Leah's first birthday was January 8th, but as is usually the case you can't get people together for a party until the weekend. Birthday's for little kids are actually more for the adults and older siblings than the one year old, who really has no idea what is going on.
They may or may not take part in the unwrapping of gifts, but in the end they spend as much time playing with the paper and boxes as with the gift.
So, while they play with the paper, each gift is held up for all the adults to see. And each new toy is tested by the older children.
But Leah did get her own cake. I don't mean just a slice from the cake, but her own individual cake. Kate and Jeremiah had made 3 cakes, one for Leah and two for the rest of us.
Leah didn't hesitate breaking, literally, into her cake. I have never seen adults have so much fun watching someone eat and she enjoyed it, too.
Let's try and keep the cake out of the hair.
Someone (Joanne) thought it would be cute to get Leah to clap her hands.
"Yo, Daddy, give me a big kiss!"
"And, no, I won't share my cake."
Jeremiah and Tom decided to have their cake with a fork, but we did agree doing it Leah's way would be a lot more fun. We'll have to think on that.
Our baby girl, Courtney, is some odd number of years old today. I am happy to say, once again, that she survived in spite of us. 
I remember her talking to the green frogs in the mobile over her crib and to the bright pink caterpillar in the poster on her wall. Many a night I crawled under her crib in the dark to find her pacifier. We had a backpack baby carrier and she would chew on my ponytail when she was in it.
When we lived in base housing while I was in the Air Force, I found Courtney standing in the hall staring up at the light bulb in the ceiling. She asked me if Jesus lived in the light bulb. She had heard them talking about Jesus being the light of the world in church.
If these aren't just a couple of the cutest pictures you've ever seen, then you must be looking at some of our grandchildren's pictures. Then again, they do all look like their grandfather.
I wish we could take some credit for how she turned out, but God gets it all. 
This is Courtney, with her youngest, Lila, today. Happy Birthday Little Girl! You'll always be my little girl, sorry that's just how it works.
They may or may not take part in the unwrapping of gifts, but in the end they spend as much time playing with the paper and boxes as with the gift.
So, while they play with the paper, each gift is held up for all the adults to see. And each new toy is tested by the older children.
But Leah did get her own cake. I don't mean just a slice from the cake, but her own individual cake. Kate and Jeremiah had made 3 cakes, one for Leah and two for the rest of us.
Leah didn't hesitate breaking, literally, into her cake. I have never seen adults have so much fun watching someone eat and she enjoyed it, too.
Let's try and keep the cake out of the hair.
Someone (Joanne) thought it would be cute to get Leah to clap her hands.
"Yo, Daddy, give me a big kiss!"
"And, no, I won't share my cake."
Jeremiah and Tom decided to have their cake with a fork, but we did agree doing it Leah's way would be a lot more fun. We'll have to think on that.
