One year old Micah

Can you believe Micah is ONE year old now?  He is such a sweet baby boy, and we love him to bits and pieces.  Here's some of what he's been up to lately...

Stats: Micah visited his doctor last Monday, June 25th for his 1 year old well check.  She was very pleased with all that he's doing, and despite a little cold that he caught, he's perfectly healthy!  :)  Here are his stats:  Height - 30 1/5 inches... (although when we measured him standing at home, he was exactly 31 1/4 inches!  So I'm not so sure how accurate the laying down measurement is at the doctor's office, since he was so wiggly?  Weight - 25 pounds, 9 ounces (95%), and Head circumference 48.5 centimeters (98%).  

Eating: Micah is loving his table foods now.  Although he still eats some baby food, some of his favorite table foods are: cheddar or string cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken, toast, bananas, strawberries, yogurt, grapes (peeled & diced!), watermelon, applesauce, oatmeal, beans, rice, crackers & trader joes puffed cheddar popcorn.  Some of his favorite treats are those freeze dried yogurt bites, and cheese crunchies (just like big brother Sam loved at that age!)  Basically, this kid will put anything in his mouth, edible or not.  Micah also still enjoys nursing, and has also grown to like drinking water from his cup.  

Moving: You'll be finding Micah in lots of places these days.  He is still crawling everywhere and loves to chase and be chased while crawling.  Last Sunday, we took Micah to the San Diego County Fair Baby Derby crawling contest! I had such high hopes and dreams for my little Micah man!  Yes, I had been looking forward to this moment for MONTHS and months.  I was SO EXCITED because I have memories of watching my sister crawl in this same contest when she was a baby - and she got first place, I believe!  I could just picture Micah crawling so fast to his mama, and see us holding the grand prize and blue ribbon in our hands!  :)  Well, I think someone forgot to tell Micah about the plan, because he didn't take one crawling step.  Nope.  Just sat there at the starting line... watched the other babies start crawling away... and then started to cry himself.  :)  Hehe... It's okay though, he still earned the third place ribbon for his heat.  So proud of you Micah!  :)  

Micah is also cruising along furniture and walls like crazy.  He climbs up stairs, stools, or anything else the right height to get on top of.  But his favorite place is outside.  He is getting pretty good at saying "out" when we go outside.  :)  Below you can see a new place that he somehow got himself into, to reach the sound machine buttons... 

Fun: Speaking of buttons, his favorite activity is pushing them.  If you tell him that there is a button, anywhere, he will reach for it and push it.  He especially loves it if something happens when he pushes them.  Like toy cars that light up or make sounds.  :)  Maybe that's why he loves remotes so much?  

Talking: So, he also is talking a lot now - mostly baby babble.  But its so cute!  The words we can make out are "dada", "mama", "out", "all done" (which sounds more like "a-da" when he says it), and "num-num" (his word for food, though it sounds more like "nuh-nuh").  Another super cute trick, is that he blows raspberries to make the sound of a car brumming along.  He holds a car in his hand, sticks out his tongue, and starts making the car sound as he pushes his car along the floor.... so darn cute!

Style: Micah received his first haircut today, June 30th.  He got a haircut by Mommy, and was such a good boy during the whole episode.  We sat him in a little booster seat on the floor, with a handful of cars, yogurt bites and graham crackers to keep him happy.  There was also a Baby Einstein on the TV all about cars and trucks and things that go.  Here are some pictures showing it all...

"Do you think I need a haircut?  I better get one soon before Mommy keeps this up!"  Andrew likes to call his hair "business up front; party in the back."  :)  

Moments before the big haircut... His hair was officially touching his eyelashes!  

Such a good boy... this is 1/2 way through the haircut, loving his show and treats.  

Happy boy afterwards!  "Aren't I so handsome?"  

My handsome boy, after its been messed up a bit...  much shorter!  And aren't his eyes just pure chocolate?!  

 And speaking of eyes, here are my emeralds.  :)   

 What else could a Mommy ask for?  :) 

Happy Birthday Micah!

Today is Micah's first birthday!  :)  And, I think he knew it too, or at least he wanted to remind us, because he thoughtfully woke up and started crying just a few minutes after he was born in the middle of the night last night, just so someone could go and see him and sleepily wish him a Happy Birthday.  Haha.

We celebrated his first birthday on Father's day with both families.  :)  Here's a shot of Andrew and his two boys on Father's Day.  They are wearing new matching outfits from Auntie Amy & Uncle Nick - so cute!  

The whole day was lots of fun!  Back when Andrew and I first started planning out Micah's birthday party we instantly knew what the theme ought to be:  cars.  Micah loves cars.  Not necessarily the Cars movie kind of cars, but anything with wheels, really.  He takes after his brother in that area.  :)

So here were the invitations that we made & sent out (back & front):

 And I put together some little-blue-car-themed party decorations... (the MICAH was actually saved from his baby shower... I just cut out and added the "IS ONE!" in matching paper.  :)  

 Little car cutouts made for the streamers

 And we even designed little water bottle labels that said "Micah is one!" and "Happy Birthday!" 

 For an activity for the kids, we had each one paint their own unfinished wooden car.  I love these cars and found them on etsy.  I painted this one for Micah to match his party invitations.  

And here are the kids each painting their own cars...

The finished art  :)  

After the cars were dry, the kiddos had fun racing them all down the slide...  

I had an idea in my head of what I wanted his birthday cake to look like.  I was so excited that it came out just how I pictured it!  :)   If you want to know how I did it, just ask... it was really a whole lot easier than I thought it was going to be!   

Then it was time for the cake.  He was a little fussy until we all started singing "Happy Birthday."  Then he quieted right down!   

 To our surprise, he totally dug right in to his cupcake!  No politeness here!  

 The cake was pretty much destroyed when he was done with it.  

 We took a few pictures with his cute party hat on...  still enjoying cake!  

 All done!  

 And now here are a few shots of Micah, all bright-eyed on his birthday this morning, ready to open a present.  

 Oh boy!  A new remote control!  He knew exactly where to put it... with all the others.  This boy LOVES remotes, and anything with buttons to push.  

 Later in the day, enjoying a few more new gifts...  (he's munching on another toy remote) and playing with some new cars.  

 His first pair of sunglasses!  How adorable!  

 We love you sweet baby Micah!  You light up our lives and keep us on our toes!  

Thank you God for creating this precious baby boy and allowing us to take care of him.  

Brothers & Flowers and Birthdays

Last Tuesday was my 32nd birthday!  Andrew, Samuel & Micah each got me a lovely bouquet of flowers.  These were my favorite (from Andrew).  Peonies!  There were peonies in my wedding bouquet.  They were just stunning.  We had a lovely time celebrating with my family last Sunday (lunch at Corner Bakery & Legoland Waterpark!) then had a nice birthday on Tuesday and went out to a new place for dinner, Hacienda de Vega, which had the most perfect outdoor eating area.  (Sorry, no pictures!)  This past weekend we had a fun time celebrating with Andrew's family up in Valencia.  Its nice when your birthday celebrations get spread out over a whole week!  

 More on flowers...  we woke up this morning to discover that Samuel's potted wildflowers had bloomed!  Aren't they gorgeous?  He and I had fun a couple months ago planting some wildflower seeds, and after waiting and watering almost every day, here they are!  

More backyard fun... last week Sam was pretending he was driving a train... and we hooked on another bike & his scooter as the train cars following behind him.  :)  

 And Micah got an early birthday present... his very own Lightning McQueen ride along.  Once Micah figures out how to move on this thing, I'm sure Lightning & Mater will be having races around the house.  :)  Love it!  

San Clemente

We spent another lovely Memorial Day weekend camping at San Clemente State Beach.  The boys loved all the time outdoors... riding bikes, playing at the beach, running around with cousins, flying kites, and enjoying the campfire.  :)  

Here are a few of the photo highlights!

We were thankful to have this nice new tent with plenty of room for Micah to crawl around and play. 

And a few shots from the beach... 

 

 

What a fun family tradition!  :)