~ Our Story ~: FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!!!

You know...I was going through some of the few baby pictures/videos that we have of Shade within the first few weeks/months (sadly, most of his pics/vids have already gotten ruined...long story), and I realized I don't even remember a lot of that time period - it went by so fast! It feels like tomorrow I will be seeing him leave for college (he will be leaving for college...).

So his first birthday! Kellen and I had decided we weren't going to go extravagant...but we still ended up doing presents and a half of a cake (most of which sat on the counter for a week until we ended up throwing it away).

For his presents, I had conveniently collected some $1 books and puzzles as well as some letter blocks and a ring-toss type toy. Then he got some awesome gifts from some other people - THANK YOU!! He was a little confused about the wrapping paper because we usually tell him NOT to tear up stuff. We reused paper for the different presents...he didn't mind :)

-This is what happens when you plan to have a very small celebration for your first kid...what a spoiled little boy!

-The mystery of wrapping paper

-The Puppy

For breakfast, we had some of his favorite - French Toast!
For dinner, we also had some of his favorite - Spaghetti!

For desert, Kellen made him a chocolate cake and put a candle on it, and Shade blew it out by himself! We gave him some, he LOVED it!

-Blowing out the candle and testing the cake...

And as an extra special treat, he got to do one of his favorite things...take a bath!

Some milestones within the last month:

He finally started crawilng on his knees. :)

-Improved Skills

He constantly wants to feed himself. We often have to trick him or distract him in order for one of us to feed him so the food won't go all over the floor (we now have carpet in our dining area...and not enough kitchen space to eat in the kitchen, so this becomes a problem). One trick we found that works, if he refuses to eat his mashed-up version of peas/carrots, etc, we offer it to him with a straw. He seems to like that idea so far. He is not a big fan of the sippy cup (comes out too fast for his liking), but at least he can hold his own bottle now. It took him awhile since he nursed for so long.

-Eating a Tuna Sandwich!

He crawled up the full-length of the staircase to our apartment all by himself the first time he tried!

He now knows what "hugs," "kisses," and "loves" are. When we ask him for one of those, he will tilt his head toward us so we can give him one. He is also at daycare (the Beauchamp's) pretty much 5 days a week now, so we don't get to see him much :( But when one of us comes home, he usually gives us the biggest smiles ever and will give us a big hug, pull away and look/smile at our face, then hug again, then pull away and look/smile at us, then hug again, etc. It is pretty cute. I know I have mentioned this before, but he really likes the "gonna get you" game. He will often squirm and laugh and even crawl away in anticipation of getting attacked. He is so much fun!