Happy Birthday Chunky Monkey!

It has been a year since my son entered our lives.  It amazes me how he has enhanced the lives of everybody in our family.  Because of him, my wife found a new undertaking with her blog and contacts within the online Mommy community.  My daughter has blossomed as a big sister and her remarkable skills in dependability and independence have been reflected at school as well as at home.  As for me I'm just thankful to have the opportunity to raise the next generation of manhood.

Here's a brief recap of his life so far:

March 21, 2010

We arrive at the hospital at 7:50 AM.  At 3:13 he shows up mad as hell.

My memory might be a little foggy, but I don't think he calmed down for a few months.  We did manage to snap off a few pictures between his meltdowns.

By Easter of that year, we had settled into our happy family routine.

He celebrated Mother's Day in style.

In June, both he and big sister were baptized.

Over the rest of the summer his personality really started to develop.

By Autumn, The Princess was ready to take on her share of the baby work.

He loved Halloween, even though we wouldn't let him eat any candy.  That was also when he started crawling.

Once he was mobile, there was no stopping him for the rest of the winter.

Once he could get around, he quickly caught up with what he considered to be the most interesting family member.

Which brings us to today.  Our first try with cake didn't work out, but when we realized that he, like his mother, doesn't like frosting, it was all systems go.  Happy Birthday Champ, Daddy loves you.