Lincoln Cooper's First Birthday!

 This was the birthday boy at breakfast.

 Of course, siblings then wanted breakfast portraits, too.

 It was marvelously chilly this morning, so they were wrapped up in blankets.

 As she is most mornings, Cheyenne was wrapped up in a blanket AND clutching a book.

 Cheyenne got to cuddle Lincoln on the sofa after school, and he wanted to read a book.  Unfortunately, the kids have fallen in love with the Barney book from their cousins.  It was supposed to go straight to Salvation Army, but they like the flaps.

 "Uh, hello?"

 "Hello, Mummy!!"  Yes, I feel like a rock star.

 Kind of hard for Rilla to go anywhere with Lincoln playing traffic cop.

 My orangutan, climbing trees.

 Lincoln, master of the Cozy Coupe, with his adoring subject.

 Four kids, all whom have loved this car!

 Cheyenne is all for photo sessions.

 To some, it might be the squeeze bulb for the blood pressure cuff, but to Lincoln, it is an awesome chew toy.  I just try not to think about the spit pooling in there.

 Green-eyed girl!!

 Sweet sisters.

 Elliott is fast on his bike!

 I love him exiting the car, like he's all big and grown-up.

 Despite taking some steps, he's still a crawler!  It's funny to watch him crawling on grass.  The exaggerated hand movements to try and stay away from that prickly grass!

 Trying to catch a tree limb.

 Captured!

 On Cheyenne's old scooter.

 Something interesting up there!

 We finally got to the birthday cake, after a late dinner (of spaghetti, of course!).  Evan had an appointment to look at a job for someone, so of course he ran into problems at his job today, and then had to go to the appointment... It's a good thing we get lots of Daddy time in the winter, because in the last three weeks, Evan's scarcely home for bedtime!

 He's not quite sure what this is all about.  I like Cheyenne's protective clutch.

 "Uh, whatever..."

 Cheyenne helped with blowing out the candle.

 A little more animated after the second lighting!

 Marilla and Elliott got to help snuff the candle that time.  And yes, that is a pout on Cheyenne's face because she wasn't allowed to do it again.

 Rilla's cheeks puffing up to get the job done.

 Not really sure about this cake yet.  I think he was looking for silverware, or someone to feed him!

 Getting into it a little...

 Yeah, he didn't hold back much.

 I can't edit out any of these pictures.  I love this smile...

 And the teeth in this one...

 And the about-to-talk face here...

 And the face he knows is guaranteed to make Mommy laugh!

 Dirty boy!

 A quick break for bathtime... and then bonking Cheyenne's tooth with his head.  He doesn't seem too concerned with Cheyenne's distress.

 Birthday present #1-- an authentic 1984 Cabbage Patch doll, new in box.  (Thanks to my Thrift Store Sister's shopping abilities.  She knows I will happily buy any Cabbage Patch she can find).

 Gift #2-- his own blanket.  All my other kids have blankets that I got for $15 at Wal-Mart.  I liked them because they were NOT emblazoned with Disney characters-- just nice blankets.  I had gotten them before Cheyenne started kindergarten, so they're almost two years old now.  A couple of months ago, I decided I wanted Lincoln to have one.  There were four different designs, so Lincoln's could be different.  Well, of course, Wal-Mart had stopped carrying them.  Today, I decided to wander through the Ollie's Bargain Outlet next to my dentist.  I had never been there before, and wanted to see what it was like.  Lo and BEhold, there was the blanket, and for $5!  I bought one for Lincoln, and bought a back-up airplane blanket for Elliott.  At $5, it seemed silly not to!

 Lincoln meeting his Cabbage Patch kid, after Daddy had freed it from 27 years of bondage!

 I wish we had video capability on my camera, he was squealing like crazy here!

 Happy growls, while kissing the baby.

 And, the final gift, a little piano.  I liked it because it has functional black keys!  It has a record function, the kids were blown away that they could press the play button and hear "Tell Me the Story of Jesus."  :-)

 Getting into pressing the buttons!  

 Singing an accompaniment!

Elliott modeling the doll's oh-so-fashionable bowtie and short overalls.  I never noticed, but it was a Preemie Cabbage Patch doll.  Fitting that Elliott should like it!

And, to top off the day, Evan decreed that Lincoln needed to be cuddled to sleep... so our well-loved and precious baby drifted off to sleep in Daddy's arms!  It was fun to remember his lovely birth today.  It sure is hard to believe it's been a year already!