Jack's first birthday

Jackson turned 1 on June 28th!

This photo is typical:  mouth wide open & smiling.  Although the sitting down part is NOT typical!

Jack is extremely healthy and very energetic.  He weighs 21 lbs 1 oz (25th percentile) and is 29.75 inches long (50th percentile), so he's not huge, but let me tell you--when I carry him, he FEELS huge!

We celebrated his birthday on the 30th with a family cookout.  Grandma Welch, Papa and Grandma Mac and Uncle Zack and Madison were all there.  So were friends Beth and Charlie and Great Aunt Donna--and Great-Aunt Judy and Great-Grandma Mac all the way from St. Louis!

We are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives!  Everyone was so generous and Jack was spoiled with awesome gifts.  Thank you!

His teddy bear cake was all homemade and super-yummy! (if I say so myself)  It turned out a little crazy, partly because the icing I made was too soft, so I ended up smooshing it on instead of piping it on in stars, and partly because Lincoln put the eyes on, so it's a slightly demented bear. :)

Jack dug right in with his hands and got gloriously messy--he had it everywhere, including his hair.  Unfortunately, he also rubbed his eyes, poor guy, and of course started crying because it stung so bad.  But he'd had enough cake anyway, and was better after a quick bath.

Lincoln and the guests played a lot of "1 2 3 SHOOT!" with the balloons, a game that Link would NEVER tire of!

Jack is walking everywhere--he just took off one day almost two weeks ago--and is pretty much a walking disaster.  His favorite things are opening and closing drawers and cabinets over and over and over and OVER.  He also likes the toilet (go figure), the stairs (of course, because they're forbidden) and anything that he's not supposed to have.  He LOVES Lincoln and Llama.  Lincoln is doing more hitting & pushing than ever before because Jack follows him around and gets in his stuff.  Time to adjust to a new reality, Link!

Jack says many words, including but not only, dada, mama, cat, more, wa wa, book, tree, truck ("tuck"), and dino.  He doesn't repeat them as often as Lincoln did, so it can be hard to catch his words at times.

Since he turned one, Jack has suddenly become a picky eater.  All he wants are carbs and meat!  It's difficult to get him to eat anything else--unless it's super-sweet cake, treats, etc.  Guess he had a taste of the good life at his party and is having a hard time going back. :)

He still has just 6 teeth, and the top 4 are still only halfway through, with a big gap between the front two, giving him a lopsided look.  According to Dr. Griesemer, this is normal and temporary.  Let's hope so!

We love our baby boy so much--although I can't call him that much longer!!  Happy first birthday, Jackson!