Connor is 1!!

October 23rd marked 1 year for Connor! I can't believe he has grown so fast. I really did try to appreciate every phase, every stage throughout this year. The quiet nights of rocking and singing him to sleep, the first smiles, the first steps, the first words, are all things I told myself (in the moment) I never want to forget. But all these phases quickly pass as his learning continues and progresses. Now he is 14 months old, running everywhere he goes, adding new words to his vocabulary every day. And we love him more than ever.

On Saturday, October 23 we had a party for him at our apartment in El Segundo. In attendance was my family from Orange County (Mom, Dad, Claire, Sterling, Jaxson, Ady, and Jono), my Mother-in-law Brenda from Utah (she arrived in town that day to watch Connor for me the week before my PE Exam), Brad's cousin Jake and his wife and daughter, Brook and Alice, from LA, and our friends Christine and Matt Smith and their son Braden from Orange County.

We started the party at 4 p.m. at Kansas Park down the street from our apartment. All the kids (Connor - 12 months, Alice - 15 months, Jaxson - 18 months, and Braden - 2 1/2) had a great time playing in the sand, sliding down the slides, and throwing balls around. After playing for about an hour, we moved inside to eat dinner (burgers and dogs), open presents, and eat cake.

The theme of the party was dinosaurs (partly because Connor's nickname for a while was T-Rex) and all the kids got a party favor paleontology (plastic) bucket with a shovel, a few toy dinosaurs, fossils (rubber bouncy balls with toy dinosaurs in the middle), (pop)rocks, dinosaur (easter) eggs filled with candy (M&Ms and jelly beans), dinosaur droppings (tootsie rolls), and bubbles (just because every kid loves bubbles). It was fun to see all the kids playing with their toys.

The kids had a great time helping Connor play with his new toys. He got so many new toys - blocks, cars, trains, several books, clothes, a little toy barn with animals and people, musical instruments (maracas, tambourine, mini symbols, and triangle) to make plenty of noise, which he LOVES, the list goes on and on! We aren't going to need to buy toys for him for a LONG time. We still haven't pulled out half of the stuff he was given. Thank you everyone! And Happy Birthday Connor Baby!








Even though I think this is the most unflattering picture I have ever seen of my child, I think it's hilarious. So I had to include it.






And here are a few pictures to show how much Connor has grown his first year of life. It's crazy to look back 1 year ago. I forget how small he was.

Newborn

1 week

2 weeks

3 weeks

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

12 months - Birthday boy!

And now at 14 months