One

Baby Grady is one today, and it's such a big deal that we've been celebrating all week, like a jubilee, really. (And why should the Queen have all the fun, that's what Baby Grady would like to know.) First we had a little birthday party with friends and family last weekend. Then, because he was born on Thanksgiving morning last year, we also considered Thursday to be something akin to his birthday, poetically speaking. And of course, today, the official day.

We've rationed out gifts and he's been eating cupcakes and pumpkin cheesecake all week. Of course, even with all this fuss and celebration, he has no idea anything is happening. He figures this is just how we do. Pumpkin cheesecake for breakfast and all. Which, sometimes, yes, that is how we do.

So, right, somehow we all survived the year and went from this:

To this:

Yeah, you got that right. From this:

To this:

Can you even believe that nonsense with my baby wearing sneakers and looking like such a little boy? Sneakers! On a baby! Such nerve, I swear.

This was, of course, Baby Grady's second Thanksgiving. Here he is on his first:

And on his second:

Yes, in case you were wondering, I could do this all day. From angry slug to playful toddler in just a year! Mind. Blown.

And now, because what else are we going to do... a whole slew of pictures of Baby Grady doing birthday things.

How much Baby Grady weighs: 24.5 pounds (he's growing again!)
How tall Baby Grady is: 30.5 inches

Size of Baby Grady's clothes: 12 month, 12-18 month, 18 month; he even still wears some 6-12 month pants, but they are capris now
Size of Baby Grady's shoes: 4.5 or 5

Baby Grady's hair color: blond
Baby Grady's eye color: brown

Number of teeth in Baby Grady's mouth: still just eight, but oh, the teething! So much teething, for no more teeth!

Baby Grady's favorites: cream cheese; Thanksgiving dinner, but especially stuffing and pumpkin cheesecake; the giant bumblebee bouncer at the playground; bathtime; Mr. Puppet and Rizzle the Dizz; unloading his bookshelf; Dr. Seuss's ABCs; his will.i.am video; watching big kids and trying to play with them; and, over the past couple of days, That Daddy Guy has, for the first time, been enjoying clear preferred status over Milk Lady

Baby Grady's least favorites: elevators; going to sleep; staying asleep; waking to find that he does not have a boob in his mouth; sandwiches that are made of things that are not cream cheese; teething; diaper changes; sometimes, getting into his carseat or the stroller; being spoon-fed when he wants to DOITHIMSELF