One

It has been one whole year since little Henry Thomas entered our lives. It was an early Wednesday morning and I had been up all night with contractions. I never really had contractions with Andrew, so I wasn't even sure if they were real or Braxton hicks, but I knew I was terribly uncomfortable. I was out of bed walking around and staring out the window at a full moon most of the night. Finally, at around 6:00 am I gave up on any chance of sleep and hopped in the shower. I had to go to work that day, my scheduled c-section wasn't until two days later and my office was giving me a going on maternity leave, having a baby, lunch that day. So, I stepped out of the shower and chose a nice maternity dress to wear that day, all the while stopping and groaning in pain doubled over every few minutes.

Ryan proceeded to get up and get in the shower, from the shower he saw me moaning again and asked how often this was happening. I replied, "I don't know." So, after he rolled his eyes and generally expressed that he thought I was crazy, he suggested I might start timing the contractions. I figured this was good advice, so I sat down on the bed next to the alarm clock and took note of the time after another hard contraction had begun, one, two, three, four, ugh another contraction four minutes later. Wow, four minutes apart, I thought, that is actually pretty close. I told Ryan and he urged me to call the Doctor. I was able to get her on the phone relatively quickly and she informed me that I needed to immediately go to the hospital.

What? I'm having this baby in two days, not now. Ryan and I took Andrew to daycare, since it was a weekday and we both called in to work and were at the hospital by 8:00 am. General baby delivery drama ensued, my doctor disagreed with other doctors, nurses etc. about whether to send me home. But, my doctor won and she went to work on scheduling my surgery to deliver that day.

We were absolutely positive that Henry was a girl. So positive in fact that we didn't have a boys name selected when we went to the hospital that day. On several occasions my doctor had slipped and told us we were having a girl, even asking just prior to delivery what we were naming this little girl. Well, we had asked not to find out the sex of the baby, but we knew our doctor had seen ultra sounds that we didn't and we were sure she had made slips ups due to her personal knowledge that we were having a girl. I told Ryan though, just in case, I wanted to know what the boys name would be and we finally agreed on Henry Thomas, though Nathan had always been a top choice.

At 12:34 pm on April 28, 2010, I heard the familiar voice that had announced Andrew's birth, say excitedly, "It's a boy!" The shock on Ryan's face was indescribable I have never seen, nor will I likely ever see again, such a look of surprise and wonder all at the same time. I immediately began to cry when I heard the huge wails coming from my new baby boy. Ryan planted a kiss on my lips and headed over to see our new baby boy. Henry continued to scream with huge lung power, the nurses commented that most babies are not this loud. Apparently, besides screaming the first thing Henry did was pee all over the place. That's my boy! My doctor commented, "see I didn't know whether it was a girl or boy," in defense of her perceived slip ups. Ryan was handed Henry in a swaddling blanket and he brought him over so that I could finally see this little boy I had been hearing. He was perfect. He had beautiful pink skin and brown fuzz on his little round head. I kissed him and of course continued to cry. They took him away again for his Apgar and other tests, while I lay there being sewn up filled with pride and love and joy.

They wheeled me out of the OR and back to recovery where I was able to hold him in my arms for the first time. Ryan brought him to me and said, "I think he's a Nathan." I said, "no, he's Henry. I've been laying on that table being sewn up for 30 minutes thinking about my new baby Henry. He's Henry." And Ryan never brought up that other name again.

Henry was a great nurser right from the start. He also made lots of little grunting noises all the time. We were somewhat concerned, but were told it was no big deal and then decided they were really cute. He also would make a chortle-chuckle sound that he still makes frequently today.

Henry is such a happy baby. People comment all the time about how adorable and happy he is. He loves to laugh and do whatever he can to make other people laugh. I'm convinced he will be the class clown. He loves to blow raspberries, or hum-while-the-fingers-flick-his-lips or say, "hi," in this hilarious whisper that brings smiles to everyone. He also loves it when others make him laugh. He laughs when someone farts or makes faces or anytime his brother does anything.

Andrew and Henry are quite the pair. Andrew has totally stepped up as big brother. He watches out for Henry and loves to entertain him and make him laugh. They are already starting to wrestle and play together and it makes my heart sing to observe these brothers together.

I always think that the first year is the hardest in a lot of ways; the nursing, the lack of sleep, the why is he crying? But, I wouldn't trade all the wonderful parts of Henry's first year for anything. A big part of me is sad to see him growing up and becoming less of a baby all the time. However, he is becoming "Henry" and I can't wait to see his personality continue to form and to see him grow and progress each month that goes by.

Right now Henry can: crawl very quickly, walk a few steps between two people with ample encouragement, open our locking trash can, push open doors and slam them shut.

Henry can say: hi, mama, dada, nono, tickle-tickle, he can also wave hello and goodbye

Henry likes to: play in the toilet, eat dog food and dog water, play in the tub and drink tub water, steal dog bones, take everything out of the kitchen cabinets and leave it on the floor, play with the phone and dial numbers, push buttons on the remote, remove every singe dvd from its storage place

Henry's favorite book: Pat the Bunny, by Dorothy Kunhardt

Henry's favorite toy: the diaper pail or maybe his toy tv remote

Happy 1st Birthday Henry! We love you more each day and we look forward to watching you grow and learn. phbbts