Talking on the phone :)

This is Derek just after his first birthday, already happy to talk on the phone. He still thoroughly enjoys it and has become quite good at chatting as his Nana, Grampa, Uncle Jeremy, and now Auntie Hilary know. When the phone rings his first guess is "Dada?", and he tries to answer it ("Hi, Hi..") when he beats me to the receiver. He knows what button to press to answer and hang up but hasn't quite figured out when to press it yet (thank goodness!)
It is just amazing to hear his vocabulary growing every day! Some of my current favorites are the ones he can't quite pronounce just right, like "Guck" (duck) and "Munna" (banana) but in general he speaks quite clearly :)

Shopping

Derek home from shopping! He looks about as tired as I felt too, it must have been nap time ;)
This was the day he got cookie cutters to use with his play dough, along with many exclamations over his cute jacket and booties :)

Canadian Thanksgiving

This is last year, when Derek's Canadian Grandparents came over and we went to Point Defiance Zoo. Derek was new to walking so it was quite an adventure. This is when he discovered that it was more fun to hold onto the basket part of his stroller and push than to walk by himself or ride!

Here is our little cutie well stuffed with turkey and everything else he could grab :)

When Derek was born....

I don't mean to confuse anyone, the new baby has not arrived!
I have just been enjoying Derek's birthday pictures, taken by his Uncle Derek (many thanks!). They are so beautiful I had to share them :)

What a sleepy boy! He was no more than 0-3 hours old in these photo's.

More Birthday and Play Dough!

Here is Derek thanking Auntie Hilary for the great book and play dough, she got several hugs, a few kisses, and some high fives and tens!


Play dough is fun! Derek likes to mush it, and have us roll it into balls that he can smash :)
We made him a truck, a dog, and a few snakes. Today he got some cookie cutters, so now he can make a bus, helicopter, bike, lion and elephant, although his favorite thing to do is drive them through the dough :)


Dad and Derek made a smiling face, and then Derek added his own ;)