Our Baby is One!

This past Thursday was Tate's first birthday. It's hard to believe that it has already been a year since we had him. He is such a sweet little boy and has brought so much joy to our family. Here are some of the reasons we love Tate:
He loves to smile and laugh and gives a big grin to everyone he meets
He loves to cuddle and give big hugs (I mean it, he grabs around your neck and squeezes with all his might. He loves hugging!)
He has the cutest waddle/walk ever and is constantly on the move
He likes to figure out his own solutions to problems (like the time he spent 5 minutes trying to get the toy stroller up on the couch to push and finally succeeded--at which point I immediately took him down because it was dangerous)
He's starting to communicate better with pointing and gestures (and squeals)
He loves to have fun and play "chase" with Grant
He loves to read books and be read to
He's basically just an all-around sweet boy and we just love him!!

Grant was probably more excited for the birthday "party" than Tate was. Grant did a nice job helping to open Tate's presents and wished Tate a happy birthday about 20 times. He's a great big brother.

One of the ladies at Ryan's school wanted to make our family some super-hero capes. She made us each one and we decided to unwrap them at Tate's party so we all (especially Grant) could have something to open. Here are the boys in their capes. Ryan and I each have one too and so far Grant has requested we wear them every evening and "fly" around the house.

Tate got his own cake and enjoyed it very much. He was a pretty clean eater, too. He mostly crammed fistful after fistful of frosting in his mouth and laughed when we asked him if it was good. Grant enjoyed huge bites of cake and ice cream at the table next to Tate and gave a mid-bite "m-hm" when asked if it was good. What's a guy to do? There's just no time to talk when there's delicious cake and ice cream to be eaten. Such sweet boys!! I plan on posting video for the grandparents in the next couple of days.