AJ's 12 mo. Dr. appointment was on Friday and his birthday party was scheduled for Saturday, so I was worried when he developed a fever on Thursday and was cranky and not eating much. He was also drooling like a madman though and chewing on his hands, so low and behold, a tooth poked its way through on Friday morning and the fever disappeared! The Dr. cleared him for the party and gave us his new stats: weight = 24lbs, 14oz (75th%) height = 31.5in (90th%) and, always the braniac...head size = 19.5in (>95th%). I had to buy him a bike helmet and he needed the "child" size instead of the "toddler" one. He also got a bunch of shots and after getting over the initial pokes, he did pretty well (all things considered!). These days they also test kids for lead and anemia and (thank goodness!) AJ screened negative for both tests...
SO! On to more FUN topics...AJ's first Birthday Party!! We had about 30 people over to our place, including kids and adults...let's say it was "lively"! I was actually impressed by AJ and the other kids ability to deal with the crowd, and I think everyone had a pretty good time. We did a Cubs/baseball theme in honor of AJ being born on Opening Day last year, so we ate burgers and dogs, and for dessert there were baseball cupcakes or a slice of Wrigley Field!
For the cake, I actually printed out an aerial view of Wrigley Field to get the proportions down, and made the "dirt" out of crushed graham crackers. I know that all these details were lost on AJ, but isn't a first birthday more about the adults anyway? I mean, we're the ones who'll remember it all, right? 
When we sang "Happy Birthday" to AJ, he wasn't quite sure what was going on, and the look on his face was priceless! Then came the cake...I thought he was going to reall dig in and make a wonderful, sugary mess, but he was really pretty reserved. He tasted a little cake and didn't get that into it, so I gave him a cupcake to see if he'd like yellow cake better, and he stuck his thumb right into it! He got a nice laugh for that one, and overall, I think he enjoyed that. He's always cracking me up! Here are some of the priceless shots: 
Another memorable part of the party was when we got the idea to line all the kids up on the couch for pictures. That sounds so simple typed out here, but watch this little movie to see what the reality was!
So, after a year of being a parent, I have to say that Andy and I feel so blessed that we have AJ. Being a mom has definitely had its challenges, but AJ has also filled our home with love, laughter and light! We also count ourselves blessed to have such a great group of family and friends who have all given us advice, support and love over the past year! Thanks, everybody!
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