Kevin and Mallory's Wedding

Here are a few pictures from Jason's cousin Kevin's wedding last weekend. Isn't Espen so handsome? It was a lovely ceremony.

Espen's First Trip to the Zoo

We took Espen to the Zoo yesterday for the first time. He had a great time looking at all of the animals. There was a lot of pointing and waving at different animals. We rode the train all around the zoo and went to the children's zoo. We even had a picnic lunch. It was a LOT of fun!

And here is a little video of our trip.

Playing Catch-up

So I am a big slacker blogger and have been having so much fun enjoying Espen that I have completely neglected my blogging duties. Espen is growing like a weed. He is really going to town with walking. He took his first steps shortly before his birthday, and every day he is getting better and better. He mastered walking in shoes today. :) I am so proud of our baby bear. It took a while to catch him walking on camera (he seemed to be really shy about it at first), but here is a little video.

He is quite the chatty one as well. He doesn't have any real words per se (except Mommy and Daddy, which he mastered a couple of days ago), but he definitely has something to say. We say that Espen speaks Ewok. :) I guess he has been so focused on motor skills that he is just now getting around to figuring out the whole language thing. (Although he has been babbling like crazy for months.) He loves putting things in and taking them out, pushing buttons (particularly on remotes and phones), and likes stacking things. He can make a 4-block tower, which, my baby book tells me, is advanced for his age. :) I'm such a proud mama.

At his 1 year check-up, the pediatrician said that Espen is doing great and very healthy. We have switched him over to cow's milk except for morning and nighttime feedings and he seems totally cool with it, except he prefers it slightly warm. He is eating mainly table food now, with only the occasional jar of baby food. That will end as soon as we deplete our stores. :) He seems to like just about everything except ham.

He is obsessed with the dishwasher and has figured out how to climb onto the door. Great.

He is still an adorable sleeping babe. An adorable sleeping babe with his butt in the air. :)

Espen's Big Music Birthday Party

Well, Espen really enjoyed his first birthday party! The theme was "Espen's Big Music Party" to go with Jack's Big Music Show, which is a show he really likes on Noggin. We wanted to keep the party small so as not to overwhelm him (or us), and I think that turned out to be a wise decision. Espen loved being the center of attention and was so charming. :) He kept raising his hands over his head (a move that I think he picked up at the Cards game) and got the biggest kick out of the fact that everybody else raised thier hands too. He kept doing it all day. :) It cracked us all up. He has since decided to do it when he feels like he has accomplished something or just wants to give himself some kudos and has added a "YAY!" to it. For instance, when he sticks his shapes into his shape sorter, he "YAY"'s himself. It's really too cute.

Jack, Mary, and Mel wish Espen a Happy Birthday. Espen smiled, laughed, and pointed at the cake when he saw it. He REALLY likes Jack's Big Music Show.

Yay for Espen's birthday!!!

Espen's "musical clubhouse."

Yummy cake!

What is this cold white stuff??

YAY! for cake and ice cream!

OOOOO! Look at all this good stuff.

Yay for presents!

I am so loved!

I even had fun cleaning up!