, elephant, lion, car, and monkey
words: Ball, Mama, Dada, bye bye, no no

Henry has recently started dancing along when he hears music and will sing in a soft, high voice singing "nanana". He also loves to wave hello and goodbye to anyone and everyone and well as blow kisses. It's truly hard not to just give him everything he wants when he does that.

I can't believe how much he has changed and grown in the first year of life, and am continually in awe. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this next year will slow down, even just a little bit.

What did you do today?

The other day I had a friend drop by for a few minutes. She caught me at a less than glamorous moment (smudged make up, dirty house, no bra, yoga pants, and a long list of other embarrassing bullet points I try not to think about). I know this friend wasn't judging me and I enjoyed our little conversation as we chatted and I pushed a ball back and forth with Henry. She asked me a few questions about motherhood and than said "So this is what you do each day?"

I will admit, at that particular moment I wasn't giving the stay at home mom gig a great image. Even so, I could tell that thought of pushing a ball back and forth and saying "Yes, the cow says Moo" for the 7,000th time looked terribly boring and mind numbing to such a beautiful and inquisitive mind like hers.

Since that little interaction I have been trying to put into words for myself what exactly it is I "do" everyday. It only took Ronnie a few times of asking "So what did you guys do today?" before he quickly learned that it is the worst possible question you can ask a stay at home mom. You see, when I try and answer that question it comes out sounding so boring and unimportant. I hear myself rattling off words like nap, lunch, clean, and play. If I try and go into further detail it gets even more depressing because there are only so many times you can say "we did the animal puzzle and read books" before it hits you just how many times you've done those things. It's so hard to put into words what we have "done" each day because what we are really doing is hidden beneath all those boring explanations.
Yes, there were messes at breakfast, and lunch, and dinner. There were toys pushed across every square inch of floor and diapers messier than you can imagine. Somewhere in the mess of toys, and repetition of animal sounds for the millionth time, something that can only be explained as magic or a miracle happens. That glorious little brain of Henry's make beautiful sense of the world.

So yes, to many it looks like we are stacking the same old blocks, and knocking them over...again, but when I spend each moment of the day doing these things, I see that it is SO much more than that. I see that amazing brain of his connect words and sounds with objects, understand balance, and cause and effect. I get to see his face light up when he rediscovers that ugly little stuffed lamb that was hiding at the bottom of a basket, and watch as he kisses and hugs it because thats what he has learned to do when we love something. Watching Henry grow isn't simply just looking for milestones and checking them off as soon as he has accomplished them. I get to watch in awe as he observes, practices, tests, repeats, and discovers who he is, one messy day at a time.