a cake

for Dean's actual birthday, we spent the day with family. Tom's mom made Dean a delicious chocolate-cherry cake and we sang to him and encouraged him to dig in. we let him 'cut' the cake, even though he mostly just slapped at it. he didn't exactly know what to do with his slice, and sort of shoved his face right into it. he also really enjoyed all the attention he was getting. my sweet Mom sent us a package with some birthday toys for Dean (and a shirt for me!) and he's been enjoying them too.

typical interactions

this is a typical interaction that happens with Dean on a daily basis. he's at that age, that grab-at-everything age. for me, it's earrings, any necklace, even my bright lipstick! but for Tom at the zoo on saturday, it was his sunglasses. I caught the whole thing on camera; the initial grab, the retrieve, the  victory playtime and even the 'I win' face. Dean, you sure make our lives more interesting and keep us seriously on our toes.

zoo miami

to do something fun to celebrate Dean's 1st birthday, we took him to the zoo! he had a great time and so did we, even though we were all exhausted by the end. Dean did a good job staying in his stroller most of the time (which is a big deal for him) and was just as entertained by the animals as he was by all the children that ran by.

...Dean got up close and personal with some monkeys. you can't really tell from the picture, but in the right pic, that was a gorilla that got up and moved over and leaned his back against the glass.

...each time Dean was interested in an animal, he'd reach his little hand out.

one year

wow! I don't know how we got here so fast, but Dean is one year old today. happy birthday, baby boy! I'm so grateful and glad to be your mother. you've brought me and your dad so much joy and happiness already. I'm so excited for all that the future years will bring for you, and for us. you've really started this little family of ours off right and we couldn't ask for a better first baby. it's been a great first year...

i'm 25

I don't know how it happened, but somehow I reached the age about which people say, "well, I'm not 25 anymore" when they're older. my birthday was great, but this was the first birthday I realized how old I'm getting. I guess I should be more excited about it; after all, I did graduate from college, get married and have a baby all before I turned 25, so clearly my life is headed in a good direction. it's just hard to tell people that I'm 25 when I don't know how I got past 19. the years go by so fast.

on the bright side, I don't think I quite look my age yet. some of the young women in my ward told me I look years younger than I am (one thought I was 16 the first time she saw me! she asked her friend who the new girl was...sweet girl).

anyway, to celebrate, Tom took me out to Shibui; our favorite sushi place! Tom bought me a new watch and we ate cake with Dean and my in-laws. a very nice, very relaxed birthday.

around here

so, I've been doing terrible at my photo-a-day project, but mostly because I haven't posted a lot of my photos. here's a little bit of what's been going on around here lately...

...making kale 'juice'

...a good fortune; let's hope it's true!

...our homemade pizza

...Dean now gives hugs and kisses. sometimes his kisses turn into bites though. darn teething!

the boat show

happy valentine's day! 

today, Dean and I are spending extra time together because Tom is working at the Miami boat show. yesterday, Tom's parents watched Dean and I drove him to Miami Beach, where he will be staying and working until monday. I got to spend over an hour on the road, stuck in the worst rush hour traffic, right at its' peak. I can't wait until the show is over because for our anniversary, Tom got some days off work and we're planning a little getaway just for us. but for now, we will be missing Tom....er, "Daddy."

...this is my sad face that Tom will be gone for the rest of the week

...this is Tom's 'I'm such a good employee' face

p.s. how cute is this video made by the ladies over at small fry? those kids make love look even cuter!