The Birthday Boy's Day.

We didn't give Carson much hoopla for his first birthday. To show him it was his special day, we allowed him to eat cheese for breakfast. The evening of his birthday, he opened some presents. The day after his birthday, I finally got around to making his chocolate zucchini cupcakes (with applesauce instead of oil and whole wheat flour!). He enjoyed consuming an entire cupcake (with lots of chocolate frosting), and then threw up about an hour later. It was a great birthday!

"I'm ONE!!"

Carson held his cupcake to his mouth like this for about two minutes straight. Maybe he was afraid I'd take it away from him, as I usually do with anything sugar-filled!

Web-camming with silly pappy, who happens to have a turkey on his head.

Carson loved his letters from grandmama and pappy

I am working on a video that showcases Carson's cute tricks, but we'll see when that gets finished. For now, some of his favorites include:

• clapping;
• putting up one finger when asked how old he is;
• signing "milk" and "fish", which look about the same except fish has some more movement;
• walking a record of 12 steps, although he definitely still prefers crawling... well, it's actually a bum scoot these days;
• we've officially decided his first word is "bath"... it's hard to tell if he's saying "mama" to me or if he's just babbling, but "ba" for bath is pretty consistent;
• turning off light switches and closing cupboards to "help" are a favorite;
• giving kisses and snuggling when asked;
• showing lots of preferences for certain foods, and throwing those he doesn't like;
• climbing up onto the couch, onto his train table, and on the shelf underneath his changing table.

Carson was sick a few days before his birthday. Sad, but sooo cute an cuddly.

More cuddling.

A favorite hiding spot.

Discovering Christmas.