Sam is 1

I was trying to think if there was anything blog-worthy that happened in January, and in flipping through pictures I remembered something - Sam turned one.  Whoops.  How far we've come from the days of carefully detailing Morgan's every move and expression.  Sam's only the second child, I can just imagine how much farther I'll slip with another one or two.  Sometimes I feel badly that Morgan got (and still gets) so much more attention because she came first.  But then I think he'll probably be better adjusted and less self-centered than Morgan.  I really believe that birth order impacts our personalities and abilities.

We had the family over for his party (which we all know is just an excuse to expose a baby to their first sugar rush). A few gifts, good food, and one big blue cupcake.

Erik's contribution to the party - a sheriff's badge and a gun.  Not quite what I'd envisioned.

Notice the gun in Morgan's hand now.  All of Sam's new toys have quietly been taken over.

We believe in going as garish as possible with these first birthday cupcakes in order to maximize the upcoming disaster.

He was quite tentative at first (as he probably should be of anything that color)

But he proved his Merkley blood in the end

"I'm one!  And boy is life good."

The (mostly) happy family.  Morgan doesn't share the spotlight well.

Sam is:

-crawling, pulling up on everything, scooting along couches and tables, and suddenly able to crawl an entire flight of stairs. He's very good at it, but doesn't realize that sitting back while climbing is unwise.  I need to get a gate, since we've already had too many heart-stopping moments of finding him halfway up the stairs, but I know the drama I'm going to get from the other child.  Although, ironically, it was Morgan that fell down the stairs this morning...

-talking more, saying mama, baba, dada, and babbling a lot.  He still doesn't seem to have any idea that those words stand for people.  He's entered that annoying stage at church where he wants to talk and crawl non-stop, and for the sake of everyone else's worship you spend most of church in the hallways.  Only 5 more months until nursery.

-still really sweet and snuggly, although he's so active these days that the snuggles only last a few seconds.  He loves having his back rubbed and hates having his feet tickled, just like someone else I know.

We love this boy.