Happy 1st Birthday Little Buddy!

Jake turned ONE on Dec. 30th!! I can't believe one year has gone by already! Sometimes it seems like he has been with us much longer than that, but for the most part it feels like it has FLOWN by. We were in Seattle with my family on his b-day, so they were able to celebrate with us. He has been such a great addition for me and Steve, as well as for Jake's grandparents and aunts and uncles. We just LOVE him!!! He is such a crack-up, and kinda wild and crazy :) He can be challenging for me as his mom, but to other people he is really funny. Maybe I should learn to laugh a little more at the things that frustrate me... ??? ;) Anyways, Jake is our pride and joy, and he has definitely taught us how to love deeper. Happy Birthday, little man!!!

At the Cheesecake Factory, YUMMMMMO

Ha, we didn't plan for this, but while we were there, we realized that Jake's b-day was the next day so our server brought out an ice-cream cup and we got to sing to him! He didn't quite know what to think of it, haha.
Ooooo, fire.

B-day time!! Helping us with a taste-test of the cake! He approved :)

Making our own pizzas is a family favorite, and since Jake is also a family favorite, we thought it was fitting!

I'm sad, I didn't get ANY pictures of him opening presents :( But he got this pull-along dog that "barks," but really it squeaks, and it was his friend for the moment.

Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Monkey!! His party was monkey themed, so we switched things up a little. And I was able to pull out my drawing abilities for the first time in a loooong time to create the monkey :)

Monkey cupcakes, aren't they cute?!

Being sung to again, same reaction, haha.

Before.......

During........AFTER!! It was a success!

Here are his stats:

Height: 30 1/2 inches, 70th perc.

Weight: 22 lbs, 33rd perc.

He's been about those same percentiles at every check-up!

About Jake:

• He can walk very well. His first step was at 10 1/2 months and he took off from there. He's even starting to run, but he usually ends up tripping.
• Knows how to get down from things feet-first. Our bed, the couch, stairs, etc.
• Says Mamma, Dadda, Yeah, Yum Yum, Nanana=No
• He still only has 8 teeth, but I can see white caps where his pointy teeth are going to make their way through at any time.
• He's starting to mimick a lot more. We say, "Where's the baby?" and he puts his hands on top of his head as we say, "Up there!" then he claps. We say, "Cheese!" and give him an all-teeth, squinty eyed smile and he does it back to us, it's so funny! Just things like that, he loves to copy what we're doing.
• He's drinking milk now, but it's in a bottle, he doesn't like it in his sippy cup yet, but we're working on it!
• He knows that he needs to blow on food when it's hot.
• Favorite foods are: grilled cheese, peanut butter toast, pears, bananas (used to hate them), cut-up prunes and grapes, string cheese, really any kind of cheese, English muffin pizzas, any kind of pasta with red sauce on it, mac n cheese, cooked carrots, green beans, olives, ravioli, turkey burgers, and Mexican food! And I haven't noticed tummy troubles with him when he eats it, good thing.
• Foods he hates: plain bread, chicken, peas. Other than that he's usually a good eater.
• Favorite toys are anything he can push/pull around, containers to put things in, things that sing/ make music so he can dance!