Happy Birthday TJ!!!

Yesterday was TJ's 1st birthday.
I can't hardly believe he's one, and I can't hardly believe how different everything is now than it was a year ago. The past year has been a crazy one, but it's also been one of the happiest ones ever. TJ is such a pleasure. I'm so happy he's mine!

But... at what point do I need to stop referring to him as "the baby"?

Grandma and Grandpa Glade and Great-Grandpa Compton drove down from Wichita to spend TJ's special day with him. Here he is unwrapping his first gift with dad's help. What could it be?




Grandma and Grandpa's gift was so fun to climb and play on top of, it was almost a shame to open it and wreck the fun.



I made TJ a carrot cake for his birthday. I think he liked it:

The Wheely Cow

In case you do not know, this is a wheely cow:
Best toy ever. TJ loves his wheely cow. It's made to ride on, but TJ pushes it all through the house backward. It is his favorite toy--mine too, for that matter. We are always finding it in funny and strange places, usually surrounded by chaos and great messes. In our house, the cow is a harbinger of destruction.









Psst:TJ's birthday is tomorrow. Don't tell him, but he's getting a wheely bee that's the size larger.















The author of all these messes:
And yes, he can open all drawers, cabinets, hutches, etc. Disaster. My bathroom cabinets are his favorite.


And here is a video to demonstrate why I have been too busy to blog lately:


It's amazing how fast he learned to walk. One day Rob put him down, and he just started to walk. He took about 8 steps and fell down. From that point on, it's taken less than a week to be able to walk across a room without falling.

And one more about the cow: