Jason's BIG birthday post

The Birthday Boy in his birthday hat!

Big brother Jack is always available to pose

Our family gathered to help celebrate, including Aunt Erin and her hubby and  2 girls

Jason playing alongside his cousin

Mimi and Jack

Uncle Brian and Daddy (posing here under coercion)

The party's theme was sailboats

Bring on the presents...

Hmm, I really just prefer this ribbon and tissue paper.

Oh boy- blocks! Thanks Uncle Brian and family!

                           

Video footage of Jason "opening" his presents. Note that he repeatedly pushes his gift out of the way to go after the tissue paper, love it.

Bubba Jase with Mama and Dada

The birthday cake. I felt adventurous this year and did a sheet cake with a round cake on top. The round cake was reserved for Jason to smash, so I made sure to snap plenty of photos to document its cuteness. Thanks to Jon for the sailboat idea!

The family singing "Happy Birthday"

Jason's first moments with the blessed cake...

....hmm, a little bit more frosting

...his fingertips are a little frosted now

...what have we created?!

...oh gosh, beware the smurf baby!

And just in case you didn't get enough of the frosting monster, there's more footage below! I must say, he never hesitated going after that cake.

And for you observant ones out there- yes, Jason is in a new outfit after having a much needed bath after his smash cake fiasco. The party wrapped up, and we played in the backyard with cousins. It was the perfect party and a perfect day. Thank you to all the family who came and celebrated Jason with us, and to our family who couldn't make it, but were there in spirit! I can't believe my baby is already 1 year old. Jason- it's truly been a fantastic year with you; you've fit in seamlessly in our family. I can't wait to see what year 2 brings!

Happy Birthday Jason!

Jason- you are 1 year old today!

Happy, happy birthday to my little bubba. You sure had fun at your party yesterday, and your mom had fun documenting it with many many pictures. Your big birthday post is soon to come...

Jack's turn

It's Jack's turn to shine in video-land.

He's really into riding his scooter and tricycle lately, asking to go outside and ride them everyday. He is getting so fast on his scooter that we have to run to keep up with him!

And a year and a half after getting his tricycle, this boy is finally pedaling it! He scooted it before, flintstone style, refusing to put his feet on the pedals. He loves riding his trike now, and rode nearly a mile up to the playground and back the other day. He has so much energy.

I'm really enjoying this new stage with him. It's great to have a kid who loves being outdoors, content to ride around the neighborhood.

Walking, Climbing, and Sliding, oh my!

I've been meaning to post these videos of Jason for awhile now, but better late than never.

While visiting my parents over Spring Break, we took the boys to a playground where Jason shocked us all. There was a platform with a step up to a higher platform which then connected with a covered slide. While I was talking to my mom, Jason climbed up from the lower platform to the higher one and with no hesitation proceeded to crawl to the slide, climb on and go down on all fours! He was amazing and loooved it. I tried to get him to re-create his physical feat for the camera, but never got the perfect video, darn it. The video does show him sliding down by himself though. Afterwards, when time to go home, he cried and did the 'limp-body' move so I'd drop him on the ground so that he could go play some more.

 

And also over Spring Break, when 11 mos old, Jason took his official first steps! He walked between me and my mom. He has excellent balance and could stand all day long, but he is still pretty cautious about walking. For a few weeks after his first steps, he preferred to crawl everywhere, but about a week ago he finally wanted to walk. This video was taken 3 weeks before his 1st birthday.

 

I had to post this picture of Jason doing his signature squat. An example of his balance- he stands up and then crouches down and plays with toys, while his feet are flat on the floor and butt in the air. He then stands up from that position without using his hands for help, and crouches down again, and so on.

It's hard to believe that in just 2 weeks this boy will be 1! This past year has flown by. Little Jason now has 6 teeth (4 uppers, 2 lowers), and an increasing curiosity for the world around him. He is learning words, and saying "da da" when he sees Jon, and at times (though less often) he says "ma ma" in my general direction. He is our bubba Jason and we love him!

Spring is here...

...and so is spring cleaning and projects.

First up was our front yard, inluding pulling and digging weeds up. After spending about an hour or so a day for four or five days de-weeding, the fun part of yard work began with planting flowers. I love the added color!

I chose pink and purple petunias, impatiens, begonias,

 and red geraniums for my potted plant.

Then came another dreaded job- replacing our fence. It's needed repairs for awhile now, but one storm about 2 weeks ago with 50 mph winds finally sealed its fate.

Kudos to Jon for building the gate without help, and installing it so well. It glides open and shut now! It is a far cry from the old gate that we had to lift and push in order to open, and that actually fell off its hinges completely, leaving me to catch it, on one occasion when I tried to open it.

Jack modeling the newer model fence

Jon has done much hard labor around here lately, and I'm impressed by his skills! Thanks to his brother Brian for lending us his time and truck so we could build the fence, to my parents for their expertise and babysitting skills, and friends from the ward. We couldn't have done it without your help!