ONE!

It happened - my little boy turned ONE!  I can't believe it!  I blinked and before I knew it Matthew went from this-

to this!

I have so much fun with him every single day.  He keeps me on my toes and doesn't go 5 minutes without making me laugh.

He has been walking for almost 2 months, but has yet to speak.  He prefers growling, blowing, jabbering, and smacking his lips.  We try so hard to get him to talk but it just doesn't seem to interest him.  Maybe one of these days...  ;-)

He is ACTIVE and busy.  I feel bad because he loves to run free at the park, but it is usually much too hot for that.  He still loves swimming and all forms of water.  He also loves wrestling.  He tries to wrestle me but usually has me pinned in about 2 seconds.  (seriously)  His dad is definitely a better wrestling partner.  He also loves being chased (and caught) and reading books.

I have hopes of him becoming a dentist.  He is fascinated by mouths and teeth.  He also adores getting his teeth brushed every night.  And I'm sure he'll spend plenty of time at the dentist's office in his life - his teeth are so crooked!  

His hair is kept short - practically a buzz - because he has Chia Pet hair.  It grows out and at odd angles and is pretty crazy when it gets longer.  It's pretty hilarious.  Good thing he looks so cute with super short hair!

He is strong and loves to pick things up and throw them.  He is also learning to catch.

Matthew is smart, independent, always down for a snack, charming, playful, and so, so sweet.  He has been such a blessing and we are so glad that he's a part of our family.

As thankful as I am to get to see all the fun little moments and milestones in Matthew's life, I found myself sort of dreading his first birthday these last couple weeks.  Ahh!  My baby was turning one!  However, I resolved to try my best to be nothing but happy and excited on his birthday.  And it turned out to be such a blast for all of us.

We started out the day playing with balloons, and then Michael went to work and I took Matthew to the park.  As soon as it got too hot, we headed home, read books, and shared a cupcake.  And check out the cupcakes I made for his birthday.  Matthew loves Elmo.  (Thanks Pinterest!)

After his nap we hung out and ate lunch and then Michael came home from work early so that we could all go swimming!

After Matthew's afternoon nap, Grandma Kathy and her husband Don came over (they drove all the way from Vegas for the birthday fun!) for his birthday party!  We started it off by opening presents.... (he didn't fully understand how to open them, but boy did he love what was inside!)

....and then we headed out to eat pizza for dinner!  We went to Peter Piper Pizza, which is definitely a family favorite.  They have an arcade area, and Matthew is now old enough to even play some of the games!  He particularly enjoyed skee ball, although he may need just a bit longer to learn how to roll the ball instead of throw it.  ;-)

And then it was finally time for the cake!  Even though Matthew loves food, (especially sugar!) I wasn't really prepared for how he'd react to his cake.  Holy cow - WHAT A MESS!  :-)  He seriously loved it and had us laughing the entire time.  He wasted NO time in jamming his hands into it, exploring the texture, and then finally eating it.  We actually gave him a SHOWER instead of a bath after he was done. 

That last picture was taken after I'd already cleaned him up quite a bit.  :-) 

Right after this next picture was taken, Matthew managed to give us both facefulls of cake before we could move out of the way.  He's just so good at sharing.  ;-)

 Anyway, it was a great day.  Happy Birthday bud!  Can't wait for all the adventures of your second year of life.  :-)