Boys and Girls Are Different

For lots of reasons, but in particular, how they play outside. Today we went out in the front yard for a little bit to play, and this is how it all went down.

The boy may not eat fruits and veggies right now, but he sure is a fan of grass. Lots and lots of grass.

Whatcha wookin at? Just eatins some gwass.

Then when I finally put a stop to the grass eating..........
Dats so not faaaaiiir moooooom!!

Never mind, I gots an idea.

What? You says no gwass, not no weaves.

And you didn't says I can't hab a stick too.

No fair!! You never wet me has any funs!

Stop takin my piture! Dis is serious!!

How my life get so sad and bad..........but mosterly just sad.

Mom's so mean.

(Not gonna lie, these last two photos do tug at my little Grinch heart strings)

Meanwhile, this is how little girls play out in the front yard.
What's wrong wif hims? He's a real wreck.

Yup, she stayed on the blanket the whole time (mostly because she doesn't like the grass, and I'm fine with that). Never tried to eat the grass, leaves, sticks, tree roots, etc. Little boys and girls are oh so very different.

And don't worry, Harvey and I still love each other, even though I sometimes make him cry. So mean, trying to keep him alive and well and stuff. Stupid mom.

Final One Year Photo Edits

I finally finished Harvey's one year photos today. I decided some of the edits I did last week looked a tad too "Cullen-esque" (Twilight reference--aka his skin was too perfect and white, ala vampire baby), so I learned some new tricks. I love these. And, I love the boy that's in these photos even more. Enjoy!

I Need a Nap

Man, dropping this morning nap is no joke. For the last couple of weeks, Harvey has simply been opting out of morning nap most days. I'll put him in his bed, he sits in there and plays and talks for about and hour (or more if I have some stuff to do :) ), and then he gets up and goes on about his day until afternoon nap. It's been very simple, really. On the days when he wakes up super early (ie-5:45am), he wants to take a little morning nap. But then, he's a party animal when it comes time for afternoon nap! Yesterday he was awake at 5:45, so I let him take a little morning nap for about an hour. Then during afternoon nap, he played in his bed for 2 1/2 hours, finally falling asleep at 4. Ah, perfect, since that's what time he needs to be getting up from nap. So I let him sleep until 5, and he was still ready for bed by 7:30 last night.

This morning, he woke up at 6. I decided it really didn't matter, and there was no way he was taking a morning nap today. Whew, I miss morning nap! I miss checking emails, blog stalking, facebooking, all the important things I was able to do between 9 and 10:30/11. I miss my down time. It may not sound like much, but it's an adjustment for me for sure. And, a bit of an adjustment for Harvey as well. He was doing so well until lunch time---the time when all little children lose their minds. I was in the kitchen making lunch while MH and Harvey were in there playing with their kitchen toys like they do everyday (cause heaven forbid I should go to another room where they can't see me---pretty sure these kiddos think they're watching me for a living). All the sudden, Harvey decided this wasn't going fast enough, so he started crying. I picked him up, let him see what was gonig on, and then put him down so I could finish. That's when he decided to teach me a little lesson about how lunch time works when you haven't had a nap. He starts screaming, crying, flailing around under my feet. MH is not one to be left out, so she too starts crying. Not to be out done, Harvey takes it to the next level and starts crying harder until he is gagging/dry heaving. Perhaps I'm a little hardened from working with children for so many years, because this does nothing for me. You can just keep on with your little tantrum, and I'll get to you when lunch is ready. Or when you actually throw up, whatever comes first. (Note: I've never had a child actually throw up from crying. I'm really not that mean.) I finally get lunch ready, get everyone in their seats with their lunch, and all is right with the world once again. Not a single tear was shed after that. Kids are funny (ish).

I have a new photography project I'm about to start that I'm pretty excited about. I was blog stalking yesterday, and saw a project called "A Week In the Life". What I'm going to do is pick a week and document every little thing that happens with Harvey that week. You take photos of all the little mundane details in life, keep all your receipts/ticket stubs etc, write down everything you did that day, keep the front page of the newspaper for each day, whatever you want to do, and then make a scrapbook from that week. I think it will be so fun to look back on this in a few years and remember exactly what life was like when we had a little one year old running around. And, it will be so sweet for Harvey to look back and be able to see what he looked like when he was riding in the car, what his play room looked like at our house, see his favorite toys, to know what his daily routine was, read little notes and letters from John and myself. It's just a chance to celebrate every moment in life, the moments you wouldn't necessarily capture on a normal day. I'm not so sure I explained this very well, so for more info check this out http://www.aliedwards.com/2010/04/the-basics-of-documenting-a-week-in-your-life.html And I'll be sure to keep you updated throughout the project. Everybody get pumped up, Seven Days of Harv is coming back!

Look Who's Photoshopping Now

Before
After

Before
After

Before
After
Whew, I finally learned a few tricks!

One quick funny story. As I was working on these photos, I was trying to take his skin and make it a little more creamy. As I was thinking about creamy dreamy skin, I thought about a doll my sister had when we were little. One Christmas when she was 3 0r 4 years old, she got a Cabbage Patch Doll that was from the "Preemie" collection. My parents asked her what she was going to name it, and she said "Preemie the Creamy". And so it was. Just thankful my niece Lorelai was born full term.

Mean Mom.......and Other News

I like to come up with new photo ideas. I feel like we have a zillion photos of Harvey doing all kinds of things, and I try to come up with new moments to capture. You can never have too many photos of your child you know. So I decided to take my camera in with me when I woke Harvey up from nap last week.

Mom, I don't fink my eyes are weady to get up yet.

This was the nap he took after we came home from Dave and Ali's---after one year photos---on the same day as his shots. No wonder he was so darn tired! And, can you believe how brave I was to take his one year photos right after his shots? Gosh, so brave. And humble.

His one year stats:

Weight: 25 pounds 1 ounce (he lost a little weight. Shocking!)

Height: 32 1/2 inches. He outgrew the baby measuring tape, so next time he has to stand up to check his height. And, if he keeps growing like he has so far, he's on pace to be 6' 2" or 3". His height is just off the chart for his weight/age.

Head: Ummmm, biggish normal. I don't have the papers in front of me, so I can't remember exactly. I know it's in the 80th percentile, so nothing too crazy big or freakishly small. It's right on track for his height.

Some other updates:

He's a big time chatter box. He obviously says "dada" and "mama". Within the last couple of weeks he's added "tees" (trees), "shuz" (shoes), and my favorite, "doag doag" (obviously, dog dog). Doag doag is the only one he uses correctly and unprompted. Everything else is prompted and/or thrown in for extra emphasis in the middle of "lasksafncxzf shuz slkrrklblbbbllas tees bubbalaj".

He loves his Thomas the Train and Four Wheeler walk-n-ride toys he got for his birthday. I swear, the Thomas theme song may just be the theme song for our family.

He just started pulling up a couple weeks ago, and he's already trying to climb on everything. The day after I saw him pull up for the first time, he was still all wobbly, but pulling his leg up like he was going to climb. And now he's having all kinds of success. Yesterday he climbed up onto MH's walk-n-ride toy and onto a chair. I caught him as the toy was about to fly out from under him. He's definitely not afraid of much, and he has the bruises to prove it. A little fear isn't such a bad thing there buddy.

One Year Photos

This past Wednesday, Harvey and I went over to Ali and Dave's house in Spring Hill to play for the day. While we were there, I took Harvey's one year photos. Thank goodness Ali was there to keep him safe! Best. assistant. ever. I am still trying to edit them (ie-can someone please come over and teach me how to use Photoshop Elements? Seriously, I know it's not that hard, but I learn best by watching someone else. I'll give you $12. Hard to resist that, isn't it?). I thought I would just go ahead and put up my unedited photos since those are still pretty darn cute. Then you'll be blown away in 12-14 months when I finally learn how to do something on Photoshop. True story.

There will be a second photo shoot soon. After we had him all dressed and the photos were finished, it was decided his white outfit is a tad feminine. I still think it's precious, but I'm always down for another photo shoot with my boy!