Beep! Beep! J.D. is one!!!

It is still hard to believe that J.D. turned one last week. This past year has flown by! My sweet baby is turning more and more into a little boy every day. Last weekend, we had a bunch of sweet friends over to celebrate J.D.'s special day. It was a blast! We are so thankful for all of the wonderful family and friends in our life who love on our kids. It was fun to celebrate with them!

J.D.'s party was all about cars and trucks. He loves cars and anything with wheels, so we went with that for our theme. Everything from the cupcakes to the activities to the decorations had to do with cars and trucks. It was fun to put together a party for a boy this time! The kids all got to play outside and ride all sorts of trikes, bikes, scooters, cars, etc. It was a beautiful day, so it was perfect for an outdoor party.

(The non-dairy cupcakes for our sweet allergy boy made by the "Kelly Bakery")

A few facts about this big one-year old:

• As was mentioned before, he loves cars and trucks. He loves getting to sit in our cars and pretend to drive and will never pass up an opportunity to ride in his cars or trikes outside...especially a ride in Anna Lee's power wheel car!
• He also loves balls. "Ball" is one of his first words at this point. He loves to play "catch" back and forth with anyone who is willing.
• J.D. is still allergic to dairy as far as we know.
• Over the past 6 months, J.D. had a major bout with ear infections. Because of this, we put tubes in his ears right before his birthday. It has been amazing the difference we have already seen. His ear infections had greatly affected his hearing, so the tubes have done wonders already for his language and sound development. He is making so many more sounds and words already and it is like a cloud was lifted off of him. He is eating better and sleeping more soundly (sometimes)
• There is no one that J.D. loves more than Anna Lee. He adores her. They love to play together and have even started bickering over toys. (They aren't old enough for that yet!) J.D. will giggle at anything Anna Lee does to make him laugh.
• J.D. loves to be outside. He would stay out there all day if I let him. I often find him at the back door trying to get out. He loves to swing, ride in his cars, play ball, and just crawl around in the grass and dirt. I am learning to get grass stains out already!
• He is close to walking. He hasn't taken a first step yet, but he is close. He can crawl at an amazingly fast pace!
• He is extremely coordinated, balanced, and quick (completely opposite of his sister!). He is our little climber. He loves to climb on and explore everything (even the toilet).
• He is so "boy". I have been amazed to see the difference in our two kids already, even as young as they are. Anna Lee is as girly as they come, with pink and princesses around at all times, and J.D. is as boy as they come, with balls, trucks and dirt all around. His favorite two places to play---out of ALL of the toys in our house--are the toilet and the kitchen trash. WHY???
• J.D. LOVES music more than any kid I have ever seen. If music ever starts playing, he immediately starts dancing. He and Anna Lee are in a little family music class here in Dallas, and J.D. loves it. He particularly loves to play all of the instruments.

It is hard to imagine what life was like without our sweet J.D. He brings our family such joy. Happy Birthday, little buddy! We love you!