Seth Turns 1!

Here are pictures of Seth all throughout the day of his first birthday.
First, here is a picture of Seth when he woke up in the morning. Elise, JJ and I sang Happy Birthday to him, which made him smile and jump. We sang to him often throughout the day and he just loved being the center of attention and hearing his name in the song.

Here is Seth eating his breakfast of a doughnut. I really only let him have a few bites, then a bunch of grapes, his favorite fruit. Notice how much
JJ and Seth look alike! Especially those eyebrows.

In the morning Seth and I went to his friend Drew's house for a playgroup. Seth and Thomas (turning 3) had a birthday, so we had cupcakes and sang to them. Thanks to Kelli's mom Joan for making the cute mini cupcakes and making the day special!

Here's some of the group at the table enjoying the cupcakes. Starting from the left are Grant, Grace, Seth, Drew, Connor, Will, and Anden (OK, the last three are my best guesses..I can't really tell them apart in this picture!).

Here are Elise and Seth at lunchtime. Seth was enjoying peas, his current favorite veggie, and Cheerios with peanut butter. I've been waiting for him to turn 1 so he can have peanut butter with lunch. So much easier for Mom! And he loved it. I made little sandwiches with two Cheerios and peanut butter in the middle. Seth was intrigued by how two Cheerios stuck together. It is so easy to be an amazing Mom to a baby!

Ok, on to supper time. While we were eating hot dogs, Elise pulled out a tooth! This is her second one to come out, and she made sure I got a picture for the blog. She especially wants Grammie to notice! This makes Elise feel very grown up because JJ has only lost two teeth also. For some reason JJ was excited about this. Elise woke up to $1 under her pillow, which she is saving for something, but I forget what. JJ and Elise are both little savers.

After supper Seth opened his presents from Elise and JJ. Elise got him a Jack-In-The-Box. Seth loved it! He can't figure out yet how to turn the handle by himself, but Eesie helps him. I think part of why he loves this toy is that it plays Pop Goes The Weasel when you turn the handle. That is his favorite song that I always had to sing to him to get him in his car seat without throwing a fit, and changing his diaper. Then I have to "pop" him on the belly at the right point in the song. It makes him laugh and stop throwing a fit about whatever it is he doesn't like at the moment. Thank goodness he is growing out of that stage already, but he still loves the song.

JJ got Seth the little wooden hammer and nails set. JJ had to demonstrate, of course. Seth caught on right away, although his aim needs work!

Admittedly not a wonderful picture of me, but I'm using it anyway because there are always so few pictures of me with Seth because I'm usually behind the camera. Seth was enjoying watching Elise and JJ "test drive" his new toys.

It is a tradition in our family to do a "ride on" toy at Wal-Mart on the 1st birthday. JJ and Elise both rode the pony for the first time at the Wal-Mart in Ashland on their first birthdays. Shawano's Wal-Mart doesn't have a pony, but they do have a JayJay the JetPlane, which is just as good! Seth wasn't so sure about it at first, but then got right into it and was pushing the buttons and grinning. We gave him a second ride because he was loving it so much!

I didn't catch his big smile, but you can see he was liking it.

Wednesday, JJ took Seth in for show and tell since it was close to his birthday. JJ had been planning this for a long time. The kids were all excited to see him, since I had been bringing him with me once a week to help out in the classroom when he was very small. I had to stop when Seth stopped sleeping in his car seat when I was there. Seth was happy to see the kids, too! They asked JJ questions about Seth, and then took turns rolling him a globe bouncy ball. Seth showed off his butt-scooting and crawling for them. Thanks to Miss Stuber for allowing JJ to show off his little brother!

From left to right top row: Haven, Santy, Mikayla, Caitlin, Riley, Dawson, Thor
bottom row: Maya, Cameron, Seth, JJ, Karissa (in the corner)