Blaine’s other new favorite toy is our salad spinner… it’ll entertain him for ages.

He’s also fascinated by the laundry machine… so either he likes things that spin or he really wants to be helpful around the house.

Thank you to all Blaine’s relatives and friends for sending him such thoughtful and fun birthday gifts!  We DO intend to actually write some real thank you notes, but here are just a few pics to show how much he’s been enjoying all the goodies.

Blaine’s birthday celebrations lasted through the weekend!  On Thursday night Uncle Fran arrived from DC and on Friday we put him to work assembling this push car for Blaine.  Here’s Fran showing off the results of his labor:

And here’s Blaine enjoying his sweet new ride:

On Saturday Gram and Grand-dad arrived, and brought Blaine a beautiful framed family tree:

Daddy made a tasty lunch of tuna, chickpea salad, and green salad.  In the afternoon we all went for a walk in the park, and then Daddy made his delicious lamb curry for dinner!

Aunt Jody arrived late Saturday night and on Sunday morning we all went out for brunch at Coastal Kitchen.

After brunch we returned home for a nap (for Blaine) and party preparations (for the rest of us).  This included cooking and cleaning and decorating and gate setup (thanks to Grand-dad and Uncle Fran for figuring out how to make it work!).

Aunt Jody iced the yellow cake that Daddy baked with his delicious chocolate buttercream frosting:

Here, Uncle Fran and Blaine admire the result (Blaine recently figured out how to point, and now he points at everything):

And here’s the final result after Mommy decorated them:

Uncle Fran, Gram and Grand-dad also went on a last minute ice run and balloon pickup!  Blaine was SO excited about the balloons:

He especially liked whacking himself and Uncle Fran in the head with them:

At 3pm the guests started arriving, including neighbors, friends, and PEPS pals!

When it came time for singing and cake Blaine got a little overwhelmed by all the attention:

But after we got him out of the high chair he calmed down, and the crowd all joined in for an encore of Happy Birthday.

And then Mommy and Daddy helped Blaine blow out the candle:

The cake was delicious!

We celebrated Blaine’s first birthday with a delicious halibut dinner (with a side of blueberries), followed by singing and birthday cake.

And after dinner there were presents, of course!  Blaine went straight for his new monogrammed comfy chair from Mom-Mom and Doc — he loves it!

We tried our best but Blaine would just not sit still this morning… so here’s my favorite of the batch, plus some others.  He looked very sharp in his new shirt from Gram!  Too bad he got applesauce all over it at daycare.

Last weekend was gorgeous – perfect fall weather.  So on Saturday, 10/5, we headed out to Remlinger farms to pick some pumpkins, navigate a corn maze, and drink some hot apple cider.  I just love pumpkins and foliage and Halloween and everything about the fall!  Parenting dream fulfilled.  Here are a bunch of pictures:

PS – Thank you to Aunt Suzanne for the beautiful hand knit sweater that kept Blaine warm on this crisp fall day!

On Friday 10/4 we had a group 1st birthday party for PEPS at the Children’s Museum at Seattle Center.  All the kids had a great time with the exhibits, and we even managed to snag a group photo:

Andrew and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on 10/2!  Andrew bought some beautiful dahlias for me (same as in my wedding bouquet):

We waited until the last minute to try to get a babysitter and came up short but Andrew prepared an amazing dinner and it felt extra special eating at our new dining table!

Here’s Blaine with his friend Apollo at Apollo’s 1st birthday party on 9/29.  They were staring out the window at a helium balloon and Blaine was saying “ba” repeatedly, so we think he might have been referring to the balloon.  Maybe!  He also uses the “ba” sound to refer to the balls we have, but doesn’t use that sound otherwise.  So it’s possible!

9/28 was a particularly rainy Saturday.  In the morning we braved the rain and walked out for brunch at Vios Cafe.  Blaine really loved his waffle and playing with all the toys in the kids’ area:

In the afternoon we took a family outing to the Coop market and Blaine enjoyed his first ride in the shopping cart:

Otherwise we just played at home!

Here’s Blaine demonstrating his stair-climbing skills.  He enjoys it so much he’ll climb the entire flight of stairs pretty much any chance he gets: