The Wilkinson Family Blog: Happy Birthday, Theo!

It's hard to believe our little boy turned one today! We are so blessed to have this giggly, silly, sensitive little ham in our lives. He tries to make people laugh with his silly faces. He adores his brother and sister. He is overjoyed every single time he sees a cat or a dog. He is just perfect. We love him so much.

We kept Theo up past bedtime tonight so we could all eat dinner together (tofu and broccoli) and have some birthday banana cupcakes. The cupcakes were pretty good, but the ice cream was the real winner. I'm just going to let the photos speak for themselves here.

And the inevitable sugar rush that followed.

After dinner, Theo got to open his presents. With quite a bit of unsolicited help from the older siblings. They really are so altruistic those two.

He loved his toy guitar, Spot book, toy duck, and bath letters. Thank you to all the family who sent presents our way!

Just a very quick update on everyone.

Theo started doing proper crawling this past month on his hands and knees.

He also started pulling up - a bit belatedly. This kid is in no hurry, and I kind of love that about him. His initial motivation - this lovely lady.

Although always a social and funny baby, he has become even more interactive and has been really working at making other people laugh. He makes himself laugh all the time too. Here he is moving the hood down on his car seat, which he finds HILARIOUS.

Clara is now potty trained (WOOHOO!) except at night. The trick: after having 4 accidents in approximately 30 minutes, telling her that maybe she wasn't ready yet and we could try again when she was 3. That lit a fire under her. She still occasionally has accidents but she's 95% there.

Clara also graduated from the infant house, where she has been since about 10 months old, to the preschool house. Owned by the same woman, but a different location and, saddest for all of us, a different teacher. Between Grady and Clara, we've had Briana for 4.5 years. She has been a big part of our family and we will sorely miss her. This week was Clara's first week, and she was a bit nervous but overall it seems like it will be a good fit for the next few months, until she moves to Grady's school.

Ringing the bell and becoming a preschooler. Oh except she didn't want to ring it. But you get the point.

Grady and Clara walking to the preschool house

Grady has been doing great. He is picking up more and more French, and laughing derisively at Matt's accident. (Matt; "Aur-revoir, is that how you say it?" Grady: "That's how YOU say it.") We had some great news at the urologist that he may not need to have another surgery. His reflux is still severe, but because he has been doing so well and because his kidney functioning is completely normal, they want to let things be. We are really relieved and encouraged, and hope that continues to be the plan. We will know more after another round of testing this summer.

On to more pictures.