Jake's 1st Birthday

Jake's first birthday was such a happy little day!

I sort of loved the life-sized #1 full of memories from his first year.

We had big, adventurous plans for his birthday activities, but the poor guy was in the middle of a week-long fever so we laid low at home instead. It ended working out just great, though. And even though he didn't have nearly as much energy as usual, he was still his happy little self. Jake was thrilled to wake up to a room full of balloons! He spent quite a bit of time chasing the balloons around that morning and over the next few days.

Jake and I spent the rest of the day hanging out around the house, making his cake, and playing outside. Matt came home a little early so he could join in on the celebrations, too. Jakey got a kick out of opening all of his presents and playing with all of his new toys. The biggest hits were the $1 light-up bouncy ball and his much-loved stuffed golden retriever. Jake is obsessed with puppies, and gets the most excited over the golden retriever variety. Trust me, we're working on Matt for the real deal. :)

Jake beamed when we sang "Happy Birthday" so we repeated it a few times for his enjoyment. Then he had his first bites of cake and did a decent amount of damage, especially considering that his fever was 101 at that moment. Once the yawns started, we let him play in the bath for awhile. Baths are his favorite. And then instead of bedtime, we let him stay up to play a little longer. You only have one first birthday, you know? Many rounds of peek-a-boo later, we snuck in a few more cuddles and then finally put our tired little party animal in bed.

Happy birthday, baby boy! We love you more than you'll ever know.