Matthew's 1 Year Old Birthday!!

Our Sweet Birthday Boy!
So the day began with us waking up to his sweet noises in the crib. Mike and I both had to walk in and open his door at the same time so we could sing him Happy Birthday and of course see his reaction from all the early morning excitement. He was all smiles and grinning from left to right. He had a yummy breakfast of TRIX and whole milk which he loved and enjoyed very much. He started to reached into the bowl with his fingers and picked up the TRIX one after another.

Then he cuddled in bed with Dad while watching the 3 little pigs story on the I-Pad. He loves this story and gets so excited over it every time. Then for snack time he had his favorite cottage cheese snack that he likes to eat in handfuls and eats it up so fast. There will be a pile of cottage cheese probably 3 big spoonfuls and he will eat it all. He is really a great eater.

We had the presents sitting in the middle of the living room to see if he would notice anything different. As soon as we opened the living room door he immediately drove his dump truck walker right into the center of the presents and then turned away and drove off from the presents. He did smile as he saw the presents but still would rather drive his favorite toy, the dump truck. So we finally had to hide the dump truck behind our rocking chair where he couldn't get it so he would be interested in the gift opening process.

The first present that we opened was a bag of 100 colored balls. Big mistake because as soon as the wrapping paper was off he was trying to figured out how to get inside the bag to get a ball out. He loves balls. So we opened up the bag and gave him one to play with. After that he didn't want to do anything else besides play with the ball. He loved it! It was so fun to see him get excited over his new toys. Mike and I of course had to help him with tearing off the wrapping paper but gradually here and there he would tear it off all by himself.

We had a nice relaxing day before we went to Willow Park Zoo. We just let him play with his new toys and he took a nap before we headed off for our fun adventure. The balls were a hit. Once we were done with opening presents we dumped the whole bag of balls over his head. He loved it! It was great spending so much time as a family because Mike had the whole day off from work. Hurray!

So once he woke up from his nap we took him to Willow Park Zoo. The monkeys were first to begin with. He loved watching them and would move his eyes back and forth as they walked around in their play area. The swans and ducks were his favorite along with the monkeys. He would hold onto the fence while leaning over to see the ducks or swans moving in the water. We watched for awhile and he wasn't even bored with them. After seeing the animals at the zoo we walked over to the park and pushed him in the swing and then swung with him. He loves to swing and to be pushed high. As he is swinging he will opened his mouth really big and start to giggle. It is the sweetest thing to watch. He is so great at bringing a smile to my face. This is the face he had most of the time while at the zoo watching the animals. He was so very fascinated by them all.

He loved riding up on Dad's shoulders. This is his happy and wide opened mouth face when swinging. Mike always does it to him so now Matthew imitates it back to him. I love watching Father and Son interact with each other. It is so much fun.


So we had a yummy birthday dinner of mash potatoes and chicken. He loves to eat mash potatoes. He grabs them in handfuls.

Then after dinner we invited the extended family over for a birthday party outside which is one of Matthew's favorite places to be. We had blankets on the ground with a circle of chairs around the blankets. He just crawled around loving all of the attention from everyone. He started to get a better idea of what to do with the presents that he would start to rip the paper a little bit by himself and then he would still need some help to get it completely off. Come Christmas though I bet he will be tearing it off in shreds and just loving the paper more than the presents. We had a great turn out of love ones. Mike and I realized just by looking around how much our little guy is loved by so many and how happy he makes others. We missed those that couldn't come but completely understand and know you love him dearly. He is so blessed to be so close to all his cousins. To have them to play with.

At the beginning of the party we tossed around his small red ball and big blue ball in a circle. He loved it and would watch as the ball got passed around the circle. He got so excited and happy over this. He is such a happy little guy! So full of love for others. He is definitely a people person already.

He got a wagon for his birthday from his Grandpa and Grandma Taylor. It is a tradition for each 1st child in each family for their first birthday to get a wagon. So when we first put him in the wagon he was very unsure with what was going on but as soon as Dad started to pull him little by little he ended up loving it. He loves it! We have already gone on many wagon rides.

(This is Matthew with his first cousin, Julie Taylor. They are becoming good friends.)


He loves his Great Aunt Laverna and always kept on going back to her with whatever he had and he would opened his presents with her. It was so cute!


After talking and just enjoying everyone we sat him in his high chair to eat his medium size cupcake. We had Smith's Marketplace decorate it for us. It was decorated with a racetrack and a car on it. We were going to have them do a tractor cake since he loves to play with Grandpa Taylor's tractors all the time but I couldn't find a small enough tractor to sit on top of the cake but I am so happy how the cake turned out. He loves anything with wheels so it worked out after all. So now back to the cake eating moment that is the best part of all 1st birthdays. Mike lit the candle on the cake and set it down in front of him. He just stared at it with wide eyes so Mike then said make a wish and blew it out for him. It didn't take Matthew long before he stuck 2 of his fingers in the frosting and then into his mouth. After that he just kept on eating the frosting so we finally had to break up the cupcake so he would get some cake with the frosting. He then began picking up the big pieces of cake and putting them to his mouth. We thought that he would take a bite off from the cake but instead he puts the whole big piece in his mouth and just keeps on stuffing it in his mouth. It was so hilarious! I couldn't believe how much he could fit in and how fast he ate up the cupcake. He only left two small pieces on his tray. We then gave him a small scoop of vanilla bean ice cream to try. He would go to pick it up with his fingers and it would immediately slip out of his fingers so he would try again and again to pick it up. So finally I just put it in his mouth to try. He licked a little bit and then wanted the whole scoop in his mouth. Once it was in his mouth he quickly closed his eyes and then shook his head back and forth. Poor little guy he had a brain freeze. It was so funny but sad at the same time.
What a wonderful day to remember.Mike and I loved and enjoyed every minute of the day. We had so much fun playing and spending time with our special little guy. Happy Birthday Matthew! We love you so very much!