Henry and I rang in the New Year with a few fireworks.  Henry still likes them and even got to do his first sparklers! He is definitely into it.

A happy and prosperous New Year to all!

Henry gives chopsticks a try.  He got a real kick out of them and actually managed to eat some of his food with them, although not with correct form.

I can't believe I forgot to post this last week.

Henry's really getting a kick out of the baby pool in the backyard.  Maybe we'll go for the big pool next summer.  Or this one, there's still time!

The banter in the background is Car Talk.  Part of the weekend rituals, you know.

This is from right after Karen and Henry arrived in Austin. We were still living in a short-term apartment at the time, but that doesn't me you can't have fun!

Henry had his first haircut on Monday!  Here in Fayettville, AR, all the Paynes have been going to Mr. Mac for all of their styling needs for a while now.  So we decided that we would get Mac to do Henry's first haircut.  It started out smoothly enough, with Henry mostly intrigued by the process.  But once Mac got to cutting the hair around his ears it took a nose dive for the worse.  Henry was definitely not a fan of the combing and snipping around his ears and he let everyone know.  However, Karen and I were able to wrangle him long enough to complete the job.  Now Henry looks like a proper little boy (no more hippy hair)!

Today is Henry's First Birthday!  Hooray for Henry!

Here are some pictures from the party.  I'll post a bunch more tomorrow!