One year ago today…

Happy Birthday Henry! It was quite a big week for Henry – it started off with a Christmas party at one of Eleanor’s friend’s houses. On Tuesday, Henry started doing the “wah-wah-wah” noise that you make when you alternately cover and uncover your mouth with your hand. Then, on Saturday, we attempted to make a gingerbread house, but it was a total disaster. The gingerbread walls were cracked and the whole thing came crashing down on itself. Dada was trying to rescue the structure while Eleanor, Henry and Mom Skyped with Mimi and Papa when all of the sudden Mama shouted – “Dada, look!”. Wouldn’t you know it, Henry was walking! Never mind toys or cell phones or baby monitors, the motivation that got Henry walking was Mimi and Papa on a laptop screen, sitting on a bar stool. Henry proved it wasn’t a fluke by repeating it several times in a row, which gave Dad a chance to grab the video camera.

On Sunday, we started Henry’s birthday with breakfast at Whole Foods. He had pancakes, strawberries and oatmeal. After naps, we knocked out the final family photo shoot for Henry’s first year. Then, it was party time with Uncle B, Breanne, Aunt Sarah, Uncle Jason and Lala coming over for pizza and cupcakes. Henry didn’t show too much interest in unwrapping presents, but he definitely liked playing with them once they were open. We wrapped up the party with a singing of Happy Birthday, and then Henry made sure that the “smash cake” cupcake lived up to its name. He made sure to add a little bit of icing to each person that came close enough to him for a birthday photo .

Eleanor was more than happy to join in on the Birthday festivities. She unwrapped most of the presents, was very excited about all the cupcake eating, and even got an “unbirthday” present – a larger version of Monkey that she was very excited about.