St. Patrick's Day

We don't really get into St. Patrick's day in our family.  I personally don't love it because if you try to pinch me I'm going to deck you.  Green or not, don't even try it.  However, people do have a tendency to pinch those that don't wear green and so I made sure John Henry was prepared for the day.

No one is going to pinch this sweet baby!

Third Time is NOT the Charm

Every once and a while I try to be creative.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.  My recent attempt failed miserably.  Let me explain.  Jay and I wanted to share some good news with family last weekend and we decided to do so using John Henry.  I ordered a special shirt for John Henry to wear to dinner with Jay's parents and the Santivañez crew.  We made it halfway through dinner and no one noticed the shirt.  I couldn't take it anymore so I put John Henry on the table told everyone to look at how cute his shirt was.  They got it then.  

The next day we skyped with my parents.  Again John Henry wore the shirt.  And again my parents didn't say anything.  When I tried to hold him still in front of the computer they still couldn't read it so I had to tell them what it said.  

Later that night my mom came over to babysit.  Poor John Henry was still in the shirt.  And for the third time there was no comment about it.  I had to hold him down so she could read it.  

The first, second, and third attempt to share our news flopped big time.  Now you could argue that the restaurant was dark, it's hard to read anything on the shirt of  14 month old that never sits still, and it's even harder to read something on a blurry computer screen.  However, it was still a flop.  

I don't know if John Henry will ever wear the shirt again.  I think we've all begun to loath the shirt.  So in case it never makes another appearance we took a picture.  I'm sure it's easier to read now since he's still, the lighting is bright, and we've zoomed in on the words.

Coming October 2012

Dog Collar

Have you ever seen that commercial with the grandson and the dog collar?  You know, the one that says don't have a grandson with a dog collar?  The one for Direct TV that starts with the man getting angry and smacking the couch in frustration?  Well John Henry has started to smack things in frustration.  He smacks a toy, the dog, us, or even himself when he's upset.  So in honor of the commercial, here is our son, in a dog collar.

Feel free to call child services.

Happy Love Day

I love Valentine's Day.  I think I'm one of the few people that actually likes it.  I don't think it was manufactured by the greeting card companies and I don't think it should cause unnecessary pressure for gifts and grief if you aren't in a relationship.  But hey, that's just how I feel and I think I'm in the minority.  I also know that John Henry will make up his own mind about the holiday but until he does, I'm taking full advantage.  

I decided that John Henry would dress up for the occasion.  We borrowed Wade's tux and it was a hit.  John Henry passed out roses and Valentine's to his teachers.

I quickly learned that John Henry should not hold the roses.  He wanted to pull the petals off.  No sir.

Please notice the tennis shoes. 

He really enjoyed running through the halls.  Tux or not, he was moving.

Later that day his class had a party and I was able to attend.  He had a great time and loved the fact that he could consume as much sugar as they put in front of him.  All in all, I think he really liked it!

Tasting his first Valentine's cookie.

The kids in his class were divided into two tables.

I still can't believe that John Henry sits at a table and not in a high chair at daycare.

They each had special hats for the party.

Guzzling juice.  It was the first time he had tasted juice and boy did he love it.

New Year, New Look

It's no surprise that John Henry is constantly changing.  His looks, his actions, his "tricks" are changing weekly.  A few months ago he had no hair, green eyes and his favorite trick was patty cake.  A few weeks ago he had a little more hair, hazel eyes, and his favorite trick was dancing.  Now it's a new year and apparently he needs a new look.  Yes he has more hair and yes his eyes are changing to light brown.  But that's not the look I'm talking about.  The look I'm talking about is the look that he gives to EVERYONE.  You can smile at him and he'll give the look.  You can tell him NO and he gives the look.  He'll even give you the look when he falls over something or his toy is caught and he can't get it out of a jammed space.  The pictures below don't do it justice but at least it will give you a taste of what we see at least a 100 times a day.

7,144 Pictures

I was curious to see how many pictures we've taken since John Henry was born.  So I counted them up.  The total, from the day he was born, to his first birthday (excluding trips/events where he was not present) is 7,144.  Yes, we've taken over 7 thousand pictures since our child came into the world.  I love having all of those pictures but it's almost paralyzing when I'm trying to pick just a few for a blog, card, invitation, etc.  I'm currently trying to do a picture book of John Henry's first year.  With so many pictures to choose from it's taking some time.  However, I can sum up his first year with 12 pictures.  We took one picture, on the 16th of every month, in the same place.  So take a look at John Henry's first year.  It's been the best year of our lives.

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

12 months

Toddler

We were recently told by family members that they see certain two year old looks and behavior in our one year old.  We agreed but also took it as a joke.  Apparently it's not a joke and John Henry really is a toddler and not a baby anymore.  I say that because today when he was picked up he had a Toddler/Twos Daily Report instead of the Infant Report sheet we've seen everyday.  John Henry spent 6 hours today in the Toddler Room.  He had breakfast, lunch and snack there.  He also took an hour and a half nap on a little mat.  A LITTLE MAT!!!  Not a crib.  It blows my mind and I'm still thinking about how that's possible.  I'm a little sad and excited at the same time.  Sad because he's quickly moving away from all things baby and excited to see him growing and doing new things.  We were told that his transition to the toddler room has officially started and in two weeks he'll be there full time.  I think it will take me at least two weeks to wrap my head around the fact that he's sleeping on a mat...

New Years Resolution

So again I'm writing that I'm behind.  Not a good sign for the first of the year.  I've drafted a lot of  postings in my head but none have materialized on the this blog.  I will get it all posted before the end of February.  That's my New Years Resolution.  They won't come in any order and they'll be posted by date so it may get a little confusing.  But they will come and to keep myself on track I've created the list below:

• 12 month update
• Christmas
• New Years