Bouncy Birthday Boy

On wednesday, September 17th, our little lad turned the ripe old age of one! We chose not to have a huge get-together. Instead, we had a quiet little evening over at G-ma & G-pa's house, just the 6 of us. We brought the little cake to celebrate- I believe it was supposed to be an apple with a worm on it. (I wish I could claim bragging rights, but as Jim and I both work everyday, well...no time.) It was actually very tasty! Here's the cake before anyone dug in:



Here's the birthday boy as we sang. A "before" shot, as it were.



Here's the damage about halfway through...



And this is the final outcome! Needless to say, we had a fun, splashy bath in the kitchen sink afterwards. Mmmmmm, tasty!



He really did this all himself! We did not smear it in ourselves just to get a good picture. We were still getting frosting out of his nose 24 hours later...And even Elena enjoyed her piece!



And not too much later it looked like THIS!--





And this!--





Then we opened presents, and Aaron's very thoughtful Grandparents got him a very traditional gift in some stainless steel heirloom pieces. They gave him a rattle, a cup and a spoon, both with the letter "A" engraved on them, and a tiny, beautiful gold ring.



Aaron's favorite game is the "Day-dtoo" game, where he reaches something out to you as if to hand it to you, and you say "Thank you!". He thinks it's hilarious, then he pulls his hand back and does it all over again. It's hilarity does not diminish with time. Here he is playing it with his new rattle. (That's grandma holding him.)



And then life is not complete unless every new thing is tasted.



Then on saturday we all went to dinner, this time Jim's brother and his wife joined us. They drove down from Pennsylvania and we went to Famous Dave's. Here's the jovial party:



The birthday boy and G-pa. (Sorry, Pops- think I surprised you!)



Jim, John & Cacilda. Love you guys!

So, the day after his birthday, Aaron took his first steps! Yay! He is also saying a few words. "Tickle, tickle", "Thank you", "Uh-oh", and "Oh, maaan!" We go to the doctor next week, since this week I couldn't find my car keys and had to reschedule. (Dangit!) So we'll give you growth updates then. TTFN.