Boston

 Boston has finally figured out how to ride the little red coupe.  It enables him to better keep up with his big brothers and sisters, which is the prime goal of a little brother.

 "hm, let's see what this baby can do..."

 and out comes that Henry tongue!

 We're trying to ween this little guy off his favored pacifier.  He found this bottle lid and was getting his fix on it, since he can no longer find the real thing.

Bookworm

  Another child after my own heart, Boston LOVES books.  This is his favorite place to read them: on the big, comfy chair in his room by the window.  He will show my to his room, pat the chair, and I'll know he wants me to read to him.  You'd think the kid would be speaking in full sentences by now, with how much he gets read to, but I'm sure he'll one day start spouting Dr Seuss poetry.  He doesn't like just any books, however.  You only have 1, maybe 2 pages to spark his interest before you get your fingers slammed in the book, and he's off to find another.  His favorites involve animals or trucks.  Then he'll point and grunt and ooh.  Today, him and Keaton enjoyed some brotherly bonding time together reading.

  He got all comfortable in the family room, using the bear as a pillow, and was reading books to himself, but I missed most of it.  He is a funny kid.

New favorite pastime

 One of Boston's favorite pastimes lately is playing in his laundry basket.  He likes to crawl in, shut the closet doors and play peek-a-boo.  I love watching him try to get his fat leg up over the edge to crawl in.

 I love this stage with babies!

First snow day

 The day after Christmas we dressed Boston up and took him outside for his first experience being in snow.  This is getting ready.  He couldn't walk in all his layers, and had to have help standing up.  Help me up Ralphie!

 After the initial shock of the cold, he pulled his gloves off and shoveled it into his mouth by the handfuls. 

Dirt

Boston has finally discovered dirt.  I knew it was just a matter of time, being a boy and all, but I wish it would have waited until he wasn't crawling through it still.  He loves to play in it, roll around in it, and eat it.  His brothers like to shower him in it.

The Caboose

 I tried interviewing Boston for his birthday, but all I got was squeaks and grunts.  I'll have to interpret it for you.  

How many teeth do you have?  8

 What is your greatest accomplishment so far?  Surviving being dropped by my siblings.  More times than I can count.  On the head.  Also, I am a great dancer.  I love to shake my diapered bum to songs with a great beat.

 What skills have you learned since your last interview (at 11 months)?

I can wave bye-bye, or night-night.  I'm versatile like that.

 What is your favorite food?

Yogurt.  And anything chocolate or sweet.

 What is your favorite toy?  Magnets!!  I grunt or yell until someone pulls them down low enough for me to grab on the fridge.  I like to suck on them, and swallowed one by mistake once.  Mom had to watch for it to come out the other end.  Yuck!

 What's your favorite thing to do outside?  Dirt.  Need I say more?

 Any words yet?

Nope, but I'm working on it.  I'm close to saying "ba-ba", and I say "da-da" and 'ma-ma".  I can understand mom when she says "where's the birds?" and "time for bed".

 What do you get in trouble for doing most?

Spitting during dinner.  I like to wait til Mom has put a bite of something in my mouth (green smoothie is the best), and then spit it all over whoever is feeding me. 

 What's the best about being the youngest in the family?

Everyone adores me.  I don't have to ever walk anywhere if I don't want to.  I can always hitch a ride with someone.  Naptime is optional, since I can count on Brighton to break me out if I yell loud enough.  I just have to squawk and I'll get my way.  I'm cute, no matter what I do.  Except spit.

 Best friend?  

Savannah.  She's my second mom.  And Keaton.  I love to climb on him and hug him.  We're buds.  Brighton scares me.

 What makes you laugh?  Mom chasing me around the bed.  People saying "ow!"  Jumping on my siblings.

 What makes you cry?

Falling down the stairs, being dropped, being left when Mom leaves, when someone is teasing me with my binky, and when forced to eat vegetables.

 What else can you do?

I can make car noises when I play with cars, I can shimmy and wiggle when I'm excited, I can clap, I can turn pages of books, I can throw a ball, I can take a few steps (I'll be walking soon!), and I can help search under my crib for my binky.

 When Mom took these pictures, I kept wiggling myself over to dangle my legs off the edge of the chair.  Savannah straightened me out several times, but I always re-situated myself the other way.

 Only a sucker kept me from doing it again.  Mom knows how to distract me.

 I need to gel this hair up a bit...

 There you have it.  Boston at One year old.

 We sure love this kid!  We couldn't have asked for a better surprise.  No one can look into his huge blue eyes and say no.  He has been such a huge blessing in our family, and has really pulled us together.  I adore babies this age and wish I could keep him here for a while longer.  Especially now when I know how fast he'll grow up.  Boston, we sure do love you!

Boston's Big Day

 Where did the last year go?  My baby turned one on November 6th.  The older kids and I went to see Despicable Me 2 (leaving Boston behind for a nap), then ran to buy him a small gift, and came home for dinner.  We gave Boston jello for the first time to feed himself.  It was not a hit, but he did enjoy throwing it!

 Boston loves to give Keaton hugs.  He and Keaton have a special relationship.  I think they must have been buds in Heaven.

Cake time!  I had to laugh at this scenario.  13 years ago when Savannah turned 1, we went with my 3 sisters and mom to a cabin in Bear Lake to celebrate it.  I bought her several carefully-selected gifts and spent hours making and decorating a pumpkin cake.  Her second birthday I spent hours again decorating a Barney cake for her.  I looked like I had murdered Barney for days afterwards because of the frosting.  Flash forward 13 years to Boston's first.  We went to a movie without him, ran to Kmart after the movie looking for stacking cups.  Didn't find any, so we bought him some soft blocks.  Stopped by my sister-in-law's house on the way home to pick up the mini cake she made for him because she had cake batter that needed to get used up, and frosted it with left-over pink frosting in the bottom of the fridge that I dyed orange and slapped on the cake in 2 mins, followed by some leftover M&M's.  What a contrast.  Boston, if you are reading this in the future, know that we love you immensely and you are just as important as your older sister, but I realized that first birthdays are all about wrapping paper and cake to a one-year-old.  We had both, so we felt you were not deprived:)

  He's mesmerized by the flame.

 Boston touched the flame and got slightly burned, so we switched to presents quickly.  He was unimpressed by the blocks.  Knew I should have got him stacking cups!

 He was not shy, and dug right in.

 After getting completely covered in frosting, we stripped him down to a onsie.  He crawled onto the table, and was great entertainment for the rest of us as he tried to eat the other kids' ice cream, and danced and wiggled.

 Like Keaton hijacking my photo in the back?

 "You were done with this, right?"

 We sure love you Boston!