Family Hike: Columbus Day

There are some great hiking trails and paths up in Yellow Springs.  So, we ventured out on Jarred's Monday day off to go exploring.  We took our backpack for Caleb which we found out he is TOO big for.  Weight wise he is fine and its safe, but he just didn't looked at happy as we would like him to be.  I think we are going to start looking for a better backpack for Caleb to ride in.

 This was the start of the trail.  Its so pretty this time of year with all of the trees changing colors.  We are not use to seeing so many trees and so many colors!  We are certainly loving Ohio.

 At the end of our walk, we let Caleb roam around!

 Jarred thought it would be fun to put leaves all over Caleb.  He was less than amused.  He just wants to be on his feet and going!

 The stand up position.

 He loves to clap!

The family group shot!!

We had Caleb's 1 year check-up this past week and he is doing wonderfully.  He weighed in at 24lbs, 7oz which believe it or not, is only the 70th percentile!  He measured at 30 inches which is only the 62%tile.  The doctor is happy with his growth and development.  We do have lots to work on for the 15 month check up, but we are up for the challenge!  It is so fun to see how much Caleb grows and matures everyday.  He is always discovering new things and making new noises!  His personality is also coming more alive everyday!

Caleb being goofy

 Caleb was awfully quiet one morning which normally means he is getting into something!  I found him playing with his pajama shirt.  I am not sure if he was trying to put it on, or use it as a cape!  It was one of the funniest things I have seen.  He was so interested in it for the longest time!

 Such a poser!

Visit with Papa & Nana

 For Caleb's birthday, we wanted to start out with some relaxation and took him to the pool at the hotel pool.  He at first, cried at the idea and feel of the giant bath tub, but then came to like it.  He splashed a lot!!  He got me more wet than I wanted, but in the end, he had some fun.  We did open more gifts that night, and one of his all time favorite gifts was the "stud finder" his Papa gave him.  He still carries that thing around the house!

 Here are a couple fun photos of Caleb with his Papa and Nana.  Too fun!

Youngs Dairy

 We took my parents to Youngs Dairy which is an active dairy that has some fun attractions and a great little restaurant.  We decided to take the opportunity to get some fun pictures of Caleb for his birthday!  This is obviously my favorite time of year-taking pictures of milestones!

 We are not sure who he is waving at, but he waved for a LONG time!

 I love his little smile!!!

 Here is the tractor that Caleb was posing on!

"Hi Daddy, I am a big boy and can walk on my own," says Caleb.  "Caleb, we need to get going now," says Daddy.

 "But, I want to go this way!"

 "Look at me, I am getting away!"

 "Not so fast," says Papa as he takes him for a little ride on the suitcase back to the car!

I am not sure who is enjoying this more, Caleb or Papa!  :)

Caleb's 1st Birthday Party

 We did the "Car" theme from the movie "Cars."  I decided to try my hand at decorating his cake this year.  So, here is the race track made from crushed Oreos with some died green frosting, hand-made race car flags and Lightening McQueen cars.

 Here are the ice cream cone cupcakes and, yes, I did bake the cake in the cones.  I used applesauce instead of oil to make a "healthier" version.

 Here is Caleb's smash cake!  I used mini cake pans, put two together and put some fun checkered squares on it.  Needless to say, Caleb didn't want to smash anything.  He was super confused with everyone singing at him!  It was cute!

  I wanted to have a fun activity for the kiddos, so we attempted edible finger painting using pudding!  We died vanilla pudding some fun colors and had canvases for the kids to draw on!

 And Caleb just wanted to lick his fingers!!!

Here is Papa helping Caleb get some yummy bites!

 Mmmmmmmmmm..............

Wahoo............

 Singing "Happy Birthday" to Caleb.

 Caleb didn't want to smash his cake like I said earlier, so I pieced up some of the cake for him to eat.

Just humoring us with a little grin.

 The kids were so excited for Caleb to open his gifts!  They all helped him tear paper, pull out tissue paper and explore his new toys!

 Caleb looking at one of his fun books!

 Chewing on some ribbon!

 Ripping some paper!

Staring at one of the cute little girls, Emily who is way too old for him!  Haha.

Overall, I would say Caleb's 1st birthday party was a success!  We had about 25 people in attendance which includes the 6 little kiddos who were all mobile!  My parents, Caleb's Papa and Nana came out for the big day!  It was so great to have them here to celebrate with us and have them meet all of our new friends here.  They were amazed that we had made so many new friends this quickly, but this is what the military family is all about!  Wherever we are, or wherever we may go, we will always have our military family, new and old around us!