One Year

I've had my sweet little boy in my family for one year now and I couldn't be more pleased with how the days have passed. Many will say, "it is so weird, how fast it goes and that my baby is 1". However, I don't really feel that way. I feel like he should be 1. Perhaps because our family has had such a busy year; or perhaps because his scrapbook is already going to be over 100 pages. Whatever it is, I feel like this little boy is definitely 1 year old.

Before we get into the birthday events, here are a few of his One year shots that I took. I am really so very proud of them. I am by no means a photographer, but my camera is amazing and does all the work for me. Throw in his favorite stuffed animal "lamby" and we have some pretty rock star shots.

 So - the Birthday. We all got together at Mark's parents house, and invited those sibilings who lived close (and Cameron's cousins) to join us in some food, gifts, and cake. Fairly standard and low key; but still memorable. I wanted to make an effort to not combine his birthday with the 4th of July get togethers mostly because I knew that if I did it this year, then every year for the rest of his life, he'll have a 4th of July birthday. At least I tried to make it more of a birthday party for him.

The gift opening wasn't too eventful. I do think that Cameron enjoyed ripping the paper off more than those christmas packages 6 months ago. Naturally. So that was fun to watch. The cousins were bored after the first box, but the uncles and granny and gramps were kind enough to stick it out to the end. We had accumulated several gifts over the year, and when they were all compiled together, I was shocked at how many Disney items we had gravitated toward without intention. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but it was pretty funny.

The cake show down was a fun moment to capture as well. I had made an effort to decorate my own little cake like my mother had done for all us kids our entire growing up lives. She was an expert, I am a first time novice. And - I was pretty proud of how it all turned out. (I should really have more confidence in myself considering I am usually really proud of the outcomes)

Like most kids, Cameron was really timid at first, but seemed to start diving in once he knew that it was tasty. I'm not sure it was really worth it having to do the clean up afterwards. It was everywhere! Well, at least we have the pictures.

Happy birthday to my little dude. Love having you around.

A few tidbits about you at this moment in time:

• You're crawling everywhere. Mostly it's fun to have you mobile, until I see how dirty my floor is based on the condition of your feet. That, and you are very curious about the kitchen cuboards and drawers when I'm cooking dinner. That makes things a little hard.
• Your favorite foods are pickles, watermelon - right off the rind, crackers, yogurt, and ice cream. You'll eat melons without complaint, oatmeal if it has applesauce and cinnamon in it, and jelly sandwiches most days.
• Your favorite toys are your walker, Lamby and Monkey, and your new Woody doll.
• You are wonderful company to take on errands. All smiles and laughs when we're out and about. It helps break up the day when you've been cranky at home. Sit you in your carseat and you're pleased as punch.
• We dropped the Binky at your birthday and haven't looked back. You didn't seem to even notice it was gone. 
• You know peek-a-boo and when daddy asks "what does the lion say?" you give him a quite, mouse like "roar". You're wave is always late; usually when people stop waiting around for it. Your sign language for "all done" is mixed up with "more". So that's super confusing! Boppy is still your most frequent word.
• Since the walker came into the house, you have been a walking fool. You've even taken a few tiny wobbles on your own since it's been around. 
• You're far more aware of strangers. Won't go to anybody but a few tried and true faces. Even Granny and Gramps make you a little nervous when we leave the room.