Birthday Boy!

Little Liam turned one year old a couple weeks ago. He had a great birthday and finished the day with a cupcake. I'll run the order of the day backwards in this post. It's always nice to start with the big, happy, cake-filled smile.

He ate the whole thing, not just the frosting like some kids we have.


Although he ate a separate cupcake, the main cake was beautiful. Sarah had done a lot of research into fun cake ideas and settled on a good one that looks super and, as a bonus, gave Finn a project to help with. She made a turtle shaped cake. Finn had a train cake for his first, but Liam's was more amphibian.

We also continued a tradition that lapsed a little on Finn's third birthday. We try to take a picture of the birthday boy with a picture of them on the day they were born. I'm always struck by how they don't look like themselves in the birth picture, but that's probably because they were mostly cartilage and got squeezed out a toothpaste tube.

I used to think that the two look very different, but I can't really tell which is which in the newborn pictures. Now the more I look at the pictures of Finn at one year old, the more I think they look more similar.

While Liam was napping, Finn helped make the cake. He separated the M&Ms into pile of the same color. He then helped put the candies on the shell. Most important to him, he also helped eat the leftover M&Ms once the cake was covered.

It's been a great year with two boys. Liam's grown so much and will be walking around in a month or two. The kids wrestle and play together. Finn's an awesome big brother and Liam idolizes him. I can't wait for them to be get older because they get more amazing each day, but I know I'll miss all these milestones once they're behind us. I'll just keep enjoying them as they come.

Soft play room

Alexandria is a great town and has a lot of community activities and services. At the city athletic center near the high school there is a soft play room in a racquetball court. The kids love it. Here are some pictures and video of them having fun.

Finn is quite a daredevil and jumps off the slide instead of sliding off it. It's a great rainy day place to go. April showers gave plenty of need to have rainy day places to go too.

Day out at the park

A favorite thing to do is to pack up a picnic and head down to the riverfront park. It's got it all: airplanes on final, boats, running, playing ball, &c. Finn got his own umbrella and rain boots to protect him from the spring showers. The umbrella also doubles as a nice shade maker for summer days.


The best activity of all is walking on the rocks and throwing sticks into the Potomac. The leaves weren't full out at the time, but the sun was as strong as summer.

The kids also got new sunglasses for the summer. You can see how tired they got from the running and eating.

However, no matter how tired or how much you ate at lunch, there is always room for ice cream on a hot day. Ice cream is a higher priority than keeping a clean face.


It sure was a fun day and a good kickoff for summer. I'm sure that there will be many more days spent just like this one. Or maybe with a family bike ride kicked in.

Craft Time

Come on everyone! Put on your flight suit, grab some egg cartons, and make a lobster with one eye and a couple colorful poofs.

Sarah's been crafty. She finds all kinds of great things for Finn to make when it's too rainy or hot to play outside. I like coming home to see what is the next thing they've done.

Parental Safety Magazine: Parent of the Year Honorable Mention

He's too quick to stop him from getting to the electric cord, but not to quick to grab a camera. In reality we know that he's safe and stopped this behavior. Training a kid away from playing in the fireplace or grabbing cord/jabbing outlets it tough. The forbidden toy is the most intriguing.

Knute Visited

Knute flew into town a few months ago to say "hi". Finn likes catching up and chatting about FCK1. They've made it up to the first league so there's a lot to discuss. At some point Knute gave Finn a missive, so Finn retaliated with his knee. I documented the experience. Finn wants him to stop back in soon, but Knute is a little hesitant.

Happy Birthday Lee-Ham!

A year ago we were at the hospital having little Liam. Now he's not so little, babbling up a storm, and able (but unwilling) to stand on his own. He's gone from a punching bag for Finn to smashing Finn with a truck. He's been to Germany and to glaciers. He's a happy boy subject to moments of vocal complaining. He's an early riser and a two-nap-a-day kind of guy.

He's a super little guy and I've a great year with him around.