Blake is 1

 Where did that year go?  Time is flying by so fast it's getting a little scary.  We have loved every moment with this little boy.  He is getting to be such a stinker but still so cute.  His biggest dilemma seems to be his teeth, right now I can see 6 different teeth all over his mouth poking through.  The first year goes by too too fast.

 Since Blake has become an expert drawer and cupboard opener and unloader I decided to bring the play kitchen upstairs so he could go to town.  He has loved it.  However it still doesn't keep him out of the toilet bowel and dog food, toilet paper . . .  He is such a cutie.  He thinks he is so funny to run away or crawl away from me.  He has the cutest giggle.

   I always worry about parties, and quite frankly didn't really want to do one for the fact that he is one.  I thought we could just spend a fun day together and finish it with a little ice cream or something.  Well the plan changed when I had my next great idea to have a 2 day party over the weekend when people could just stop in when they wanted and then it wouldn't be so overwhelming to have tons of cousins in your face.  Blake's schedule has been changing from day to day as well so I thought this way would work better for him.  Here are some pics of the birthday fun.

We gave him a little people zoo with a bunch of animals to go with it. 

(it wasn't as great as I'd hoped but he still likes it)

The problem with a 2 day party is that we had no idea when anyone was gonna come and we didn't end up doing the same thing with everybody so it was a little inconsistent.  It ended up being a 3 day party and by the end . . . it was not the simpler easier version I'd intended.  As we've been getting ready for Bronson's birthday I was trying to explain to him that he could only have one party to which he replied "But Blake got to have lots of parties . . ."  It was good and bad but I surly won't be doing it again.

I didn't even do a cake, as they seem to be a huge headache and for the most part kids just lick the frosting off anyway.  So we stuck with root beer floats.  We did get a little cake for Blake, but he was so tired and the cake had been in the fridge . . . it wasn't your typical one year old cake experience.  The whole thing is even making feel a little sad about it as I type it.  Sometimes it just feels like we put on parties for other people, not the guest of honor, which is why I didn't want to do one in the first place.  I am glad we did but I'm just sayin'

So cute . . . 

the birthday weekend was exhausting 

taking down balloons

So the last person to trim Blake's hair was me :)  and it has been getting so long sometimes I just wanted

to buzz it all off.  He was getting a bit of an afro and his hair is a lot more course than it used to be.  Jared was also sick of the headbands - honestly it was long enough to put in pig tails.  So I decided it was time to get it trimmed to even it out again, this would be his 4th hair cut.  So what started as a trim very quickly became a full haircut from Aunt Cami.  I'm not sure if we had a communication problem or what, but Blake lost all his curls.  I didn't realize how short it was at first, and then I got kind of mad. I was planning on at least taking some good pictures of him before we cut it, and some pictures to show  how long it was.  It took a couple days of getting used to seeing him with short hair, but he is still just as cute so it is growing on us.  I know Jared likes it much better that people don't ask if he's a girl.  So we may grow it out one more time or not, I don't know but he is pretty cute either way.

Right after we cut it

Morning pics

Blake weighs 23lbs 15 oz 82%

his head is 19 in. 99%

his height is 29 in. 10%

He isn't walking yet but starting to jabber a ton.  Sometimes it really sounds like he is saying "Hi Dad"

and I think he's trying to say Simba sometimes.  He loves baths and water, he gets so exited when I turn on the tub.  He is a little chaser of toys, unloader of drawers, and lover of nutri-grain bars.  We couldn't love him any more.  He is the light of our family!