I washed the cake down with an apple

It was more to my liking.

Hey daddy, you gonna share some of that cake?

(He did -- I didn't like it.)

Hey party people, enjoy the party pictures!

My first birthday party was so much fun! We had a "wild animal park" theme, so mommy got wild animal visors for everyone to wear to shield themselves from the sun, and there were inflatable animals everywhere! Some were animal-shaped inflatables, and others were animals contained within balls that you could play with! We even had wild animal stuffed animals on the tables. Mommy may have gone a little overboard with the theme.

I've recently become interested in sandwiches, so we had lots of mini-croissant sandwiches and my two favorite fruits: apples and bananas. And since I've also recently started wanting to lick chips, we also had Doritos. Daddy watched as I licked some Doritos and got my hands all oranged-up. After I was done, I offered daddy my soggy chip. He loved it.

And then there was cake! The cake was decorated with red and yellow balloons, and had lemon and raspberry filling. Do you think mommy and daddy are trying to tell me something with the Trojan colors all around?

There were so many people there - lots of adults, and a bunch of kids, too. Around 80 in all! I saw old friends Colin, Dmitri and Izzy and met new ones Charlotte, Claire, Julia, Trenton, Garland, Julian, Katherine and James. I can't wait to play with them all again! And my friend Caroline (I love her name!) from Cedars also came to wish me a happy birthday! It was really fantastic to see her again. It was a beautiful day, and I had a beautiful party. Thank you, everyone!

Happy birthday to me!

It was a busy day! I'm going to eat, then play for a while and turn in early. I will update the blog tomorrow with details of today's party!

Today's the big day!

I can't wait for my party! Be sure to check back tomorrow for pictures of the festivities!

Christina gives me the best advice!

She came over just to say hi and to share more words of wisdom... including "guacamole, yum!" I even tried it, just because she said I should.

Hey, Aunt Pook-Pook...

I got your nose!

Now that I'm a year old, it's time to start thinking about retirement

Here I am perusing the pages of Forbes for good investment tips. With compound interest, I'm sure to retire early!

I'm officially one year old -- right now!

And the final pictures, which round out my first year:

Me at eleven months!

Me at ten months!

Me at nine months!

Me at eight months!

Me at seven months!

Me at six months!

Me at five months!

Me at four months!

Me at three months!

Me at two months!

Me at one month!

Me as a newborn!

Aren't I just precious?!

It's my birthday!

And in celebration of my first year, I am going to post pictures of myself, month to month, from noon until midnight. At noon, I will post a newborn picture. At 1pm, I will post my favorite one-month old picture, 2pm will feature my favorite picture of me when I was two months old, and so on.

Happy birthday to me!

I had a big day yesterday!

We had a birthday brunch to celebrate my first year, and boy did I have a good time! In attendance were my Godmother, Christina, both sets of grandparents, all of my aunts and uncles (including my soon-to-be aunt, Cody!) *and* my cousins! We played catch, smashed some blocks together, people bounced me (to my delight!), I pointed at things for people to fetch for me... and I got to show off my lightning-quick crawling, my walking skills and my funny faces! What a good day!

There was, of course, princess cake (the real princess cake - the one named for the Danish princess, not a mere cake in the shape of some lame fairy tale princess). I enjoyed sticking my little hand in it and grabbing the marzipan rose. Christina had the added treat of getting my fuzzy bunny launched in her slice of cake. Lucky girl! And to top it off, I got presents! I want *every* day to be my birthday brunch day!

Aunt Pook-Pook loves it when I tell her stories!

Here I am sharing the latest happenings with her. I enjoy our chats!

Daddy has started calling me "The Piranha"

I have lots of teething toys, and lots of toys that I use as teething toys, but what I love to bite most is your finger!

Mommy got some fun stuff for my birthday party next week

Mommy is big on themed parties. For my birthday party next weekend, she has a "wild animal park" theme. Although the party is at Crestwood Hills Park in Brentwood, she got a bunch of decorations to transform Crestwood Hills into The Brentwood Wild Animal Park!

First, she sent out invitations with wild animals on the top. You have to give people an idea of what to expect!

Mommy found beach balls with inflatable animals inside. Here I am playing with a giraffe in a ball. I can't quite figure out how to get to the animal inside! She bought clear inflatable balls with a monkey, a tiger and a zebra inside, too! She also bought inflatable balls in animal shapes. There is a giraffe, lion, tiger and elephant. I'm not sure which one I like best!

Since it's going to be a sunny day and she didn't want people to have to squint if they forgot a hat, she bought a bunch of animal visors. The elephant visor has a trunk hanging out above your nose! What fun! Hopefully we can get a picture of everyone wearing their visors at the party. That should make for a fun picture!

Because I like bubbles, she also bought little bottles of bubbles in animal shapes. I can't wait to break into those! I like to try to grab the bubbles as they float in front of me. Every time I manage to get close to catching a bubble, it gets away! Not fair. She also got paddles with attached balls for kids (big *and* small kids!) to play with at the party. The paddles are in animal shapes, too! What will they think of next?!

She is having lunch catered in, and asked that decorations to the side of the food match the theme. Even dessert fits with the wild animal park theme. I think mommy may have gone a bit overboard.

Aunt Pook-Pook captioned this picture for me

"What are you doing? It's not as cute when you do it."

She said my facial expression just cracks her up!

I've decided this is my comfortable sleep position

When I nap on mommy and daddy's laps, I prop my leg up on the chair. I've become accustomed to it, and now routinely prop my leg up on the bars of my mini-crib. In fact, I find it so comfortable that if my leg is moved, I wake up! Don't I look relaxed?!

I'm feeling pensive today

Some people think babies just eat, sleep, play and poop. That couldn't be further from the truth. We're actually quite a philosophical bunch! Here I am deep in thought.

This is what I've been up to for a few weeks now

Walking on my hands and feet. With my bum(!) straight up in the air. Mommy loves it. She cracks up and takes lots of pictures! A few times, she has even joined me in walking around the house like this. She understands it's fun!

I have a unique way of drinking water

I watch mommy and daddy drink water from a cup all the time. I used to be fascinated with drinking from a cup, but recently I decided that I prefer to stick my hand in the cup, pull out some water and bring it to my mouth. Last weekend, I even showed grandma and grandpa how I do this! During warm summer days, this technique also has the added effect of cooling me off, because some water always drips down the front of my outfit and onto my little legs!

I'm a very curious baby!

I'm interested in everything. And I leave no stone unturned! I even made sure to look on BOTH sides of my favorite chair to see if I could find some new playthings!

By the way, mommy wants you to note my muscular little legs and my perfect little pointed toes. She thinks that if I don't become a surgeon, I'll be a ballerina for sure.

I took a nap on mommy's shoulder

And when I woke up, I had a bit of bed-head! But BOY did I feel rested!

I've updated the lists to the right of my blog for new words and new tricks

I now have entries on the right to list my first words, in the order I say them (I currently have four words!), and to familiarize you with my new tricks (including my bare-bummed escapes during diaper changes!). I will continue to update these lists, so check back periodically.

Mommy and daddy thought they had a solution to my food-throwing habit

They were being clever. They thought if they put me in an empty inflatable pool, I could eat cherries (and throw them to my heart's content) without leaving cherry stains on the carpet. Little did they know I would be more interested in the inflatable pool than I was in the cherries. Nice try, mommy and daddy.

I walked right over to my musical table

And then I made beautiful music for mommy and daddy. I even sang along!

I practice walking every day

And I'm getting really fast! I practically RUN to mommy!

More about me sleeping

During the day, I wear shorts or pants so I can more effectively crawl. But at night, I wear a one-piece sleeper. This helps mommy make sure my little feet and legs are nice and warm all night. But in the middle of the night, sometimes I get upset that my feet aren't out. I wake mommy up and tug at the feet of my footed sleeper to let her know that I want my feet out. She unsnaps me and I go back to sleep. But a few hours later sometimes she hears noises coming from my mini-crib. She looked over yesterday and saw that I had propped one of my feet up on the side of my mini-crib. She thought it was so funny that she ran to the other room to get the camera. I was just finding a comfortable position. She's so easily amused!

Mommy is pretty sure I'm going to be a surgeon

The use of one's thumb and index finger to grab something is called the "pincer grasp." Babies normally develop this between 7 and 11 months.

I hit this milestone *very* early, and have been using my pincer grasp since I was 3 months old. Since then, I have very deliberately picked up small objects with my thumb and index finger and maneuvered them. Mommy thinks that my early pincer grasp development means I will be uniquely qualified to perform neurosurgery, but made it a point to tell me that any surgical specialty I choose is just fine with her. That's good to know, mommy!

Mommy and daddy love my little baby belly

I get "naked baby" time regularly (something about it being good for development) when I get to run around with only a diaper on. It's lots of fun, but it also gives mommy and daddy unfettered access to my little belly. Daddy can't help himself - he loves to give me blowfishes on my belly. And mommy just smooches away at me. These people act like they've never seen a baby before! Sheesh.

Daddy likes to tickle me

I think it's because he loves my laugh.

I hereby decree it "mommy time"

Mommy, put that camera down and come get me!

Just checking to make sure you're paying attention

My furniture-climbing skills are not to be missed!