Happy 1st Birthday, Sullivan!!
Well, I can't believe it....my baby is 1. It's such a cliche, I know, but it's just so hard to grasp how quickly time goes by. What a FUN year this has been with our Sully Cole! And today we thoroughly enjoyed celebrating him. He didn't know there was anything different about this day, but we did. And I think he actually did enjoy the presents. Grandma Lou and Grandpa Jere were here, along with Auntie Karyn, Uncle James, Jamey, and Jack. It was a fun little family celebration!
Sullivan got a sweet card in the mail (right on his birthday...great timing!!) from Papa and M'laine. He was very intent on reading it...
And he knew exactly what to do with that one dollar bill :)
Sullivan got a sweet card in the mail (right on his birthday...great timing!!) from Papa and M'laine. He was very intent on reading it...
And he knew exactly what to do with that one dollar bill :)
We have a picture of Grandma and Grandpa with all 4 boys from last year, just a few days after Sullivan was born....so we thought another one this year was in order. 
As you can imagine, we took many, many pictures...and we didn't get all 4 of them smiling in one :) But they're all so cute.
We had a yummy dinner, and then it was time for singing, cake (made by Mommy and Grandma Lou) and presents!
Sullivan was mesmerized by the older boy cousins who were singing "Happy Birthday" to him. He didn't even see his cake sitting right in front of him until the song was completely over!
Seth and I really thought he would dig in and go for it. He definitely did tons better than Oliver's 1st birthday, but definitely didn't give us much of a show. Right when he saw it, he swiped his hands through it, but then seemed a little distraught at the gooeyness on his hands :)
But he was not at all opposed to licking it off my finger :)
I thought he might dig in a little more if we gave him just his own slice. That did work much better. He ate a few bites (or finger-fulls) of it.
It sure was yummy!
The first present Sullivan opened was from Grandma Lou and Grandpa Jere. We pulled out this awesome penguin that's like a punching bag with balls in it, and it sings and whoops as you bang it around....we thought he would just love it! 
Here Sullivan is, sizing that penguin up...
As it turns out, penguin punching bags are quite strange :) Sullivan did not know what to think about it, and he sort of clung to me a few times (and he's not a "clinger")...after that, he was always aware of where it was :) As he saw all the other boys playing with it (of course it was a total hit with them), he began to warm up to it. He's a very "physical" boy (and quite rough), so we're still thinking he's gonna warm up to it pretty quickly and give it lots of "love." As we're opening the cute outfit from Gma and Gpa, you can tell he's still a little concerned about the whereabouts of the penguin... (super cute outfit, btw)
Next came a great shirt from Jamey and Jack! Thanks guys (and AK and UJ)! And thanks for coming over to celebrate with us.
Next came one more thing from Grandma and Grandpa...a riding (bouncing) zebra! Sullivan loved it and totally dug bouncing up and down on it.
Next came Seth and my present to him...a fun train! It has an engine and a caboose, lots of blocks you can stick in their slots, songs, letters, colors, lots of developmental stuff... he seemed to really love it, which was so fun. The touchy part is that Oliver seemed to really love it too, so we'll see how that all goes :) Sullivan just lit up when he saw it!
Pushing his train, and lovin' it :)
Sullivan, my dear, my angel, my lovey...the absolute delight of my year...I cannot imagine life without you. The love I have for you is immeasurable, and I even have a hard time describing it to others. The amount of love I feel for you is quite unfathomable, even to me. I am so completely and eternally grateful to our precious God for letting me be your Mommy. You have brought me so much joy in this first year of your life. I pray for God to touch many lives through you, and I am so excited to experience life with you. You are starting to get feisty and show a lot more of your personality; your Daddy and I look at each other and laugh with complete joy at the funny things you do. We love you so much, sweet Sully Cole. Happy, happy birthday!
You can see that the other boys really enjoyed the presents as well (after Sullivan opened them with Mommy's help, of course)
It was a wonderful day, and so special that my parents could be here from Colorado to celebrate Sullivan's 1st birthday with us! Thank you so much, Mom and Dad, for coming and spending this special time with the boys! We love you.
It was a wonderful day, and so special that my parents could be here from Colorado to celebrate Sullivan's 1st birthday with us! Thank you so much, Mom and Dad, for coming and spending this special time with the boys! We love you.Sullivan, my dear, my angel, my lovey...the absolute delight of my year...I cannot imagine life without you. The love I have for you is immeasurable, and I even have a hard time describing it to others. The amount of love I feel for you is quite unfathomable, even to me. I am so completely and eternally grateful to our precious God for letting me be your Mommy. You have brought me so much joy in this first year of your life. I pray for God to touch many lives through you, and I am so excited to experience life with you. You are starting to get feisty and show a lot more of your personality; your Daddy and I look at each other and laugh with complete joy at the funny things you do. We love you so much, sweet Sully Cole. Happy, happy birthday!
Awww, what a great time! The watchful eye on the penguin thing totally cracked me up! What a fun guy and fun birthday party.
happy birthday little guy!
He is too cute! I'm so glad that your parents got to be there, and that it was a great first birthday!
Happy Birthday, Sulls!! We love you!
I LOVE the pic of him laughing! SO sweet!! I can't wait to celebrate his bday this weekend!