ABC's: December 2014

My dear, sweet, little Caleb. I cannot even believe that you are a whole year old. I can't believe that we kept a baby alive for a whole year! Ha! Wow, I was reading your cousin Nate's birth story (way to go Amy!!) and it naturally reminded my of yours, and it makes me feel both warm inside and like my innards are tying themselves into knots. It's hard to believe that there was a time when you weren't a part of our family.

0 days old
"Woof. Childbirth was rough. I'm going to need a few weeks to sleep that off."

365 days old and celebrating by eating a cupcake (rather neatly, I might add)
"Is that a hint of vanilla I taste? I would have gone with mint."

Events in your first year of life include:

traveling to 6 states
having one hair cut (not including the time I had to cut a dry booger out of your hair)
going on 9 flights (10 if you count the one just a few days after your birthday)
gaining 2 more cousins than what you had at birth
your great-grandmother passed away
vacationing at Snowbird, Lake Powell, and Lake Weiss
sprouting 2 bottom teeth (but not until the week of your birthday! Late bloomer!)

First haircut. You just wanted to sit in the sink. And try to to avoid the scissors.

You can now:

Stand on your own
eat everything (and you do!)
wave hi and bye
sign the word "love" (*heartmelt*)
pucker like a fish
roar
blow raspberries
blow raspberries on the baby gate
applaud when we say "yay" or "good job" or "patty cake"
open and close your mouth repeatedly like a fish
figure out the remote control more quickly than your mom
push chairs around
activate Siri, who usually responds with, "Sorry, I didn't catch that." Guess she doesn't know how to translate baby gibberish yet
say "Mamamamamama", "Mommy", "Daddy" in addition to words I cannot comprehend
raise your arms in the air to do "so big!" or "throw it in the oven"
play peek-a-boo
drink from a cup
climb up and down stairs
be the most adorable baby on the face of the planet

Scooting around in your Christmas jammies on your new birthday present from Mops and Pops

Your favorite things to do are:

going outside
"playing" the piano
crawling all over the furniture. And your parents.
"Singing"...often at church when everyone sings you yell one note as loud as you can until the singing is over. This is one of my favorite things ever!
looking at your books
squeezing through tight, impossible places, such as underneath your stroller
ripping off the keys on laptops
playing with your toys
climbing up and down stairs
take advantage of opportunities to go into your parents bedroom to look at the baby monitor. And then try to eat coins on the nightstand.
playing in the water
making new friends, whether that be other babies, animals, or that cute friend in the mirror
yell at us when you want something we have that you don't

"Hi Lilly!"

Your favorite things to eat are:

whatever your parents are eating or drinking
anything you aren't supposed to eat, such as: bugs (live or dead), your mom's face, your blocks, long lost food crumbs, pebbles, coins, etc.
CHEESE

Eat all the things!!!!

Other favorites:

Book: Your Bible picture book with Czech vocabulary. (Naturally his favorite book is the only one in his collection that I can't read to him)

Outfit: your birthday suit

Friend: anyone who is about your size or smaller. You squeal every time you see another baby!

TV show: none. TV does not capture your interest. Which is totally fine by me.

Toy: tough one... toss up between your Leaptop and your lion walker

Favorite non-toy toy: this box of diapers. No, really.

Personality:

I don't have much to compare this to, but here goes. You love playing with your mommy and daddy, but you are also very content to explore and play by yourself. You are not much of a snuggler, except when your are tired or don't feel good. You are almost always so pleasant, so when you start complaining even a little bit, it almost always means something is actually wrong. Or it means we just shut a door. You love being independent, which means changing your diaper is a challenge because heaven forbid anyone should make you lay on the ground like that! Funny how you consistently wait until your diaper is off before you make a dash for it though. You love to be tickled, or do anything else that makes you laugh, which sometimes is something random. Like pushing someone's face to the side over and over again.

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Your birthday!

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. I ended up receiving some magnificent Harry Potter paraphernalia and so we ended up having a big HP birthday bash!

homemade chocolate frogs!

Frosted with love from Mommy, a birthday tradition I grew up with and hope to continue

Guests were sorted by the sorting hat, courtesy of an app on my iPhone

Pin the scar on Harry (yes, hand-drawn). Ben Fuller won!

Visit Honeydukes!

Coloring station (by far the most popular spot of the night)

Bathroom visitors got extra surprises

The Chamber of Secrets has been opened!

"This way to the Ministry of Magic"

Hedwig!!!

Daddy and Caleb running through the wall to get to Platform 9 and 3/4

Cousin Tommy was the only one who tried out the photo booth. Thanks Tommy!

The birthday party was a huge success, special thanks to my mom who helped, and to Nate, who sent me so many wonderful decorations and props. And thanks to everyone who came!