Birthday Week Day 1: One Last Milestone

In honor of birthday week, we are going to do a post a day to celebrate our little man.  Enjoy!

James turns one on Friday.  He is a year old in 4 days.  How is that possible?  I still remember the big belly and swollen ankles like it was yesterday!  But before we get to be parents of a one year old, we wanted to squeeze one more milestone in for the baby book and the blog. :)  And it was a really good one because it involved footwear.

After a very successful photo shoot with Erica at Elevee Photography (photos to come soon!), we headed to Fair Oaks Mall to hit up Stride Rite to get the little man his first pair of shoes.  He started walking on his own at the beginning of the month and has been getting better and better as each day passes so it was time to get him some big boy shoes.

There was a bit of a rush when the store opened, but after a quick look at the options, we strategically placed ourselves near the register to get some attention from the lovely clerk.  Within seconds, she was helping us out and measuring James' little feet.  Our little monkey man has some chubby, 4.5 wide tootsies!!

James was a fan of the shoes that Daddy picked and loved trying them out at the store. The best part was when he sneezed right in the face of the lovely young lady who was seeing if the shoes fit correctly.  I guess when you work at Stride Rite, it is all part of the job! :)

Here is one happy customer ~ and some good looking shoes!  Next milestone = turning 1!

Toy Alternative

We knew that when we had a baby, our house would fill up with all the necessary gear that comes with them.  And as they grow, the baby gear would turn into toys.  Lots and lots of toys.  Now that James' first Christmas has come and gone, our toy inventory has grown quite large.  From stuffed animals to music tables to ride ons, our house looks like a regular Toys R Us.  Some new favorites include his xylophone (compliments of Aunt Suzy)...

... his music table (thank you, Santa!)...

... his elephant busy ball popper (again, thank you, Santa)...

... and his ride on fire truck (compliments of a recent consignment event).

He is going to kill us when he is 17 for putting these pictures of him with no pants online!  But I digress. We are a fan of these toys as well...especially the fire truck since it is really helping him with the walking. Check our little man out:

But for all the favorite toys and the non-favorite toys and the ones in the corner collecting dust, nothing beats the toys that he finds in the kitchen cabinets:

Who knew that all you need are some bowls and a wooden spoon to occupy a 10 month old while making dinner?!  We will keep that in mind when the next one comes along.  :)

Oh - and we are happy to report that the missing wise man from the Fisher-Price nativity finally showed up.  He may have missed Christmas, but he made it in time for a jam session on the xylophone.

(The best part about this pic are the 2 little tooshies in the background.  I want to pinch them both!)