Bjorn is 1!

Bjorn celebrated his first birthday back in mid-May. I was hoping to post pictures from his party by the end of May, but here it is nearly the end of June already and I am just getting around to it. Somehow time flies when you're busy trying to keep a three-year-old and a one-year-old reasonably well-fed, well-rested, and happy. Go figure!

Bjorn's birthday this year fell on a Saturday, so we got to spend the late afternoon and early evening of his big day celebrating with all of our in-town family members. The weather cooperated, and we had a great time hanging out in our *fully fenced-in* (thank you, Aaron!) back yard when we weren't inside eating Buca takeout and birthday cake. Leif was pleased that his little brother is not yet capable of opening his own presents, so he needed considerable assistance (which Leif was very happy to provide).

Hanging out in the yard with Grandpaw G.

Practicing stair climbing with Grandma B.

Leif was excited when Auntie Tickle Monster arrived!

Bjorn driving the big-boy car (a gift Leif received on his first birthday two years ago)

Another fancy (ha ha) birthday cake, courtesy of yours truly. This is the traditional spice cake made with baby food prunes and pears that I made for Leif on his first birthday.

Bjorn approved of the cake selection!

The birthday boy accidentally showing the correct number of fingers to indicate his new age :-)

Thank you to everyone for coming and making Bjorn's birthday such a special day!

Playing ~ 11 months

I took the above pictures because I was struck by the similarity between how Bjorn plays with this toy at home (turning it over and spinning the wheels with his hands) and Leif's recent obsession with turning over all the Cozy Coupes and tricycles at preschool to examine their wheels. It looks like I've got a couple of future mechanics on my hands!

And I don't know what's so magical about the space underneath dining room tables, but Leif and Bjorn sure both like it. I can't blame them -- I remember feeling the same way when I was a kid!

Adventures in self-feeding

Around 11 months, Bjorn reached that fun stage where he wants to feed himself everything -- including yogurt and oatmeal -- preferably with his hands, although occasionally with a spoon. I can usually manage to slip some spoonfuls of food into his mouth relatively neatly in between his own crammed fistfuls, but he still winds up with food smeared in some unexpected places (e.g., eyelashes, ears, the top of his head) by the end of the meal much of the time.

Hard to get messy with puffs! But apparently, not nearly as much fun....

Meeting Uncle Eric and Aunt Linda

I have pictures to post from Bjorn's first birthday party in mid-May, but before I do that, I suppose I had better get some of the highlights from when he was 11 months old up on the blog! Catch up time....

One highlight from that month was Bjorn meeting his Great-Uncle Eric (Rick) and Great-Aunt Linda for the first time. We were happy to be able to see them while they were in town for Uncle Rick's work. Bjorn seems to have finally developed a *little* bit of stranger anxiety, so he wasn't quite his usual smiley self the whole time, but he did let both Rick and Linda hold him for a photo op without much fuss.