Lex has changed so much in just the last couple of weeks.  I guess turning one has gone to his head, because he definitely is much more independent and opinionated!  His favorite activity is “cruising” around the furniture and he wants to stand on his own (although his parents still have to be ready to catch him when he randomly falls backwards).  

Today Lex was pretty cranky.  He’s working on getting his fourth tooth (which explains why he is now biting mommy!) and I think he’s also still recovering from his vaccines.  It was a refreshing distraction tonight when Gabby came over to play.  We babysat her for a couple hours while Eric and Loretta ran some errands. Lex LOVES Gabby and he instantly perked up.  She even helped give him his nightly bath.  

Today was Lex’s one year checkup at the doctor.  (And yes, we are tired of going to the doctor.  Hopefully this was the last time for a while.)  He is now 18.9 pounds and 29″ long.  He only gained 1.4 pounds since his nine-month checkup, but the doctor said that was fine because he’s so busy moving now.  She also gave him quite the compliment.  We were talking about what a ham Lex is around people, and she said that his outgoing social personality is very special and rare.  He was smiling and “chatting” with her the entire visit and she even called in another nurse just so she could meet him.  The poor guy wasn’t so happy when we left though.  He had been given two vaccines in each leg and they also drew blood from one arm (and had trouble finding his vein in the process).  But we went home and had a good lunch and he’s now napping peacefully.

Here’s a picture of our boy playing the piano in Boise.  He prefers to play without wearing any pants…

Lex wearing his birthday cap:

Lex and Hailey (Bobby’s daughter) on the night of his birthday party:

And here’s a few with Lex and the grandparents…

We made the trek back to Portland yesterday and are now faced with the daunting task of packing up and moving.  We’re not really looking forward to these next few weeks, but we’re grateful that our house did actually sell.

I can’t believe that it’s been a year since our infamous baby shower and rush to the hospital.  We now know that it IS possible to survive a full year without sleep =)

Here’s a stroll down memory lane for you:

And here’s our baby and his daddy now:

We’re so blessed that Lex has flourished, and we look forward to another year of craziness. 

Today we celebrated Lex’s birthday, even though it was one day early.  We had a Wall-E themed party, and Tim decorated the cupcakes with robots.  Lots of family members came over to help us celebrate the happy occasion.  Lex had a blast and enjoyed working the crowd.    

Here’s Lex tasting his first cupcake:

All in all the party was a great success.  Lex crashed hard tonight and hasn’t made a peep since going to bed earlier.