Matchbox Cars and Building Blocks

We have a new favorite toy in the house. Actually, it's an old toy we just got off the shelf again: building blocks. Sterling had some quiet building time in his room. Pictured is our house, fully fenced, with as many matchbox vehicles as could fit in it. He had to build a separate store so he could park his little semi-truck. Then work, so Daddy's pick-up truck could go somewhere.

Naptime

Need I explain?

Sterling's Nap

Sterling has his own night time routine. We go into his room together and kneel beside his bed. I help him say his prayers (mostly him repeating my prompts). Then he climbs in bed. I sing "I Am a Child of God." Then he points and says "laundry room." The laundry room is visible from his room. He will calmly fall asleep in his own bed as long as I have not A: gone downstairs or B: entered my bedroom (ensue instant howling).

Sterling wanted to be near me the other day while I was wrapping presents in my bedroom. It was nap time. I put his pillow on a small area rug and told him it was a bed. I started wrapping presents. He laid down on it and babbled to himself. Then I started catching words "(l)ead me, (gu)ide me (w)alk (b)eside me . . ." and realized he was singing "I Am a Child of God" to himself!

Sterling Takes His First Cake

Sterling had his first birthday on Sunday, October 19th. At birth he weighed 8 1/2 pounds (I could hold, but not lift him, at first). Now I estimate he weighs 24 pounds. Since we were spending Sunday with his paternal grandparents, we celebrated a day early. First Cory turned his car seat forward, then we went to a pumpkin farm, where we took a hay ride and chose a pumpkin about as heavy as him. There were domestic animals in cages. He seemed vaguely interested in board book words (pig, sheep, chicken, etc.) announced in front of wiggly animals. At home, again, Cory fixed our old electronic toddler toys for Sterling. The highly assertive older siblings left him a small empty box, and would have taken over the new noisy toys entirely, if it hadn't been for adult intervention.

For his official birthday, his Aunt T. had made him his own chocolate duck cake. As you can see, he appreciated the honor and made the most of it.

Renaissance Baby

If he'd been born in the sixteenth century, he'd make a perfect Renaissance baby: can you imagine all the naked baby angels that would be painted in his image? I'm afraid the baby rolls won't last much longer. This guy can crawl all over the house, and, as you can see, is now pulling himself up to stand. I've been cleaning floors with religious zeal!