What fun! Look who's one...

It's the most anticipated moment of a kid's first birthday party: the moment everyone sings Happy Birthday and the guest of honor starts bawling. Except that didn't happen with Aidan. 

As the singing begins, a slow smile begins to spread across his face. He thinks, "this is cool--I like songs." Then the magic line, "happy birthday dear Aidan" and as he recognizes his name, smiles big, laughs, and claps. It's the baby equivalent of, "Oh my god! I can't believe this song is for me! That's AWESOME!"

And then he got to eat cake for the first time, which seems to be another big hit. Already birthdays are shaping up to be a favorite. Forget Thanksgiving and Christmas. Bring on more birthdays.

Present overload

What's the perfect word to describe Aidan's first Christmas? Ah yes, overkill. Between Christmas Eve with close friends and family and Christmas Day with two sets of grandparents (and aunt Nettie), there are now enough toys in our house to entertain Aidan until he's 3.

Poor kid was completely overwhelmed with the number of gifts he had to open. In fact, he seams to have developed a distinct fear of gift wrap.

At least the first Christmas gift from mom and dad ever (pictured here) got big smiles.