It's been 1 year ...

Calvin turned 1 on July 31st.  I can't believe my little baby is turning into a little man.  4th child and 2nd boy, what would this boy need.  Well, time to sit forward facing, so gotta get that new carseat.

Gotta start practicing the skills of unwrapping that silly wrapping paper.  (We're a bit cheap around here.  I've got tons of Christmas paper and never get around to buying the birthday wrapping paper.  Everyone loves the middle of the year Christmas reminders right.=)

And since he's not walking yet, time to finally break down and get the 4th child a walking toy. (He's been walking along furniture for a little while now, but since he can crawl so fast, he hasn't had any desire to try to walk yet.)  This toy has been a big hit and help.  It's funny to see his little personality.  He's a very happy and very good baby, but when it comes to us trying to get him to stand up and walk even holding onto our hands, he just flops like a dead weight and doesn't want anything to do with it.  He likes to walk, as long as it's him doing the walking with the aid of the couch, some sort of furniture or this toy.  He does not want mommy's or daddy's help and has no problems letting us know.  He's finally interested in the walk to mommy and daddy game, but as long as we're not holding onto his little fingers he'll stand and laugh trying to get his balance ready to take that step.  Tonight, he randomly stood up and took 3 steps toward the couch.  The most he'd done before that was 1, maybe 2 between Glen and I.  But that's o.k.  With 8 more months til nursery, I'm not in any hurry for him to be up and walking yet.=)

And then comes the birthday cake.

Silly mommy (what was I thinking) wasn't supervising closely enough when he stuck his finger on the pretty orange light.  It took him a little while to stop crying and to trust the cake again ...

but we did get him to finally smile (red eyes or not). 

And then he got to enjoy eating his cake like a big boy, with a big fork,

and using a big cup (actually we start this one a little early.  We've always used sippy cups only as a travel in the car or other random occasions thing.  Otherwise, we teach them young to use the regular cup.  It takes a few times of sloshing down the front and some careful supervision for a little bit, but it's so worth it to never have to worry about "Shoot, I can't find or I forgot the sippy cup."  He's gotten pretty good at it and usually only spills when he's ready to start playing with his food.

And there's our birthday boy.  Ain't he a cutie!!!

It's amazing to me how fast this past year has gone by, but how it's only been a year.  So much has happened.  It was a year ago that Glen left for Afghanistan for 6 months.  Calvin was 5 days old when we sent him off to the airport.  That was the main reason for getting into blogging in the first place; to make sure he got to see pictures and read our stories.  Wow, that means he's only been home for 6 months.  It seems like that was in another lifetime.  Looking back on the past year, all I have to say is that I'm so very thankful for all that I've been blessed with, the good and the bad.  Makes you appreciate what you've got.  Count your many blessings.