the birthday boy!

Finn’s first birthday. It sounds weird to say that. I think to myself, “He shouldn’t be one”. He should be little…a baby. He should be 5 days old asleep in Matthew’s arms. He should be smiling at us for the first time. He should be rolling over for the first time, sitting up without falling over. He should be crawling across the room learning how to hold his head up, moving his arms and legs at the same time. He should be lying in the living room window with all the snow in the background letting me take pictures of him. He should be eating rice cereal for the first time. He should be spitting out mommy’s pureed carrots yet loving Gerber’s pureed carrots. He should be pulling himself up to stand and then walking around furniture. He should be toddling with toys and then letting go for the first time. He should be talking and attempting new words.

Then I think about how much he has learned and think to myself, “He should be one”. He has accomplished so much in his little life. He is smart, inquisitive, expressive, funny and just a neat little boy to be around. He has good manners and knows when to use them and shares even his favorite toys with you if you say please. Thinking back, I love the smile that started when he was 3 weeks old and has grown to a toothy grin. I love the noises that started as little grunts but have developed into yelling “Daddy” out the window and “Deese” when he wants something. I love how he started out crying when he needed me, and then went to crawling to me and then walking to me with a book in hand.

If I were totally honest I would tell you that I secretly dreaded this day. I would also tell you that when I went in to get Finn this morning, he reached up for me and I stood there and held him close a little longer than usual. I treasured the ‘baby’ things today that he still does because I can see that they are fading. He reaches for his sippy cup instead of a bottle. He doesn’t know what a pacifier is anymore (I gave him one last week and he thought it was a pretty cool toy to shake around). When asked if he needs his diaper changed, he will sometimes point down there. =)

There are no words to say how much of a joy and a blessing that Finn has been this past year and I’m sure that next year at this time I’ll be remembering another 12 months gone by and thinking back to the time when he turned one and seemed so little.

Here are pictures from his first birthday. (The party pictures will be up this Saturday.) Standing outside eating his daily apple. Yes, he's wearing long sleeves and thick pants. It was chilly all day today. Didn't get out of the 50s.


Got a little too cold standing outside so we came in to finish the apple.


Must be rough...


Aunt Deah sent Finn an Indian hat and moccasins.


Here he is in the window having fun with them on.


Grandma and Grandpa Morken got Finn a truck to ride on for his birthday. He had fun figuring out the noises and how to drive it. I'm sure we'll be working on that some more tomorrow.




Reading the "Dump Truck, Sam" book from Bama and Paka. If you know Finn at all, you know how much he loves books and his birthday books were no exception. He got the dump truck book from Bama and Paka, an interactive Cheerios book (fill in the holes with Cheerios) and Little School of Fish (The fish light up and count to 5) from Grandma and Grandpa Stabley and By the Light of the Silvery Moon from Aunt Holly (the moon glows up in the corner). Whenever I was sitting down today he brought these books to me to read with him today. I'll get more videos of all of the books, but I can't take videos of myself when we're reading. =)

This is what Matthew and I got Finn for his birthday. It's a wagon filled with mega Lego's. We knew he would like it because he picked it out while we were shopping. (Isn't that horrible?) He didn't care about the blocks at first. As soon as he saw the wheels turning, he figured out what he needed to do, got up and took off. For the rest of the day he went back and forth. He did eventually play with the blocks but still not as interested in them as running around the house with the wagon.

Ha! This cracks me up. This present was from Grandma and Grandpa Stabley. First of all, what you don't see is Matthew starting to open the gift for Finn. Matthew sees the magic color...John Deere green! Matthew's face lights up. Then he finishes opening it up for Finn because he's so excited to see what inside...Matthew, that is. When he sees that it's a John Deere tin tool box he starts to get really excited! He then opens it up and sees that there are play tools in there. He gets more and more excited as he pulls more and more tools out. Sorry, Matthew, they're for Finn. Then, after the video is over, Finn starts to use the hammer on the John Deere tool box. Apparently, that is not what Finn should be doing with his new hammer and tool box. Matthew picked up the tool box, held it to his chest and said, "We should put this up high so he can't ruin it". It then went on our dresser....uh yeah, Finn won't be able to reach that until he's 15! So, we now are decorating our room with Finn's John Deere stuff! =)