Our little baby is One!
Who could believe that a whole year has gone by. I am beginning to understand what people say about how fast your kid's lives go. My baby is almost not a baby anymore. I only have 17 more years and he will be moving out. I'm going to cherish every minute until that happens!
We celebrated Donny's first birthday a week early, so on his actual birthday there was little to do but sing to him all day (which we did - particularly me!) and turn his carseat around. He was pretty stoked about that. All the sudden he could see where we were going! No smiles, just a constantly craned neck. I turned around to feed him a cracker or something and he pushed my hand away and tried to look around me.
We went out to a friend's home on the Columbia Gorge (directly across the river from the Vista House) where there was a big party going on. The weather was not great, but beautiful. It was hot and grey, and the lightning was striking very close. I had to tell the kids it would be a better idea to watch the storm from indoors instead of on the open bluff. (I heard that after we left that the lightning struck in the yard... but it could be an urban legend.) The tour group performance had to be moved into the garage for the safety of the kids wearing microphones. They made do, and the audience loved it!
Donny was not as easy to entertain as usual (he's cutting a couple of teeth) so I took him to the side yard to play in the grass. The second I set him down, Brooklyn and Kimberly Hicks (both 7) pounced! He was surprisingly calm throughout the ordeal. They picked at his hair, crowded him, hugged and poked him and he just kept playing and babbling. It is so fun to see him learning to play!
Donny has always loved outside, and now will walk us to the front door any time we take his hands and let him walk. He wants to go out and be close to the wind chimes, or sit on the grass, or ride in the car. Next best is bouncing in his favorite "chair" while looking out at the world. Can you hear him laugh?
Donny always pushes his way up into the same corner of the crib when he sleeps.
The first of three pieces of Donny's first birthday present from his Grammy Shire and Aunt Julie arrived this week. It is a Gobble and Go Hippo. It picks up blocks as it rolls on the floor. The only problem is that the boy panics when the hippos starts to move. So he stands there happily, but no walking around the house yet.
One of his favorite play play places is in his room by the mirror with his Casio keyboard. Isn't he cute!
This morning we all trekked down to Fort Vancouver to see a couple of my CYT kids perform in a talent competition. Donny loved being outside. And I loved that it wasn't hot out! I gave Donny a flag to wave around, but he just wanted to chew on the end of the stick. I tried to get him to stop, but he was persistent. I had to take it away from him.
Look at those tears! So heart breaking.
We got to see Robert and Patrick perform. Patrick won first place along with a 500 dollar scholarship.
After the show we went home to get ready for the block party. Donny didn't nap well because of the fireworks, but he cheered up when we put Barney on for him. Then we went outside. All was well for a little while... until fireworks. Every bang put him in a frenzy. He was so upset I could hardly hold on to him. Blind panic set in and there was nothing I could do to calm him. So I went in and situated him in front of Barney with his favorite pink L toy and he was happy again. The fireworks didn't phase him at all from in the house, even though they were being shot off just outside the house. He even danced to them a couple of times when there was a lot of popping. Andy stayed outside to eat his steak and watch the fun. After I put Donny down, I took the monitor outside and got to watch the show with Andy. It's stunning how many really good fireworks I could see from my lawn chair. Vancouver is a tottally different animal on the 4th than Oregon is! So much more is legal, so every culdesac and neighborhood has it's own little show. All around us the fireworks were blooming. It was pretty cool.
But I am tired.
Goodnight all!
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