Happy Birthday, Haydon!

Well.  Life got the best of me in terms of the 12 Days of Haydon.  

I assure you, he did live past July.  And we did take pictures.  And it was wonderful.

It's been interesting to re-live in my mind the events of a year ago.  We were told our baby had some signs of distress in-utero.  Despite being deeply committed to a home birth, under the direction of a midwife and obgyn we decided to induce labour, fearful that there may have been something wrong with our baby.  14 hours later, we were blessed with one of the healthiest, happiest children I've ever met.
(More about that here)  

Last night, after he fell asleep, I snuggled him extra long, tears in my eyes as I considered the outcome of the labour I was in a year ago at that time.  The juxtaposition of those fears - some ultrasound indicators that could have meant Downs Syndrome, lack of movement, poor muscle tone - with the glorious and problem-free year we've had overwhelmed me, reminding me of just how blessed we are.

Here's a month-by-month of our boy, from birth to today.

moments after birth

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December - taken 2 weeks shy of his first birthday.

At one, Haydon is a pure delight. 

 He's one of the happiest kids I've ever met.  He babbles, and laughs and "sings" at times. 

 He is walking (almost running at times),and  has 4 teeth.  

He loves to eat bananas, grapes, avocado, cheerios, and rice cakes.  He points and says "MMM! MMM!" when he sees his favourite foods.

Haydon loves to hug.  When I come home at the end of the day he buries his face in my shoulder and pats my back.  He also does this with stuffed animals and dolls (he LOVES!) dolls.

Haydon loves music - he knows which of his toys make music, and will repeatedly press the buttons so that he has something to dance to. Last week, he went crazy for an animated video of  "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas", laughing, squealing and bopping up and down.

Haydon loves books (his mother's son!).  He will often go to his shelf and pull some down, then sit in a pile of books and flip through them.

Haydon loves electronics (his father's son!).  He loves the phone, or a remote control.  He will pick either up, hold it to his ear, and say "Da!" into it, then giggle and pass it to you.  He points remotes at TVs and presses the button.  He would spend all day playing with my iPhone if I let him.

Haydon-baby, we love you so much.  

I can't even imagine how much fun we'll have in the next year as you continue to learn and grow and develop your personality!

It's a privilege to be your Mom! 

12 Days of Haydon - July

Photo blogging every day about your kid is a serious time commitment, just so you know.

Also, my kid is seriously cute.  Just so you know.

I'm enjoying this year in review.  Just so you know.

Enjoying a Canada Day picnic with friends.

Waiting for Canada Day fireworks.  I think he looks like a Cabbage Patch Ewok here...

First time sitting in a shopping cart.

Swimming at Nana and Papa's

Our newest and favourite-ist carrier.

playtime in the backyard with friend Cadance

12 Days of Haydon - May

May.

Mother's Day is in May!

And Haydon's first food was in May.

And I'm sure other good things happened in May but I haven't had the time to mine through my past blog posts and face book stati.

This sling was my mother's day gift.  We like it.
He puked ALL over me seconds after this...

Have I mentioned we like our slings?  This was at church one Sunday.  Mmm.  So cozy.

Victoria Day weekend camping trip with the youth group.  My favourite summer hat.

And, I leave you with a video of Haydon's first solid food...

To quote St. James as we looked over these things...
"I like him.  He's pretty great."

'Tis true.

12 Days of Haydon - month the 5th

April.  

I didn't take many pictures.

Luckly, our talented friend Jeremy Curry did.

(look for more great work from Jeremy later this month...)

These were from Haydon's dedication, April 11, 2010.

our fam at the church

Haydon, with his Uncle Andrew, Nana Smith, and Great-Papa Smith

Ugh, have I mentioned how talented Jeremy Curry is?  Seriously...

I <3 my family.

12 Days of Haydon - March

Ugh, March already?  This whole first year thing goes quick!

March was good.  I started to get into a groove I think.

Also - less pictures for some reason.  Maybe I was busy trying to do things rather than just snap pictures of the boy?  Not sure.

 Toys started to become interesting

My favourite hat and sweater.

Grabbed food off my plate for the first time!

love.this.so.much!

12 Days of Haydon, month 3

February.

This was my FAVOURITE! outfit. 

Hel-LO, gorgeous!

You'd think these people liked him or something...

Is there anything better than snuggling with a sleeping baby?

Five Years Ago...

I married my best friend!

As If We Don't Have Enough On Our Plate...

Remember this guy?

He's coming back. 

'Cause I'm insane.

Funny Face

Do you ever just sit with the camera and keep clicking?

You should sometime.  

The results can be quite humorous.

This is why I got out the camera.  Thought the grandparents could use a pictoral hello.

But then...

  

Love this funny-faced boy so much.

Spending Fast Fail

So, uh, we're not doing so well with that no spending thing.

See, we went to the CNE on Saturday.  James got a special price for tickets through work.  We're on holidays together for a week (James just finished work, I'm about to start) and wanted to do something fun as a family.  So, we went to the Ex.

And the day before, James tried on a new baby carrier.  He liked it.  It's simpler than my wrap.  Comfy apparently.   As we were about to leave Saturday morning, he said "I wish I had that carrier..."  And we stopped at Little Bird before we headed to the train station.  

I'm pretty sure we now own every category of carrier - a pouch sling, ring sling, stretchy wrap, woven wrap and a soft structured carrier.  Oh wait.  We don't have a mei tai.  

Anyway.  We went to the CNE.  With a new carrier.  Which James and Haydon both enjoyed.

                     

And then we walked around the CNE, and saw nice things.

Like books. 

I like books.

A lot.

They were 3 for $10.

I bought 9.

But seriously - 9 books for 30 bucks!?  It was a pretty good deal.  Haydon will enjoy them.  James says if we factor in our admission to the CNE and train tickets, 9 books cost $57.00.  I still say it's a great deal.

But then, there was the steam mop demo.  

And I'd been saying lately that I'd like a steam mop.  I have a kid who spends most of his time on the floor, which means I do a lot of mopping lately.  So, I had just said I wanted a steam mop. 

And then this fancy convincing guy mashed crayon onto a piece of carpet and steamed it out, and I was sold.

I made James watch.

He had just heard about "dry steam" being one of the only ways to kill bed bugs in mattresses and couches , and apparently there's a bed bug epidemic, and so, we need to steam our mattress.

So we bought it.

It was an expensive day.  Especially for people who aren't spending money.  

Sigh.

This week.  This will be the week that we actually stick to our no-spending.  

Squishy Cheeks

I should've been in bed ages ago.  Curse you, Facebook.

I just saw a copy of this pic randomly on the shelf in Haydon's room.

As if he's mine, that gorgeous funny-faced boy.

Almost makes the lack of sleep worth it.

Almost.

Pretty Peaches!

I'm canning this week.  It's SO fun!

We've done pickles before, and they were delicious.  This year I've tried my hand at peaches and tomato sauce.  

And they're yummy.  And beautiful.  I thought I'd share some pictures of the process.  I've been following Jennifer Jo's recipes from Mama's Minutia, who I discovered after her directions for canning peaches were posted over at Simple Bites.  

Here's the recipe I followed.

We started with some beautiful peaches.

And jars, canner, and tools.  When we bought our house, there was a cold cellar full of jars and canning supplies, which we were able to keep, and I'm so thankful!

Don't you just love my counter and backsplash!?  Can't wait to redo this kitchen...

Then I washed and blanched and peeled the peaches - my favourite part!  And look at how they glisten without their skins.  Mmmm!

Notice the hands of St. James who helped me sterilize the jars!

Then sliced them up, packed them into jars, put them through the hot water bath, and voila!

Peachy goodness for the winter...

Except my six jars (I've already given a few away), won't likely last until November...