Happy Birthday! *sniffles*

Yesturday was Patrick's birthday.

My last little baby.

My "Super Tiny Guy".

We had a good day. :)

We had a big breakfast of scrambled eggs and sausage. (that's "big" for us, because most morinings it's either cereal or toast) Patrick had extra special birthday bananas and cheerios. ;)

Then we headed for the zoo! It was a rare sunny, mild-temp day in the middle of February, so there was no where else TO go! Who wants to be inside on a day like that? Of course, we anticipated all the rest of the region having that same thought, so we got to the zoo as close to opening-time as we could. The parking lot was already half-full when we got there, and the line for tickets was just starting to form. When we left several hours later the parking lot was FULL and they were bussing people in from the over-flow lot a mile up the freeway, and the line for tickets was loooooooong.

Raia and Errol probably had more fun than Patrick did, since he hasn't really noticed "animals" yet, but we gave him lots of run-around time and he was a happy little guy. :)

After the zoo we went to the mall. We let the kids run around in the play area, which was surprisingly empty for a Saturday! We even let Patrick play around for a bit, and he was in heaven climbing over all of the soft toys and crawling through the tree-log tunnels. Before we left we went to the Disney Store to let Raia and Errol spend their Christmas money. We gave them each a $5 bill which, aparently, doesn't buy you as much as it used to at the Disney Store. But we finally found a small Cinderella princess doll, and the firetruck from Cars that were both on sale. Raia purchased her doll herself, and proudly plunked it on the check-out counter, and then handed the cashier her $5 bill, saying "Cinderella doll for $5!" She even got a Princess bag to carry it in.

The one hitch in the day was that the McDonald's at the mall (where we'd planned to grab lunch) had closed down, and there was NOTHING little-kid-friendly in the food court. It was all ethnic food that would be too complicated for little hands to eat (like gyros). We were all super hungry, so we left the mall earlier than planned and drove up the freeway to another McDonald's.

Back at home we wrapped Patrick's presents (a plastic hammer and nails toy, and a pretend rottary phone) and brought out the chocolate cupcakes I'd made the night before. Patrick reached for a cupcake as soon as he saw them, and as soon as we were done singing "Happy Birthday" he dug right in! I'd say about a third of the cupcake actually made it into his tummy. He was a MESS when he was done, but he was a happy, smiley, giggly little mess.

It's hard for me to believe how quickly his first year went by. The first four months were blessedly slow, but the other eight flew by. Before I knew it he was rolling, he was crawling, he was sprouting teeth, he was sprouting hair, he was WALKING, and he was looking at me and saying "Mama!"

He is so funny. His face takes on a look of serious contemplation anytime he sees something new, even if it's just a Goldfish cracker. If he catches you watching him playing with toys he'll put the toy down and raise his arms to be picked up while giving you a big, sun-shiney grin. He hops up and down in his crib when I walk in in the mornings, so happy to be noticed and to be brought back into the middle of the family goings-on. His big brother and sister simply adore him, and he adores them. I'm pretty sure he says Raia's name as well now, although it sounds like "ah-UH!" His brother and sister are the only ones who can make him belly-laugh. He'll giggle at me or at his daddy, but if you want to hear one of his long, full-bellied laughs, you have to call in Raia and Errol.

He's brought so much joy into our home. I'm both excited and saddened to see what this next year will bring. I get to hear what his little voice is going to sound like as he learns new words, and more of his character and sense of humor will be revealed; but at the same time he'll be less and less of a baby. He's leaving "babyhood" behind and moving into the world of "toddlerhood".

But he'll always be my Super Tiny Guy.