A Year Already...NO WAY!!!!

I can't believe that my baby is now a year old! Time really does fly...it's not just a saying. We celebrated it 3 days early so that my mom could be there. Derrick had a blast opening all of his presents.
He got a boat full of bath toys from Grandma and Grandpa Hockenjos. He hadn't really liked baths before but now doesn't want to get out of the tub. And a really cute animal train from Nana. Papa and Grandma Susan sent him some money to go shopping and we got him a couple more bath toys with that.
His favorite was the basketball hoop...well, just the basketballs. He even crawls with both of them in his hands. It's pretty funny. He gets fiesty if one of his brothers tries to take one of them so they "can play with him!" His fiestiness must have been a birthday present too because it has suddenly appeared. No one pushes him around, that's for sure!

When it came time for the cupcake he wasn't quite sure what to do with it. We had to help him so that he knew he could eat what we were putting in front of him.
He ended up needing us to feed it to him, or he would lean down and take bites because he knew if he dropped the basketballs the vultures, or otherwise named, his brothers, would swoop down and get them. We wish we could have gotten the smacking noise he would make after every frosting-filled bite on video.


It was a wonderful little party and his older brothers had a great time helping him unwrap his presents. Although I have to admit I was tempted to invent a device that gave a small, and harmless shock to any child over the age of one who tried to open his presents. They were a little over-eager!!!!
We are so grateful to have Derrick in our family. He is so much fun and a very happy baby. We know it will only get better from here as we learn more and more about the many things that make Derrick, Derrick.