Our baby is 1

It's hard to believe that last year at this time we were meeting our third son for the first time and beginning our life as a family of five. Today, I've enjoyed the memories of that day. Two nights ago we invited the local immediate fam to celebrate Eli's first birthday. He's a special little guy who has eased into our family in a beautiful way. We all love him so much that it's hard to imagine life before he arrived. Earlier in March, he kept trying his walking techniques. He continued practicing while we were in Pennsylvania. However, it seemed that as soon as we arrived back home on the 24th, he became a little walkin' dude. He has transitioned easily to cow's milk from a sippy cup, which makes me feel proud and a tad bit nostalgic all at the same time. Lately, it's been fun to watch him try hard to communicate with us as he loves the moments when he can respond to what we ask him. His big brothers are sweet to him in their own ways. Sam loves to play with him and make him laugh, while Zach has bonded with him while sharing food. I can only imagine how they'll all relate to each other in another year, let alone five or ten. It makes me smile to anticipate it.

And, yes, I have to admit that he had a little strange birthday cake. I'm calling it resourceful, as I used Amish friendship bread for his cake. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I gave away the cookbook that held the official first birthday applesauce cake for our kids. Life is too short to fret over such circumstances, however, we missed the cream cheese frosting messy face that we've enjoyed with the first two. He's already had more sweets than the other two at this age, so don't think that he's gotten the short end of the stick. Happy birthday, Eli. We love you, little brother!