Birthday Boy!!

I've decided that "birthday-itis", which I am defining as an over-abundance of enthusiasm in relationship to one's birthday, is genetic.  Charlie woke up Tuesday morning at 5:52 AM smiling and laughing.  How do I know this?  Because I had been lying awake in my bed since 5:32 waiting for him to wake up so we could start the day! (Apparently birthday-itis is also transferable to one's children's birthdays).

Seriously, though, Tuesday was FABULOUS!  Other than the early start, the morning was pretty standard.  Jason and I laughed and played with him, then after Jason went to work and we had breakfast, I took Charlie to Donna's aroun 8:45.  Later while "participating" in a conference call, I prepared the meatballs for Charlie's birthday dinner.  (If anyone EVER hears me complain about my job, please slap some sense into me!)

The fun really began at 11:30, though.  I picked up the birthday boy, and we drove down to North Charleston to meet Daddy for lunch at where else, but IHOP.  Charlie celebrated his birthday with a blueberry pancake lunch, and to our suprise and delight, a bunch of Daddy's work friends and their families joined us for an impromptu party.

Next, Charlie and I stopped by the outlet mall to pick up a shirt for his 1 year pictures this weekend.  Well, I had forgotten that he was wearing his adorable "Birthday Boy" t-shirt until we walked into OshKosh.  Just imagine how much fun it is to have everyone wishing your one-year-old son a happy birthday -- with him grinning and hamming it up all the while -- especially when you  have to go to OshKosh, Carter's, Gymboree, Children's Place, Strasbourg, Baby Gap then back to Children's Place to decide on a shirt. (I got a fabulous deal, though!)

Charlie and I spent the beautiful 75 degree afternoon taking Otis for a walk.  Then, to our delight, Daddy got home early, just as we were getting back to the house.  We all enjoyed spaghetti and meatballs in the dining room to celebrate Charlie's birthday dinner, then opened a couple gifts to kill time until 6:30.  That's when the real party started!

Kate, Sophia and Avery (moms in tow), Garrett, Bob and Donna all came over to celebrate and enjoy cake and icecream (though Jason and I forgot to get the icecream out...so now we have to eat it all ourselves!).  They all brought Charlie fun presents -- and he actually kind of paid attention while opening them.  Kate was the only one of the attendees to put up with the party hat, but Lakely wore hers at home, even though an ear infection kept her away.

Following presents, Charlie did us proud by sampling the frosting on his cake, then picking up the entire piece and just chowing down.  Unfortunately, he then had to leave his own party a little early in order to go take a bath.  Afterwards, we just played a bit with his new magna doodle until bedtime.

March 9, 2010 was an absolutely perfect day from start to finish.  I will freely admit that I am a little bit birthday-crazy, but I think justifiably so.  To me birthdays are annual reminders of how amazingly blessed we are to have people in our lives -- how our lives changed so much for the better 1, 33 or 99 years before when the honoree was born.  That being the case, I think we all should get a bit more excited about birthdays and really celebrate the birthday boy/girl, not just buy a present and attend a party.

I cannot even imagine my life if things had gone differently on January 22, 1977 or March 9, 2009 -- thankfully, I don't have to!

Now, before I get into the slew of party pics from Tuesday, here are the nuts and bolts of Charlie at 1 year:

As of 3/10/10:

• Weight - 22 lbs (40th percentile)
• Length - 30 inches (60th percentile!)

                What!?!?  You'd never think he was tall and skinny by looking at him!

• Head - 47 cm (60th percentile)
• Teeth - 2 bottom, 4 top
• Hair - Light brown/dark blonde; starting to resemble a mullet
• Birthmarks - Stork bites are no longer visible.  The potato shaped birthmark on his left shin is more distinct.  In addition to the freckle high above his right eye, he also has one on each cheeck.
• Naps - Good nap in the morning.  Afternoon nap still a battle...quite possibly a losing battle...
• Bedtime - 7:00 to 7:30
• Waketime - 6:30 to 7:00
• Favorite Foods - Blueberries, Pancakes and Meatballs (he likes pretty much anything other than spinach or microwave babyfood pasta)
• Favorite Song - Toes by the Zach Brown Band
• Favorite Dance - Still lies on his stomach and wiggles all over, but also "be-bops" by bouncing his upper body up and down while sitting
• Favorite Toys - Bike, puzzle book, remote control and a growing attachment to Eeyore
• Favorite Game - "Coffee Break", tag, swinging, dancing
• Recent milestones -

                - Walking!
                - Climbing down off things
                - Up/Down stairs
                - Patty Cake
                - Signs "eat" in addition to "more"
                - Says "dog-dog"
                - Putting things inside other things
                - Drinking out of a sippy cup

• Imminent milestones -

                - Maybe finally say "Ma-ma"????

• Hero - Daddy
• Personality - (no changes from 9 months!)

                - Even Goofier - He loves to laugh and be surprised and wiggle and giggle.
                - Active - Unfortunately, Charlie is not much of a cuddler. He is sweet and loving, but would much rather climb all over you than hug you.
                - Curious - He loves to check out new things and is always craning his neck or crawling/walking off to check out something new

Birthday Call from Grandma

Birthday Surprise from BaBa

Birthday Pancakes

Birthday Meatballs

The Party's at My House!

Am I supposed to play with fire?

Not so bad...