Quick January Thought

Last week I gave Wally his second hair cut.  I just trimmed up the top and the sides, which were starting to get in his eyes and look a little fly-away.  Of course I was doing this while he was busy eating lunch, so I had to move quickly while he was at the "I'm a little annoyed with this but not enough to take my attention completely off the buffet at my fingertips" stage.  After taking a good look at him when I had finished, I was really taken aback with how much that little baby face is melting away.  In it's place is the face of a curious little boy.  He still has all these wonderful little expressions that always made me wonder what's going on inside that little head.  But at the same time, now I can start to see what really is going on.  Like when he rounds the corner into the kitchen and spots Hazel's water dish - now I recognize the little grin that says "I'm gonna dump that water as fast as I can before Mom takes it away".  Or when he's tired and ready for a nap but still wants to play, I can see it in his upturned eyebrows.  Or my favorite, when he's really deep in thought while playing and purses his lips like a little duckie. I think it's so true that as a parent you just think you're kid is the most beautiful, most talented, most perfect angel in the world.  And he is....to me at least!

Here are a few pics I could find where you can really see his face (couldn't find a good one in October):

Wally in June

Wally in July

Wally in August

Wally in September

Wally in November

Wally in December

Wally in January (taken 2 days ago)

Birthday Video and Follow Up

Are we really almost a month into 2012?  What happened to January?  The weather this month has been so out-of-whack that I feel like true MN winter didn't really hit until about 6 days ago when we finally got a string of sub zero days and some sleety snow.  Yesterday I shoveled the walkway for piano students for the first time this winter.  I remember doing this several times last winter when I was full term, so that must have been December...

So anyway, we had a wonderful celebration a few weeks back for Wally's birthday.  Our little guy is officially a toddler!  Every day he's looking less like a baby and more like a little man. We threw Wally a party at our place with family and neighbors.  I was really surprised how much work it was for me to put together a 2 hour party.  I think it took me half the week to clean, decorate, cook, bake & decorate 2 cakes.  And this will probably be the easiest birthday, I'm sure it only get's more involved from here.  It was completely worth it and I had a great time.  Wally got some wonderful gifts.  Lots of toys, PJ's, books, and a little cash for his savings account at the local bank here in Mound.  I put together a cute little video of "birthday highlights" below (I've never put video into this blog so I'm not sure if this is going to work!)

Our second round of celebrations was a general birthday party for the friends in my Mama group.  That was really fun!  So neat to see these little babies that are all growing up so quickly!  So many developments.  A couple of the boys were already walking, and all were very active eating and babbling and generally taking things away from eachother.  Sippy cups were the favorite, and I think there were about 4 different sets of lips on Wally's glass.  It was the most entertaining afternoon I've had all month.

Here is a pic of our party last weekend paired with pic from our class last year.  We've come a long way Baby!

Amma Mama Birthday Party Jan 2012

Last Class of Amma Mamas in March 2011

Wally's Birthday Part 1