First birthday

Conley's birthday party was so much fun! We invited our close friends and lots of them came. We planned to do it at a park, but the weather got bad that day, so we changed it to the church gym. That worked well. Paul and Moira brought the BBQ and barbecued hot dogs right outside on the patio, and we set up chairs and tables inside. Some of the guests played basketball during that party, so it felt good to have people entertained. Jo Anna (my good friend from UNM) made a beautiful polka dot cake for him. He got lots of presents, including clothes, books, a tractor, a ball pit, puzzles, and a bowling set. Some people that came were Kayla and Craig, Britt and Brad Galbraith, Sam and Ryan, Cumorah and Daniel, Ashlie and her family, Jessie, the Macons, and the Petersons. And even Lauren and Cameron and Paul and Moira.

Conley was so cute the whole time. He was so happy to have tons of room to crawl and push his tractor around and just roam. He was really friendly, and he got to spend time with Grandma Moira, so that was good too. He was exhausted by the end of the party, but still sweet.

He's in a really fun stage right now. He's funny and sweet and so fun to play with. He'll play peek-a-boo, but he likes wrestling even more. He thinks it's funny when I lay on the ground and put something on my face. He comes over and pulls it off and I say "boo" right when he does it and he always giggles. He plays "which hand is it in" with Joseph and he loves that. He and I snuggle and read together a lot. He seems to be more snuggly lately and I really love that. He goes to sleep pretty quickly when I put him down probably because of the snuggles. He's getting more and more picky with food; or at least he just gets full fast it seems like. Our pediatrician, Wendy Fronterhouse, said that kids his age don't grow that much between 1 and 2, so it's ok if they don't eat that much. "They'll eat exactly as much as they need," she says. That is helpful.

He babbles all the time. And he is in a squeaking phase, which tried my patience a little bit. I get frustrated if he whines or yells, but I recognize that this just happens for a few months right before they start to talk. He is so cute about his syllables. He says l, m, b, p, and d. And for moo, he goes bbbbbbb through his lips. He makes sounds for cars and trucks and he loves it when he hears dogs barking outside. He knows where his head is, and we are working on figuring out where is belly is. He pounds it and does high fives. And my mom taught him uh-oh last week! He was in Cheyenne for a few days while we meandered around Omaha looking at houses.

Anyway. He's wonderful! And life is wonderful with him.