Chris leaves for San Diego on the 3rd, where he'll stay until he leaves on the USS Carl Vinson for just about a month. As a result, that means he'll be missing Matthew's first birthday on the 15th. Not wanting to miss the actual celebration, he asked me to decide if we were going to celebrate it early or when he gets back in September. I was bummed that it looked like our best option was to celebrate it with Jonathan's birthday, thinking that as Matthew's first birthday, it should be extra special. However, I wasn't at all excited about the prospect of waiting until September to celebrate, meaning I couldn't do anything special for him on his actual birthday. So we asked Jonathan if he minded sharing his birthday this year...
My mother has bought one of these fancy hats for each of my kids' 1st birthdays. I was impressed that Matthew left it on just long enough for me to snap this picture!
I made Matthew's 'smash cake' - a giant cupcake! I forgot to put the sprinkles on though.
How fast this year has flown by!
Happy Birthday, Dear Matthew. Happy Birthday to You!
I helped him blow out the candle
What's this?
First taste
Apparently he likes it!
...A LOT!
Mmmmm!
Blue Raspberries!
'Yeah, It's my birthday!'
Sharing with Daddy
You can see all 3 of his teeth in this picture.
Big Belly Laughs
Coming back for more
Can't get enough 
Baby Smurf!
On his way to the bathtub!
Present time!
Slug Bug...Yellow one!
That one's as big as he is!
A Little People Dump Truck!
No need to take it out of the box.
Grandpa John was put to work, freeing toys from their boxes!
Courtney got him this cool toy. You put the balls in the top, then use the hammers to knock them down and watch through the window as the balls fall through the maze. 
It was a huge hit with all the kids. Here's Matthew with our new friend Brooke.
Happy Early Birthday to my Sweet Matthew! Matthew is our miracle. We came so close to not such a good outcome when he was born and every time I look at him I can't help but remember how truly lucky I am to have him in my life. He is a happy baby. Our most adventurous child. The first child we've had to 'baby proof' for. He will get into and climb on everything and anything. He is determined to hang with the big kids and is very strong willed. He is not fussy about anything, he doesn't demand much, doesn't like to sit still or snuggle, but rather be crawling around seeing what kind of trouble he can get into. He stays busy. He has 3 teeth with the fourth just starting to cut through the gums. His hair is starting to grow. Light brown hair and big blue eyes that melt your heart. He likes to clap your hands or his own, blow raspberries and sing into the older kids' microphones. He's very curious and will go to just about anyone. He loves doors, drawers and anything else that opens and closes. His first word was 'no, no, no'. Occassionally, he also says 'Dada' and 'Mama', but no real indication still as to whether or not he's saying those with purpose yet. However, he will make the 'D' sound when he sees the dog, so I suppose that counts as his second word. He's cruising along the furniture and crawling up on all fours now, but I think we still have a while before he's walking. He is our last baby, and from the looks of it, will keep us on our toes so that we never have the chance to wonder what if we'd been able to have one more. He loves his family and his dog and we love him more than we ever thought imaginable! He completes our family!
Happy 1st Birthday, Matthew!
