One Year Old!!

Little Dude is one year old!! He has had quite the birthday extravaganza the past week. On his actual birthday (Tuesday) we had family over for cake at the house. He got another mountain of presents. What a spoiled little boy!! But I think he deserves it. After all, he is the cutest little guy!

Since it was just family over, I let him go crazy with his cake at this party. Think he enjoyed it a little??

Then yesterday, he decided that since he was one, he is a big boy. He took his first step!!!

Little Dude had his 12 month check up today at the doctor. He is tall and skinny (as if we didn't already know that). The doctor said that Little Dude is advanced in his verbal development. They expect babies his age to say one word. He says at least 4! He identifies mama, dada, dog (da) and says hi. I imagine some of this is because I talk to him non-stop! Overall, the doctor said that he is very healthy and will be running any day!

First Birthday Party

Little Dude will be one tomorrow!! We had his birthday party this weekend and it was so much fun! On Friday, we took Little Dude and my "niece" to Gatti Town for a fun night out. It was Little Dude's first time at one of these types of places. He had fun and enjoyed the pizza. I told him to say "Cheese" and this is what he did:

On Saturday, it was time for his party! He woke up from his afternoon nap just in time for the party. When I got him up, I said "Yay yay yay! It's time for your party!" He started clapping!! He hadn't clapped before, so this was very exciting! Here he is clapping while his Poppers holds him and Nana watches.

Little Dude loves balloons. He kept pointing to them and wanted to touch them.

Little Dude got a couple of cards that sang songs. When I opened them, he started dancing in my lap. Here he is enjoying the Tigger song that his Uncle T and Aunt M got him.

Little Dude got so many gifts! Here he is riding in the Cozy Coupe that he got from his Uncle J & Aunt K.

I made a football cake for him to eat (without eggs, of course). He made a big mess and really enjoyed it!

On Sunday, we went to a Rangers game with Nana, Poppers, Uncle T and Aunt M. Since we were there celebrating his birthday, he got a birthday bag and they put his name up on the big screen! He had so much fun with the batting helmet that came in the birthday bag!

And one of the most exciting moments came when I caught a foul ball!!! I was so excited and danced around like an idiot. I was so excited to get a ball for him for his birthday! You can see the excitement!

Tomorrow, we are having cake (again) with family. He has been thoroughly enjoying all of the festivities, presents and attention. He's only a *little* spoiled.

Adventurous Week

We've had quite the week here! We finally finished the backyard re-do and it looks so good! One step closer to being ready for Little Dude's birthday party this weekend. We are so excited to have a big party to celebrate him turning one! It sounds like we will have quite the large crowd. It should be a good time.

Little Dude found a new "friend" this week. He was in his playpen playing with his toys and I noticed that he got really quiet. I had been folding laundry, but stopped. Silence is usually not a good thing when you have a little one who is usually very busy. I peeked over and saw that he had something in his hand. It was a LIVE cricket. He was carefully dissecting the cricket by pulling the legs off. I screamed like a little girl as I scooped him up. Gross gross gross! He is definitely all boy!

My best friend from my hometown let her oldest daughter (who I call my niece) come to spend the week with my parents and with me. On Tuesday, we had a big pool party at Nana's house. Little Dude, me, Grammy, Aunt K, Cousin R, my niece, Little Girlfriend, her mommy & Nana were all there. We had such a fun time playing in the pool! Here is Little Dude playing on a shark toy that Grammy brought.

After our fun day on Tuesday, we decided to head to the store to get some stuff for Little Dude's party. While we were there, part of a pallet of 12 pack 20-oz sodas randomly fell over and one of them landed on Little Dude. He thankfully ended up only having a few bruises, but we are now dealing with the store and their claim people to get the medical bill paid for (they assured us immediately they would cover all medical costs). Many people have said he is either a superhero in training or he has some fast flying guardian angels. I tend to agree! We really did get lucky!

The rest of the week has been uneventful (thank goodness!). My "niece" is coming to spend the day with us tomorrow and will also stay the night. I can't wait to spoil her! Little Dude adores her. He had so much fun playing with her on Tuesday. It makes my heart happy to see them playing with each other. And then Saturday is the big party!! Can't wait!

More Exciting Things in Our Little Life

I have been horrible about updating the blog lately. It's hard to find time to sleep, much less update this. I'm sorry if you've been dying for another update on Little Dude. His birthday is FAST approaching and we are in the middle of a huge re-do of the backyard (which of course is where the party will be). All of our "free" moments have been spent ripping out bushes, putting up new siding, re-painting all of the outside, putting in new plants, putting together a swing set, re-doing edging and probably many other things that I have forgotten.

So here's a quick update on what we've been up to the past few weeks!

Grammy & Grampa came down for a weekend to help us put up new siding and paint the house. Grammy got to spend the weekend playing with Little Dude while the rest of us worked outside the house. It was hot, but we are glad that part of the project is done!

Little Dude now has 6 teeth (two on top, 4 on bottom) and 2 more on the top that are close to breaking through. It is drool city at our house!

We celebrated Little Dude's first 4th of July. We watched fireworks on the 3rd. Nana & Poppers were there with us. Nana was pointing at the fireworks and saying what color they were. Little Dude then very seriously put his arm out to point and emphatically said "Ya! Ya! Ya!"

We took Little Dude and his girlfriend to a little gym for a play date. Once I put him on the ground, he was off and didn't slow down! He was crawling up the ramps, down the ramps, across gaps, up steps and was on anything else he could get his hands on. He had a great time!

Little Dude got a swing set for his birthday from his Nana & Poppers so we put that together this past weekend. It is so nice having a swing/slide in our backyard so we have more to do outside now! He loves swinging and always has the biggest grin when we take him outside to swing. He even tried to crawl up the slide the first day we had him out playing on it!

I took a big step this past weekend and decided to let Little Dude stay the night away from home for the first time. Since Nana & Poppers live about 2 minutes from us, I decided it would be easiest on me knowing he was that close for the first time. He had a great time and slept the entire night as usual. And I am pleased to report that I did fairly well with the whole night of not having him here!

My baby is turning into a toddler before my eyes and it is crazy. He is so much fun and brings so much joy in my life. Can't wait to see what he'll do next!