May 29

Who knew this would be the birthday of our first born son? 

I am so thankful for E-man and all of the giggles, joy and love he has brought into our lives.  Whether he's playing the air guitar or swinging a pretend bat at a pretend ball or racing his shadow or singing to Psalty in the back of the car ... he is full of life and fun.  He loves "juice" and "cheese" and "making music" and the "Twins" and "balls" and going to the "park".  He says the cutest phrases like "Look mama!  Plane!"  or "Mama - where are you?!" or "I did it!" This past year of his life we were grateful to watch him ...

... enjoy being at the cabin with the Manders family for a week, bonding with his cousins and family.
... have a blast experiencing the beach in Ocean City, NJ with the Ridder clan.
...love swinging and being at the park/outside.
...take his first steps between August and September by himself which quickly turned into running everywhere.
...cut most of his teeth slowly but surely.
...survive a nasty case of the hives while visiting Jake and Jill and Lexi in CO.
...eat more and more foods and survive allergy testing in the fall after his hives episode.
....master climbing up and down stairs.
...love spending time with his family - Grandmas, Grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins.
...develop his language skills like crazy!  It's so fun (usually) to know what's going on his head.
...grasp the concept of 'holding hands' when in parking lots allowing him more independence and saving our arms from carrying him every time we get out of the car.
...figure out how to turn on the CD player and listen to his 'tunes'.
...develop favorite songs ... like "Sing, Sing, Sing"(Chris Tomlin), "Wa Wa" (Psalty), "Mess of Me" (Switchfoot), Now or Never (HSM3), Sara Groves CD Fireflies and Songs, Fernando Ortega (calms him down in Gamma's car) ... and this is just to name a few.
... go to his first session of Story Time at our local library.
...develop a love for sports, especially baseball and tee-ball.
... recognize the faces of his family and friends and learn how to say their names.
...show us that he is an includer and likes it when everyone in the room is doing something intentional together (like dancing on the elmo mat ...).
...begin to be aware of kids close to his age ... some favorite friends - Maizy, Nora, Gabriella (lots of girls! :)).
...loving big kids and running around with them.
...hanging out in the church nursery and in the past year he has figured out he doesn't have to cry when we leave him there (PTL!).
...explore the Children's Museum and Zoo and really like 'buttons' and 'dinos'.
...play many musical instruments - like the piano and guitar.
...appreciate TV like Praise Baby, Sesame Street, Curious George, Super Why and a show about dinosaurs (of course this is in moderation but I think his language has taken off since I've allowed him to watch occasionally in the morning when I'm getting ready).

These are just a few of the milestones we have enjoyed being a part of as his parents.  E-man - we love you to pieces and we look forward to watching you grow this year!