"Happy Birthday To You"

Today Daniel turns 1. At 9:58pm to be exact. It's pretty crazy. Thinking that at this time last night I was fully in labour, pushing to get him out really. It still seems surreal at times. This year has gone by so quickly. It has had its ups and downs. It has been very challenging at times, especially in the early days when Daniel was not feeding well and other times when he is sick and I have no clue what to do. It has been fun - going on adventures with my little family, playing games and having fun. It has been tiring - not having much downtime to myself besides when Daniel has his naps (which I am fortunate he is pretty good at). It has been joyful - I just love watching him learn, grow, develop, and enjoy all that is around him. It has been tricky but also a uniting experience between James and I - we really are a team when it comes to Daniel (besides night time wake ups when James can sleep through them). I love that decisions are made together. I love that James loves hanging out with Daniel and has embraced being a Daddy. It has been a time where it really makes me appreciate all that our parents did (and still do) for us and how they raised us. 

I am so proud of my little man. I am so proud of his temperament. I love that he is happy a lot of the time. I love watching him problem solve. It's not often that he gets frustrated, instead he just keeps trying until he game do what he wants to do. I love that he loves his family - both those near and far. I love that he seems to enjoy being at church - this Sunday we took his maraca so that he could join in the music which was very cute! I love that he is happy to play by himself, but he is also happy to play with others. I love that he loves to laugh. I can't wait to see what this next year holds! I'm sure it will go just as quickly and I will be wondering where the time went.

So what did we do today? James worked from home today so that he could see Daniel more for his birthday which was lovely. Our day started with saying bye to Aunty Jen, Maddie and Nana J :(. It was so lovely having them stay with us for a little while. I wish that Daniel was fine for the whole time and that some virus didn't get him at the start of their trip, but atleast he became happy and his normal self toward the end. But before saying bye, he received some presents.
 

Opening the card from Aunty Jen, Maddie and Uncle Ryan

Looking at the card from Nana J and Boompa

Daddy helping unwrap

Yay for Bunnikins dinner set

We then said our goodbyes before Nana J, Aunty Jen and Maddie headed to the airport.

Kisses from Maddie

Cuddles with Aunty Jen

Cuddles with Nana J

Maddie is ready to go!

James and I then gave Daniel his birthday present - a fold out lounge! He took to it like a fish in water. He climbed on it, sat on it, lay on it, bounced on it. He seemed to love it which was great!

After a good morning nap he had a yummy lunch of hummus on bread and then mandarins. Yum, yum. He enjoyed feeding himself the bread.

He then spent some more time playing and reading books. He even chose to read on his couch!

After another good afternoon nap we hopped into the car and headed to Nana and Poppy's place for dinner. First there were some cuddles and presents.

Happy birthday Daniel

For me?

Oscar helping Daniel open his present

We then sang Happy Birthday and blew out the candle for the cake because Nana wasn't going to be there for dinner.

The cake was kindly made to Oscar's request - a smiling face because Daniel is always smiling and it needed to have blonde hair. It's lovely that Oscar sees Daniel as a happy baby. Good cake making Nana.
After dinner it was then time to light the candle again, sing again and blow out the candle again. Daniel was keen to have some cake!

Gimme gimme

This time when we offered cake to Daniel he picked up the whole cake slice and took a bite. It was still an unimpressed reaction though.

Yummy

Actually, get it off my hands

I'll try just a little bit

So still no real progress with cake eating (which isn't a bad thing at all!) We then had a bit more of a play and then Daniel 'helped' Poppy pack up.

We then headed home for milk and then bed. Hopefully he will have a great nights sleep.

Happy 1st birthday baby boy! We love you so much and can't wait to see what this next year holds for you. Thanks for all the laughs, tears and fun times.