Extra Extra, Read All About It! Brendan Turns 1!

Brendan turned one year old on August 5th. Can you believe it? Our little baby is growing up! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRENDAN! My, how big you are getting and how you light up the room when you smile with your precious grin and little teeth! Your giggle is infectious and you just make every moment a little better and a little brighter.

I have not blogged in quite a while. I started back to work and we are back to the daily grind. Oh how I miss you days of summer! But no matter how busy and hectic our daily lives become, I am going to do my best to periodically update the blog. This will be a particularly long blog because I have a lot to catch up on about Brendan's birthday. So let me start at the beginning...

On Brendan's actual birthday, my dad was staying with us to help me take care of the kids. James had his tonsils and adenoids out on August 4th and it involved about a 10 day recovery where James was really not feeling well. He is all better now thankfully (more on that in a later post). My dad made Brendan a peach pie for the family tradition of each person getting a homemade pie on their birthday. Brendan spent the day playing and getting spoiled!

On August 10th I took Brendan for his 1 year well child check up. It went well. Our pediatrician relocated so it was our first time meeting the new pedi. I really liked her, although Brendan did NOT like when she had to look in his ears. He was pretty mad! That is a new side we are seeing of our sweet B. I think everyone who has met Brendan pretty much agrees what he could go down in history as one of the happiest and easiest babies of all time. In the past couple of weeks, he is still our happy, easy guy most of the time but we are starting to see him showing us his opinion on things and speaking up when things are not going his way. He has added a few more words to his vocabulary and we are getting lots and lots of babbling. When he gets mad he has a special noise to show us his displeasure. He has also figured out how to be loud, and I mean LOUD! At the doctor, he measured 29.5 inches long and 20.5 lb. He is meeting most of his milestones on time. Brendan was recently diagnosed with a motor delay (fine and gross motor skills) and we have been working with Early Childhood Intervention. He is 2 -3 months delayed with motor skills but it looks as though it will not be long before he is caught up. He is doing really well in the cognitive, language and social/emotional areas of development. He is making awesome progress already and might get to exit the program soon!

Here's a quick list of B's favorite things at 12 months:
Foods- toast, pears, chicken nuggets, strawberries
Songs - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Yesterday by the Beatles (I sing it to him every night before bed)
Books - in that phase of being a total squirmer at book time, but seems to like Jamberry and The Nose Book
Toys - nerf balls, Winnie The Pooh Train, the ball popper, the diner, bath toys
Things To Do - taking a bath, snuggling with momma, cruising along the furniture, playing with our doggie, dancing to music

The last year has been so wonderful. B was the missing piece to our puzzle and I can honestly say that I barely remember life without him in it. Now it seems normal to have my hands full, a kiddo on each side on my lap, two slippery wiggle worms in the tub every night, and two heads on my shoulder when it is time to snuggle. It fills my heart up every day. Who knew you could love so much? So happy first birthday Brendan! I am so glad I am your mommy! Thank you for bringing me so much joy these past 12 months. My heart smiles every time I think of you. Watching you grow and explore each day makes me so happy and I cannot wait for all the amazing memories we are going to make together. The world is such a better place because you are in it Brendan. :-)

Up next....Party Time!

We celebrated Brendan's first birthday at his safari bash on August 14th here at our house. We had a big turn out and it was wonderful party. It was so nice seeing everyone and hearing all the laughter in the house. I certainly loved James' first birthday party too, but this first birthday was so different. We had a house full of kids here! I once read that mothers should never feel guilty about not having the same amount of time to spend with their second born children because they are born into the magical world of childhood instead of into a world of adults like firstborns. This is so true. James's first birthday was nearly all adults and Brendan's had 10 children and their families and their parents plus godparents too, and Nana and Granddaddy!

I think all the kiddos (and Mommies and Daddies) had a really fun time at the party - at least it looked like they did. I love parties and planning B's was great. I loved doing something special for him. We decorated with lots of balloons, crepe paper and party goodies, hired an entertainer and tried to think of every last detail from the safari themed food, handmade invitations and safari hats and favors for every child. The birthday boy looked snazzy in his custom outfit I ordered on Etsy. He looked SO stinkin' cute! Brendan's favorite part of the party had to be eating his smash cake. It was pure heaven for him! We let him eat it for about 15 minutes and he was covered in blue icing. I loved watching him try to figure out how to eat the cake. At first he tried to pick it up but it was to big, then he tried to put his little face down into it, but he couldn't reach. Finally, he figured out how to pull off pieces of it and taste it. This boy loves cake! And his first taste of cake was delicious thanks to Kara Clayton! She made it to match the plates and decorations we picked out. She makes some yummy cakes! It was so tasty and completely gorgeous. The party entertainer, Dena, from Silly Shindigs was second to none. She tailored her entertainment to the toddler crowd and our safari theme and boy oh boy did the kids love it! They were totally engaged and James is STILL talking about her two weeks later. I know we will be using Dena again in the future. Bravo Silly Shindigs! Last but not least, my buddy Nell from Cowtown Camera Girl, took pictures of us. You can see a cute collage if you visit her blog (you can click on her blog over on the right). I always love seeing Nell, and it was extra nice this time because she brought her own little cutie along. He was a safari animal expert! :-) All of the little ones were so well behaved and things flowed smoothly. Watching the kids interact with each other, play, eat a "picnic" on the dining room floor and open Brendan's presents for him (each opened and showed B what they brought while he was finishing his smash cake) were each special memories I will always treasure from that day. Brendan received some really fun and thoughtful birthday gifts including a ride on train, a new monogrammed back pack, some great books, several toys including a musical instrument set and $1,000 for his college fund. Thank you to our family and friends who came to the party to celebrate with B! You made the day one we will never forget. One of my favorite things is to have my house full of the people I love, and all of us together in honor of our one year old sweetheart, well, what a great day!

We are on to the next stage now! I can't wait! What an exciting ride this is! We love your Brendan! Happy Birthday!

Here are some pictures from the party....more to come once I can figure out how to upload the rest to Blogger. :-)