We had such a lovely time celebrating Porter, it is definitely worth capturing. The birthday celebrations landed on the first Saturday of the month, and as such were squeezed for time because of Xmas decorating and an intense ward Xmas party, but Porter received lots of love and attention, and we think he even had fun!
I tried to imagine what Porter might want to do for his birthday, and all I could come up with was climb! He has been such a climber lately, he'll take on chairs, stairs, couches, stools--anything with a slight elevation. So, I decided a soft playroom would be his dream come true (and his siblings would enjoy it also).
Like many realized dreams, it took him a while to figure out how to really enjoy the room. He observed J & A (and Mark) who got right down to business jumping, sliding and tackling their way through the room. Porter eventually figured out some of the room's secrets and after 20 min or so, decided he loved it. Whew! He crawled, climbed, slid and romped around that room.
Because of all the other commitments for the day, he got to have his "party" right after lunch--which also happened to be right after his nap. What a happy idea! There were no appetites to spoil and no tired kids. I was surprised by how excited he was for most of the event. He definitely knew something special was going on. 
*Don't mind the pink bib. I switched it [to purple] when I realized all his first birthday's pictures would be shot in pink, but this was just too cute of a picture.
He loved unwrapping his [2] presents. I think he knew he was the only one getting them!
Porter chose to eat his dairy-free frosted cake in careful finger pinches. It sure took a while, but he did do some damage. It was great delayed gratification practice for his siblings who had such a difficult time watching him eat the frosting at a snails pace, while they got none. If you want to see this snail-like episode you can watch it here along with all the distractions his siblings could think of.
Since turning one, not much has changed. He still climbs, still grunts (though is starting to explore new consonants), and continues to wow the world with his big blue eyes (and no hair). I'm predicting he'll walk within the month... but I think I thought that last month, so who knows!
Happy Birthday little P man. You are well loved!
(Post-cake Xmas light helpers--another fun thing to climb on!)
