Tanner's 1st Birthday

We can hardly believe that our little Tanner is one already. We have sure enjoyed the past year, watching him learn, grow, and just keep getting cuter and cuter! On his actual birthday, we celebrated in small ways, but his actual party was a few day later when many members of the family were able to attend. Mom and Amy joined us from Bonners Ferry; Keri from Moscow; Charlie, Adrianna, Jimmy, Shania, and Chris from Post Falls; Dad and Elaine from Boise; and Kevin, Amy, and Baby Girl from Middleton. We missed Melissa, and Jesse's parents, all currently in Alaska. We also had an impromptu baby shower for Kevin and Amy as they found out just two days previous that they had four days to get packed before they had to leave for Alabama for Kev's officer training and flight school (they thought they had until November). So, here are a few pics of Tanner's big day. He's such a precious little boy!

Tanner took his first steps the eve of his first birthday. The next day, he was still wobbly, but by the end of the day, he was taking about 4-5 steps before he tumbled to the floor. It's so cute to watch him learning how to walk!
Here's our little birthday boy with his birthday crown. It was really tricky getting this picture because he did not like the idea of having the crown on his head. You can't see the arms holding his in the picture and I plopped the hat on just milliseconds before snapping this shot and it came off immediately after it! It was actually quite commical! The little birthday boy got a happy birthday balloon, which he played with ALL day. Andrew also got a balloon, crown, and gift for his un-birthday. (We figured he's too young to understand why brother gets a birthday and he doesn't.) If I would have known two, one dollar, helium balloons would keep two little boys busy all day, I would have definately bought them sooner!
Tanner caught onto the idea of eating his birthday cake right away. At first he enjoyed some of the frosting, but soon discovered if he dug his hand way down, he'd get some delicious cake as well. Oh, he had more sugar in those few bites than he's had his whole life!
Amongst other things, Tanner got a Tonka dump truck for his birthday. For the guests of the party, we made a dump truck cake in the bed of the truck, consisting of chocolate fudge cake pieces, chocolate pudding, and oreo cookie crumbs. It was the best "dirt" we've ever eaten (well, not that we've ever actually eaten dirt)!