Harrison's Week of Firsts

Harrison is 1! One! Numero Uno! However you would prefer to say it :) This week has been all about him. Celebrating his life, his personality, his strengths and his progress. We love him to pieces!

First first: PRESENTS! For the first time he opened his own presents.

Nana and Papa (Nathan's parents) have a tradition of getting their kids and grandkids footstools with their names on them. Harrison used it as a platform to jump off of into daddy's arms :) I'm sure there will be many uses for it over the years (I'm already thinking about what a perfect seat it is for time outs :)

Harrison is beyond fascinated with cell phones, he's addicted. So grandma connie got him his very own!

I have been drooling over these child size chairs at Pottery Barn ever since Harrison was the size of a lemon in my tummy. Mom, not knowing my obsession with these little chairs got him one for his b-day! I was so excited!!!

We got Harrison two things. We've decided that as a tradition we would like to get our children a book for every occasion along with one other gift. Two gifts, that's it (the gift other than the book will always probably be a big one, I love gift giving). We got him Love You Forever which makes me cry every time I read it. It might just stay on the shelf until he can read it himself.

We got him this little car that we can push him around in. We got it from a post on Craig's List (We Love Craig's list even more now!).

We know, he's spoiled beyond belief! Our second child doesn't have a chance.

Second First: The Aquarium! We decided to celebrate as a family by taking him to the aquarium the night of his birthday. He loved it. The only problem was that he wanted to crawl around and see everything himself. The pictures aren't that great because of the lighting but here are a few from that adventure.

The above is an example of wanting to be let loose. We're praying that walking comes at 15-17 months... Once he starts walking I think he'll be running. We'll need to get him one of those monkey back packs that are actually harnesses with a leash :) I actually swore I would never do that to my child but yesterday the thought of a minivans practicality actually crossed my mind so who knows what I have the capability of buying these days for functionality's sake.

There was a play place at the end of the tour that he loved!

He loved the slide!

Third First: Facing Forward!

Here is how he has been sitting for the last 3 months.

Here's dad buckling him up to face forward for the first time.

Excited beyond belief!

Fourth First: Birthday party!

We invited everyone in our home group from church and several of our long time friends to Harrison's party. It was so fun to plan and put together! We had it at a near by park so that we could invite a lot of people. The scenery was gorgeous, you might notice the lake in a few pictures. We ended up having about 45 people there. It was so much fun!

Anna Bockmon (age 2) thought it would be fun to push Harrison around in his new car. SO Cute!

I made the cupcakes, Mulberries Cake Shop in downtown Denver made the cake and a smash cake just for Harrison (It's the small one on the right that Nathan is lighting a candle on... Nathan and I had a public argument at that moment, the candle was cute but fire in front of a one year old, not so cute!)

Isn't it pretty? Let's be honest, we had this party so that we could catch up and hang out with all of our friends and get this AMAZING cake!

Fifth First (and the end to the firsts): CAKE!!! SUGAR!!!

Harrison is a bit of a dainty eater. It actually took Nathan's help to get him to put his fingers in it. Even after putting his fingers in, Nathan had to get a spoon and feed him a bite before he started to eat it on his own.

He loved it!

Here is where Nathan and I try taking a cute picture with him and he decides to share cake with his mommy and ends up stabbing me in the eye with cake. My little munchkin!

Here's the good picture, safe from fingers :)

He kept eating it until we took it away. I think we gave him a good 20 minutes with it. You should have seen it though... he rapidly used his little index finger and thumb to grab small bites and put them in his mouth. So cute!

One last memory I'd like to share with you all. I'll remember it until I'm old and grey... 45 of our friends singing happy birthday to our precious little gift from God! It was such a sweet moment that I will cherish always! Even though we don't have immediate family nearby we do have our friends and they mean the world to us!

We wish you could have celebrated with us! We love you all!