The day that simultaneously excited me and put a little pit in my stomach has come and gone- Henry's 1st birthday. I'm always looking forward to the next stage in Henry's development, but it's hard to say goodbye to the one passing so quickly. Saying goodbye to those first 12 infant months is hard, they were amazing and challenging and are behind us now forever. It's the finality of it that is hard for me to accept, not the fact that he's moving on to this next extremely wonderful and fun stage of life. Toddlerhood is going to be a fun ride, I can feel it. I wouldn't really call him a toddler just yet, but we are well on our way. Henry woke up on his birthday (Saturday) with this fire like attitude that pretty much slapped me in the face. The bubbly baby boy we have always known appeared to be no where in sight and instead was replaced by a version of Henry that I am unfamiliar with. If I so much as looked at him wrong he would collapse into tears and just whine whine whine. The kid rarely ever whines like that, and while obviously I realized it would happen eventually I had a moment where I thought, oh please no, please don't let it be like this from here on out. Please don't let the happy bouncy baby disappear with the first 12 months! Eric keeps joking with me that his happy outlook left with his bangs that I trimmed (quite badly). He says he's angry that I gave him a bad haircut! On any given day you can just make the smallest noise or silly face and his mouth opens wide into the biggest grin and he squeals with delight. On his birthday, nothing we did got more than just a little smirk in the corners of his mouth. He was not overly impressed by anything. Despite his straight face through most of the day, it was still enjoyable and we tried our hardest to please him. We took him out to a really fun restaurant for a little family breakfast, which usually is his ideal activity. Food+social situation where he can flirt with everyone + bright colorful artwork to look at is Henry's cup of tea. Of course not this time, and it was made worse by the fact that I tried to get him to wear a birthday hat for three seconds. How dare I, seriously... the nerve. At least he got to enjoy good food (eggs, avocado, reindeer sausage, orange slices)
We then came home for a nap, put together his birthday presents (a tent/tunnel and a wooden dog on wheels to ride on) which he loved. We went shopping for his little friend's first birthday and rode the bikes and cars around the aisles, rested more, and hoped that the next day he would be back to feeling like his happy self. Sadly, he woke up yesterday just as crabby. By afternoon, he was essentially back to the Henry we know so well, and I realized that for his birthday, Henry had been given his 7th and 8th tooth- ouch. They are taking their sweet time pushing through his gums, but I was glad to at least find a reason for his new crab-apple attitude. Hopefully just as soon as they come up, we'll see that big joyful smile again!
It has been such a full week for the little love, and I'm just trying to adjust. Friday afternoon we were sitting in our living room and Henry's good friend the vacuum was in the middle of the room. He just stood up and decided he was going to walk on over to it, and from that moment he's been practicing over and over. He just picked it up so quickly, and it took us by surprise! It was so exciting to see, although I was in no hurry for him to walk. My word it's cute, watching him toddle around waving his arms for balance. He is already turning around on his feet, and he accidentally jumped (and landed) moments after his first walk across the room. He looked a little shocked by that stunt. I am split between the excitement for him to barrel into all of these new and exciting things, and desire for the changes to just slow down a tiny bit! Mama is trying to keep up.
It's going to be a fun year, and I have been given yet another reminder to just breathe, go with the flow, exercise patience and not overreact when things change. (One of the main things learned in first year of parenthood, another post on that soon) I of course had to be dramatic and assume that he would forget that he was a happy, vibrant boy when really he was just feeling under the weather with his teeth (I hope), and experimenting with his growing voice and opinions.
.JPG)
.JPG)
On tonight's menu: Honey Sesame Chicken with rice and sauteed baby bok choy, snow peas, and red pepper.
We then came home for a nap, put together his birthday presents (a tent/tunnel and a wooden dog on wheels to ride on) which he loved. We went shopping for his little friend's first birthday and rode the bikes and cars around the aisles, rested more, and hoped that the next day he would be back to feeling like his happy self. Sadly, he woke up yesterday just as crabby. By afternoon, he was essentially back to the Henry we know so well, and I realized that for his birthday, Henry had been given his 7th and 8th tooth- ouch. They are taking their sweet time pushing through his gums, but I was glad to at least find a reason for his new crab-apple attitude. Hopefully just as soon as they come up, we'll see that big joyful smile again!
It has been such a full week for the little love, and I'm just trying to adjust. Friday afternoon we were sitting in our living room and Henry's good friend the vacuum was in the middle of the room. He just stood up and decided he was going to walk on over to it, and from that moment he's been practicing over and over. He just picked it up so quickly, and it took us by surprise! It was so exciting to see, although I was in no hurry for him to walk. My word it's cute, watching him toddle around waving his arms for balance. He is already turning around on his feet, and he accidentally jumped (and landed) moments after his first walk across the room. He looked a little shocked by that stunt. I am split between the excitement for him to barrel into all of these new and exciting things, and desire for the changes to just slow down a tiny bit! Mama is trying to keep up.
It's going to be a fun year, and I have been given yet another reminder to just breathe, go with the flow, exercise patience and not overreact when things change. (One of the main things learned in first year of parenthood, another post on that soon) I of course had to be dramatic and assume that he would forget that he was a happy, vibrant boy when really he was just feeling under the weather with his teeth (I hope), and experimenting with his growing voice and opinions.
 |
| Last week before the crankies set in. |
.JPG)
.JPG)
On tonight's menu: Honey Sesame Chicken with rice and sauteed baby bok choy, snow peas, and red pepper.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love to hear from any and all of you who read our stories. Please feel free to say hello!