Avery is one!

One whole year has gone by so fast.  I still remember being pregnant so clearly.  And I remember Avery being so little and that I spent hours trying to get him to breastfeed properly.  Now he latches on for 5 minutes and he's done.  I remember carrying him around all day long because he was only happy in my arms (or in a wrap) and now he wants to crawl all over the house.  I remember the cute little noises he made in the hospital when he was just born, and now he is "talking" to us all the time. I remember getting up with him several times during the night and snuggling him back to sleep in the rocking chair.  Now he sleeps through the night.  Part of me is sad that all the cute "baby" experiences are over and he is becoming a toddler, but of course I am still excited to see him make discoveries and develop new skills.
Here's my update on this very special milestone!
Official Birthday:
Avery spent the "day" part of his birthday with my Mom and Dad, since they babysit him while I work.  They had wanted to do some extra-special fun things with him, but one of their dogs had an emergency so they ended up just having fun at home.  Then Noel's parents came in to town for the weekend to help celebrate.  So we had a nice dinner with two sets of grandparents.  Here are some photos:

This is the top layer of the cake from my baby shower (made by  Noel's Mom and Sister).
We saved it to have on Avery's birthday.

Then on the Sunday following his birthday we had a big (about 25 people) family birthday party for Avery.  I was a bit worried (after I had already invited all the people) that the large crowd would freak him out, since he had just started to be fearful around people he doesn't recognize.  But he was actually pretty good with it all.  He enjoyed playing with all the people and was spoiled by their generosity.  Here are the photos from the party:

Best party ever!  there was even a puppy!

The "dirt" cake I made him, in the back of his dump truck.

Unwrapping his presents

Cool new piano from Uncle Scott, Aunt Stacey, and cousin Presley

Daddy showing Avery how it's done

My sweet boy!

 I'm in a hurry to get this posted, since it's already been 3 weeks since his birthday, so I'll write another post soon about his recent milestones.