James is ONE!

We celebrated James's Big Day with a Birthday Brunch on Day 365, which, thanks to Leap Year, was on Dec. 14th. It was a lovely affair with a few guests: Grandma & Grandpa, our friends Rob & Tracy and their two-month old, and our friends Jenn & Matt and their two delightful daughters. (We really missed Nana & Pop, Auntie Peg, and Auntie Ali & Uncle P!)

In typical party fashion for us, we had way too much food-- muffins, banana bread, bagels, cold cuts, cheese & crackers, fruit, veggies, quiche, salad.... It was yummy though, and I was happy to have the leftovers to enjoy as the days went on! We also had Bloody Marys and mimosas-- delicious!

It was wonderful to spend the day with our friends!

At the end of the party, James opened his gifts (for which he still needs to write Thank-You notes!). Grandpa & Grandma gave him a "Music Parade Ride-On" which is a little Fisher Price truck that you can ride or push. Well, party-guest Jolie climbed right on! James was not bothered in the least because all he wanted to do was push it around! When Jenn insisted Jolie let James have a turn riding his new toy and took her off, all that we ended up with was two disappointed one-year-olds. James climbed right off and resumed pushing (and Jolie was all to happy to get back in the seat). James even gave Jolie's three-year old sister Sophia a ride!

On his actual birthday, it was a Monday. James & I went and had lunch with Dan which was a fun midday treat. We also had dinner with Grandpa & Grandma after which James was finally allowed to have his first taste of ice cream (Grandpa's been dying to give him some for months!). He wasn't too into it; we think he was just tired.

We went to the doctor for his one-year check-up on that Tuesday. He was 30 inches long (59th percentile) and 19 lbs 1 oz (5th percentile). In case you're interested, he's grown about a foot (11.5 inches) and more than tripled his weight in a year. At the doctor's visit we discussed increasing his intake of cow's milk and working on his sleeping habits. Also, he was cleared to eat anything other than nuts and shellfish. The other highlight was that the doctor was impressed with his pointing to and "naming" of everything in the office; she said she could tell he'd be advanced verbally! (I was thrilled, of course.)

It is AMAZING how fast the year went by!