A Year and A Party

We celebrated River's first birthday at home with our immediate family. We were so happy that they all could be a part of it. After a crazy amount of time and effort, the ELMO cake was a success. Besides the fact that things were stained red, our tongues were pink, and the babysitter thought there was blood in his poop, it was a hit! I can proudly say I could not have accomplished this cake without the help of my husband. I would have to say he has the talent for icing in the family. I did the red. He did the rest and fixed the gun over and over again. Team work!

It's so cool to see how River loves the toys he got. Every single gift he got I would have to say is his favourite. He doesn't leave any of them out. He spends equal amounts of time cuddling and hugging a duck and an elephant, making grunting noises as he races a car, or chases it when daddy makes it go speeding across the room. He pushes a helicopter, repeatedly brings me a newspaper to read and puts balls in a basket, shakes money in a piggy bank, and bashes a dump truck. He looks cute in some new clothes and feels some new books, pulls tools from a kit and attempts to piece a puzzle. O and I forgot that the helium balloon card never gets old either. With the attention span that he has, he does this all within 5 minutes and then starts over. Thank you for all these things that keep River so entertained. He's a lucky guy.

It's amazing how all of a sudden we have a little boy and not a baby. But I'm still calling him my baby. I was a little bothered and secretly kind of happy to learn that River hates his bath if I'm not in it with him. I guess having a mom that baths every day got a little too convenient. But its a bit of a problem when he screams when I'm bathing him from outside of the tub. He looks at me quite upset, he's like, "what are you trying to pull here mom? Get in already and play." I guess I have to enjoy things like this while they last. It makes me feel like he's a baby still and not the independent little man that he seems lately. Although I mourn the loss of the stages past I must say I am completely relishing these days. He is mimicking absolutely everything, especially his dad and always looking for his approval. River tries to cough when dad coughs, sneeze how dad sneezes, make the car go how dad does. He stares intently while we say or bow our heads in grace, and with much encouragement we finally have him clapping! There is such a little personality, a sense of humour, and its interesting to see what he finds funny. He displays tons of affection with hugs and snuggles, he shows his pleasure, frustration, likes and dislikes so obviously, and he is just taking in this big world.

To our baby boy who's ONE.

You are the absolute joy of our lives.

With love, mom and dad.