Happy Birthday to us!!!

February 3d was the boys' first Birthday!

We didn't celebrate on that date, though, because they were both in the midst of an awful stomach flu/virus that left them spewing from both ends. It was so hard to deal with, they were so sick, but were incredibly well-mannered despite it.

We had to take Jimmy to the ER first. A friend of ours, JennyJo, met me there to watch Joey. She didn't know that Joey couldn't walk, but she just set him down and let him go and guess what? 5 steps... The next day 7 ... This past weekend 9. He consistently takes 5 or 6 and he's got standing completely figured out! So, he certainly did walk before his 1st Birthday ... 3 days before. Jimmy's watching and learning, I'm sure he won't be far behind. Jimmy rolled over and broke a tooth first, so it's fair.

Joey's on the left there, looking like he's ready to dive into the cake. Jimmy looks like he's just checking out the flame on the candle. He was indeed a lot more timid when we put big slices of cake in front of them. Here is the aftermath!
Jimmy very methodically ate the cake handful by handful, with only slightly less messy results than his crazy brother, Joey....
This is Joey after about 20 seconds of eating! He was eating like there was no tomorrow, maybe thinking we'd change our minds and take the cake away!
Here the boys are after their post-Cake baths, finding the one kitchen cabinet that isn't toddler-proofed, full of safe Rubbermaid containers for them to play with on nearly a nightly basis. Riiiiiiiiight, those aren't quite clean anymore, but then it's pretty much just me who eats out of them, so I'm not worried and it keeps them happy!
Keeps them happy MOST OF THE TIME! Wow, these guys are biters now that they each have 7 teeth, and in this terrible (yet classic) instance, Joey bit into Jimmy's cheek when I turned around to clean up the stove top. It wasn't as bad as it looks, but it is rare that they wail like this and Jimmy was back to normal very quickly. Don't judge the photographer, she's also the hugger that consoled him.

SEE YOU IN A COUPLE WEEKS!