One!

(WARNING: LONG POST. Read at your own risk.)

THE BIRTHDAY:

August 10th was an exciting day at our home.... it was the big FIRST BIRTHDAY for my baby boy! I can't believe that a year ago, he was just a tiny little guy. Now he is getting so big, is oh so mobile, and has so much personality!

We we originally supposed to be in Lake Powell during his birthday, but circumstances changed and the trip was cancelled. So instead we got to have both of our families over to help us celebrate!

Because Bronson is allergic to egg, I have been learning to bake eggless cakes and goodies. I practiced making an eggless cake the week before his birthday. I wanted to test it out incase the mix didn't work out well (yeah, I don't have the energy right now to try a cake from scratch, so I was just hoping that the egg replacer stuff I bought would be compatible with Ms. Crocker or Mr. Heinz)... plus I wanted to try out the giant cupcake mold that I bought and make sure that the cake didn't stick or anything. Everything turned out just great.

So on the morning of his birthday, I started early and made a chocolate cake. When I pulled it out of the oven, this is what I had:

A big sunken mess.

So back to Smith's for a different cake mix. Luckily Funfetti worked (that's what I had tried before) and I was able to make a successful Birthday cake.

**Side note about egg replacer: I bought EnerG Egg Replacer from Whole Foods. I decided to go this route instead of trying applesauce or some other natural replacer. I have since learned more about using gelatin to replace eggs in baking and will try that sometime as well. But my experience with EnerG is that is works well and doesn't change the flavor of the baked good at all. The only noticable difference is that the cake doesn't rise as much and is a lot more dense, but is quite moist and still tasty!**

Anyway, the giant cupcake turned out super cute, but I didn't like the way the plain cake looked on the bottom (that's why I wanted to do chocolate because I thought it might look cuter than the white cake), so I used tin foil to make a giant cupcake wrapper to match the smaller cupcakes I had made for everyone else. Turned out pretty darn cute if Ido say so myself! I also had fun making the cupcake toppers and the pennant birthday banner. Everyone brought food and we had a great BBQ potluck dinner!

Thanks everyone for the generous gifts, food, and for being a part of my baby.... wait, BIG boy's day!

Excited about his big day!

Everyone gathered for presents!

"Happy Birthday to YOUUUU!"

He mostly liked the sprinkles and wasn't interest in the cake! (I love the sprinkle stuck to his chest!)

Quick family photo

Getting sugared out...

"I'm DONE! Get it out of my face!"

After the festivities, we moved to the backyard for a little marshmallow roasting!

A bedtime bottle while sitting next to the fire.

THE 12 MONTH CHECKUP & UPDATES:

Poor baby caught a cold the weekend after his birthday and had a super severe asthma attack.... Lucky for us, we already had his 12 month well-child visit scheduled for Monday. So after a long weekend of being unable to breathe and of being so sick that he just sat in my lap for hours at a time (which NEVER happens....), we went in and talked to the Dr. about what we could do to get his asthma under control.

Now besides just being on daily Singulair and a rescue nebulizer for severe attacks, we are also on a twice daily nebulizer for preventative measures. Let me tell you how fun it is adding the extra breathing treatments every day to his routine. It's not. But if it will help him in the long run, it is worth it.

His weight has not gone up much from his 9 month visit (in fact, it went down from 2 months ago when I brought him in because I thought he possibly had pneumonia). My boy now weighs 22 lbs (41%) and is 30 inches tall (47%), but his head still continues to climb the charts and is now at 99%! He looks like quite the little bobble head! He has been a super picky eater and didn't want to be spoon fed anymore. So now we are trying a larger variety of finger foods and he is eating quite a bit! I am expecting a nice little growth spurt here soon!

Here are some of the changes we have seen in the past little bit:

• He has finally figured out how to crawl on his hands and knees, but still prefers the army crawl if he is in a hurry to get somewhere!
• Still no walking. He cruises along the furniture at rapid speeds and will stand up without holding on to anything. Occasionally he will attempt a small step, but it frightens him and he sits back down. I am PRAYING that he starts walking before baby #2 arrives. It is getting so hard to carry and lift him.
• He LOVES grapes (he can't shove them in fast enough), cottage cheese, string cheese, hot dogs, zucchini, and an assortment of other finger foods. And when he is done eating, he thinks it is pretty funny to slyly drop the remainder of his food over the side of his tray.
• He likes to imitate certain sounds I make. When I hum a little tune, he hums back at me. If I click my tongue, he will do it back.
• He still doesn't wave bye-bye or blow kisses, but thinks it is hilarious when I do it to daddy in the mornings when he leaves for work. I'm waiting for him to join me instead of just laughing as I ridiculously make these gestures.
• He will soon have 8 teeth... he has two teeth next to his bottom teeth that are on the verge of breaking through!
• He went from LOVING bath time, to hating it (I got pretty good at scrubbing him down and rinsing everything in 30 seconds flat), to now liking them again.

I love my little boy so much and am so thankful for all that he has taught me, for all the smiles he has given me, and for how absolutely happy he has made me this past year! Can't wait to see what the next year brings!