Nate turns One!

St. Patty's Day parade, Portland

Taking after big brother

My sweet boy!

Getting the job done!

Helping GMa with some housekeeping

Happy First Birthday Nate!

Daddy gives Nate a ride

Hooray!  We survived a year as parents of two!!

Our elephant spread- cake, cupcakes, and cookies made by my mom and me!

Don't know about opening the presents, but I'll certainly climb them!

Hard to believe that we just celebrated Nate's first birthday! Time certainly does fly!  We had a couple of celebrations- one on his actual birthday, and then a party with extended family a few days later.  Both parties were a lot of fun, and there was no shortage of love and support from family and of course, cake!

Our little one year old is growing by leaps and bounds.  At his 12 month check up, he weighed 22 pounds and 12 ounces, and was 29 and 3/4 inches- both measurements putting him in the 50th percentile.  He is now reliably take 4 or 5 steps at a time, although he has no interest in walking about while we hold his hands. He's much more likely to stand up on his own, take a few precarious steps, and fall to the floor.  Nate is also a serious climber!  He is super fast too- climbs on couches, tables, dining room chairs!  Yesterday while we were at the beach, I parked the stroller, put him in the sand, put a blanket down, turned around and he had climbed up into the stroller and was standing up!  I'm scared to see what he's getting into when he can actually walk!

He is using more and more words now.  He can say, "bird", "bubble", "wow", "go!", "get" and of course "mama" and "dada."  He still loves to play ball and has added standing up and throwing it into something (the bathroom sink, a garbage pail, a basketball hoop) and kicking it to his repertiore. He loves being outside!  He really enjoys riding his little tricycle, or just sitting in the grass.  He is sleeping better at night now that we are following the advice of the pediatrician and only allowing him one nap a day.  Overall, he is thriving and we couldn't imagine life without him!