Happy 1st Birthday, Joseph!

The week of Joseph's birthday included Easter.  In the morning we did an outside egg hunt with the eggs we dyed, as it was super bright and sunny and unseasonably warm on Easter this year, and then we packed up some snacks and sandwiches and headed for Discovery Park.  The weather was so great that we were outside for hours, taking a long walk from a parking lot down to the water.  The tide was WAY out -- it was a particularly low, low tide -- and so Jadyn got to look for crabs and other creatures.  Joseph enjoyed sand for the first time, and we all got some vitamin D.

 

 

Joseph's actual birthday fell on a Thursday, so he had a full day at school before the usual evening routine mid-week of dinner and a bath.  After that we opened a few presents.  Jadyn was really helpful with the gifts, tearing off all the paper and trying out all the new toys, showing him how they work.  He liked the new toys, and the parents really appreciated the new clothes he received, too.  Thanks to everyone who was so generous with him!

 

 

With little notice, Joseph began the transition from the infant room to the first toddler room at the very end of March.  So the first week of April, heading into his first birthday, he had his first full week in T1.  He did surprisingly well drinking from a cup with no lid (they give the kids just a swallow or two of milk in a cup and refill only after they finish their first serving), and he loved all the new activities and experiences, especially playing outside twice a day.  He is exhausted most evenings with all the new things there are to learn in his new classroom!  Here you see Joseph at the breakfast table at the end of his first week in the new classroom.  He is a very good eater these days.

Then, on Sunday, we had a birthday gathering of friends to celebrate Joseph's first year.

Clear evidence he enjoyed his first experience with cupcakes!

Kind and thoughtful friends from school got Joseph this pirate ship push toy for his birthday.  Joseph LOVES pushing Jadyn around on it, and he also likes to take a ride on it.  His feet don't quite reach the ground when he sits on it, so for now he needs some help from a parent or sister.  Steering is also a bit of a mystery....  Fun times!

 

Then the annual birthday check-up with the doctor....  We did that a few days after his birthday.  Dr. N did find an ear infection, so we went another round of antibiotics for that.  His growth numbers were good: 15th percentile in weight, 25th percentile in length, and 30th percentile in head circumference.  And he passed his anemia test, yay!

Happy Birthday, the first of many wonderful celebrations we'll have with you, dear Joseph!

Look at these two -- we love you both so much!