James' 1st Birthday

Happy 1st Birthday to this awesome kiddo.  We feel so fortunate to have this little bundle of energy in our family!  I can't believe that this little guy is already a year old.  This past year has flown by.

 Thank you to all the family who took the time to send him a little gift.  

 By the end of the day, he was really getting a hang of this, "open the box and a toy appears" thing.

 See?

 We couldn't go without a little birthday cake for him...and of course we had to get something with a little bit of blue on it.  

 Little did we know...

How much that blue would spread!  AAHHHH!  James you make me so happy. This is one of my favorite pictures of you.

James, you are such a strong willed kid and you have so much happiness within you.  You are always trying to make people laugh or smile.  Once you've realized that you've made someone happier, you'll do whatever again and again to keep them laughing, even if it's running into a door.  You are so incredibly smart.  I look at you, especially as you have become more mobile, and I think... 'How is he doing this? He is too young!' Right after you learned to walk, you dragged a stool across the kitchen floor and warily stepped on it and tried to reach the light. Once you realized you couldn't, you slowly got yourself down and opened a drawer, blindly fishing for a utensil until you found a spoon and climbed right back up and used the spoon to turn the light on!  Ü You amaze me!  You also are a great brother. One of my favorite times of the day is when Carl wakes up (yep you always wake up about 2-3 hours before him...and it's not always my favorite). But as he starts to wake up, you jump up from whatever you are doing and run to his bedside. When I put you in the bed next to him, you clobber him and hug him and snuggle him until he finally fully wakes up and gets out of bed...always with a big grin on his face.  You are such a sweetheart and my little buddy.  Don't ever grow up... and if you have to, don't ever change.  Stay stubborn and strong in what you believe and keep that happiness bursting from within you. You will be a light to those around you as people are guided to you and your glowing personality.  We love you! We always will.  Love, Mom.