Happy 1st Birthday!

My baby turned 1 almost a week ago and I'm still trying to grasp how a year could have flown by in such a flash... I am sure that the years to come will continue to move at a similar pace and it is up to me to adjust to this new chapter and pace.  Zaiya is thriving and we are so grateful!  :)  At his 1 year check up he weighed in at 20lbs and is keeping steady around the 20th percentile - the doctor said he is growing great!  He is a walking machine now - so proud of himself and confident in his new skills, it is so heart-warming to see him experience this joy!  He is talking too!  He can say "more" and "Da-da" for daddy, the closest he's gotten to Mommy other than the occasional "maba" is "baba" which I am fine with :).  He is also close to saying "All done" which now sounds more like "Ada" :).  He is trying so hard to repeat our words - on our drives home at night we talk and sing and it is so awesome to hear him try to repeat everything I say or sing.  It's priceless - I just wish we didn't have to be in the car while having so much fun so I could see his little grin in action!

The following pictures are in no particular order - I really can't put them in order anymore.  I'm incapable.  :)  I hope you enjoy them, though - some fun moments over Zaiya's 11th month!


We had a little get together for his birthday, which was fabulous.  I thought about having a music theme - but boy was I in for it as I started searching for party supplies.  I don't think I'll ever get over it or adjust to the madness that I encountered!  I settled on a star/simplicity theme - we decorated the house, and by we I mean Auntie Jen, Zaiya's fairy godmother :) who we would both be lost without - with giant stars and some simple rainbow colored decorations that were also used to celebrate baby Connor's 1st birthday - it was perfect!  As you can see below, he loved being the star of the show!

My friend Jenni made her famous labor inducing cake balls for Zaiya's first birthday to properly commemorate the mass consumption of cake balls that occurred less than 24 hours before my water broke about a year ago!   She made an extra large one for Zaiya, and as you can see, he loved it!  He kept his mouth glued to it just like this - for a solid five minutes.  Every few seconds we saw his jaw going to work - but man he wasn't letting anyone lay a hand on his cake ball!  Like mother, like son!  This boy has some great taste, for sure!  

My little rock star!

Hair slicked back... I mean - is he ready for DC or what?  Lol!

Helping Daddy in the kitchen! 

 Okay.  How could I not share this?  There are 3 in the series, actually.  He is a climbing fool and not only does it allow you to see just how adorable his little booty is, but you can see how determined he is to get what he wants... also how much he looks like a little Incredible Hulk!!

 Zaiya got to go to a museum of science for the first time for Landon's birthday party - he loved it as you can see!

 I just love this picture.  I mean - Connor looks utterly freaked out by how in love Zaiya seems to be w/his reflection!  These two are quite a pair!

 There really are no words for how sweet this little face is!!!

Perfect.  :)  Rare.  ;)

Little thinker... wonder where he gets this from...

Tough little dude - man if this isn't a flash into the future.  He looks way too old here - I can't take it.

My happy place.

More happy.  :)

 Helping my lil' buddy open some very thoughtful presents from great friends - he was very excited about this part of the party!

Trying on Daddy's hat!

Baby's first birthday... also baby's first cake ball!  Fabulous creation by a fabulous friend :)  Thank you, Auntie Jenni!

Walking practice before bedtime :)  Hilarious to watch him catch himself!

He was literally attached to the cake ball for quite some time... 

Daddy is so silly!!

 

 He's started riding on toys - every time I see him on one I think, "Is he really big enough to do that?"  :)

 Little cutie.

Baby's first chair that fits just right... and MAN is he in love with it!

 Star of the show... :)  And loving it!

Race car track was the big gift of the night, apparently - something all three cousins were VERY excited about.

I don't have a picture of it yet, but Zaiya is hilarious when he plays with this thing - he somehow thinks that he needs to crawl inside the spinning wheel in the middle.  Every time he plays with it he ends up sitting in the middle looking up at me like, "Mommy?  Why isn't it spinning anymore?"  I wish you could all see it - it's pretty priceless!

 Birthday balloons!

Hanging out in my crib!

Happy 1st Birthday to my little star, my whole world... :)