From infant to toddler...

Kieran's First Birthday was a perfect, fairly relaxed day. (As relaxed as parents can be while throwing together a 1 year-old birthday party.) We kept it small, just the 4 of us, my mom, Kieran & Jaela's childcare lady, Michelle, and her family and our friends John & Alyce. It was a postcard day, so off to the park we went...

GumbyBoy had a snack while we got set up. He came out of the womb with his feet in his face, and that still seems to be where he likes them. He's the biggest toe-sucker, which would be really gross if he was walking on them yet. I think maybe that's why he isn't bothering - the way he crawls keeps his feet nice & clean for chewing on. Yum!

The balloons were wonderful - big bright colours and all - but Somebody, who shall be nameless, didn't tie them tight enough to the stroller & they floated away about 2 minutes after we got to the park. Oops. Not that I'm feeling guilty or anything...

My mom, being the cake decorator extraordinaire made Kieran a Caterpillar cake. Everything here is edible, except the foil. It's one of my favorites so far. And then he had his own cake to dig into - not that he barely got past the gummi worms, but it's the thought that counts.

So the boy child is 1 and I am just trying to figure out where the last year went. A year ago we couldn't really imagine

another child on our lives, especially a boy child. And now here we are, where it is impossible to imagine our

lives without our laid-back, sly-grinning son. Even harder to imagine Jaela without her constantly adored & adoring brother. Kieran has brought us back into baby world, where the 'littlest' things are huge and every single second of every single day is about learning & exploring. And maybe most of all, he brings us his giggles! Right now we're just feeling really grateful for such a healthy year for Kieran and looking forward to the next...hopefully we can keep up!