The Big One

Our baby boy is 1!!  The week leading up to his birthday, I sort of had a realization that technically, he is not a baby anymore and I should probably help him grow up a little.  I really think I probably baby him too much. That week he finished weaning from nursing, quit formula and the bottle cold turkey, and moved onto whole milk in a sippy cup.  Here he is enjoying one of his last bottles.  Kinda sad he’s growing up so fast, actually. 

  

He’s also been working on figuring out how to use a spoon.  Still needs a bit of practice, I think. 

  

Ridge loves pressing buttons and he’s figured out an important one: how to call the elevator.  The inside ones are a little bit of a problem—he’s made us stop on extra floors before. 

 

Ridge knows when we are going down to pick up Jade from the school bus.  And he is excited.  This is his waiting and watching face. 

The below video shows how he waves his arms excitedly when Jade’s bus appears.  The first little bit is him waiting… and watching…

This Little Trouble Bub, as we affectionately refer to him, has unproofed our attempts at baby proofing.  Where our apartment is so small, we can’t really have things put away like in a normal house.  It’s really frustrating actually.  We had our desk and computer in the corner of our living room so we could have the kids’ toys in the third bedroom/storage room.  Well, that only lasted so long.  In an attempt to keep Ridge away from the computer, printer, and corner garbage can, we slid the rocking chair in front of it.  No, he simply moved the office chair over and climbed up, or he crawled under the small space under the chair.  We have since moved all of it back into the storage room and brought the toys out into the living room.  Not ideal, but Ridge is a lot happier that we don’t keep pulling him away from his exploring. 

  

Ridge continues to put just about everything in his mouth, and he likes to explore with his teeth.  Just the other day at his doctor’s appointment, the nurse told me I needed to teach him how to move a toy car instead of merely putting it in his mouth.  In reality he does know how to move a car along the ground and make noises, but sometimes he prefers to eat it instead!  In example, he took a big bite out of this foam ball and kept trying to get it back for more! 

Ridge loves to talk on the phone.  Oftentimes he will use about anything—including just his hand—as a phone.

We spotted this “Baby’s First Smartphone” toy and couldn’t resist getting it for his birthday. 

  

Mr. Ridge is babbling all the time; I, as his mom, can’t get enough of it, of course!  He can say hi, bye, mama, dada, wow, woa, and ball.  He can also fold his arms for prayer, blow kisses, and sign eat, more, and all done. 

He is such a happy kid, at least for the most part. 

This boy knows what he wants and if he’s not getting it, he will definitely let you know.  Separation anxiety is a big huge struggle right now.  Ridge is very much a mama’s boy.  Which definitely has its perks.  Like getting the best hugs in the world and lots of cuddles several times a day.  I’m telling ya, this kid is good at hugging.  He wraps his left arm around my right arm, his right arm around my neck, lays his head on my shoulder and squeezes.  Really.  They are the best.  Buuuut… separation anxiety.  It’s the worst. Not only did he cry five hours straight for a babysitter, but sometimes he even cries when I turn my back to grab something, and quite often when I walk away to go get an item from another room.  Forget about peeing in private.  Our apartment is about 10’ X 10’.  I’m not going very far, Buddy!!

On the upside, Ridge really enjoys being in the middle of all the action when we have friends over.  Sometimes to the older children’s dismay. He is also really into picking things up and throwing them down aka “ruining all their stuff,” as they often scream out to inform me.

Most mornings when I hear the kids awake, I enter their room to find Jade has climbed into the crib with Ridge.  She has dumped lots of stuffed animals and books in there with them in an attempt to keep Ridge happy until the parents wake up.  I think it is quite sweet of her.  In more ways than one.

 

For our dear one’s birthday, we had a nice family dinner followed by cake and ice cream.  I looked at several boy cake ideas, but nothing quite fit.  We wanted something that reflected who he is. 

After some pinterest searching, brainstorming and discussion, we came up with an idea.  With the use of Cody’s amazing artistic skills, he sketched out a design which I then used as a guide for the cake.  (This is the Hong Kong skyline for anyone that does not know.)

 

 

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I loved that it was a collaborative effort between the two of us to come up with something especially unique for our little boy! 

Ridge already had a taste of cake two weeks earlier for Cody’s birthday, so as soon as it came out, he wanted that thing!!

After a quick—and much needed—bath, we moved on to presents. 

He was more interested in climbing on them than opening them, but with Jade’s help, they were all unwrapped eventually. 

One of his gifts was this cute little basketball hoop. 

One last thing I want to say about our little bubba is he is so much fun!  I absolutely love having him in our family.  He has such a fun personality and great sense of humor.  Laughing along with us, always quick to give a smile, bouncing to music.  Such a fun little guy!  Love him so much.