Last Saturday we had Fraser's birthday party here, a joint first birthday party with his friend Wesley. Fraser had a great time hanging out in his personal pool. In fact, he enjoyed his pool so much he refused to get out to eat lunch and made us feed him vegiburger pieces and pasta salad in the pool. For some reason he decided to dip each piece of vegiburger into the water before he ate it. Luckily, by the time we were ready for cake he agreed to come out of the water.

As you can see, Fraser very much enjoyed his own personal cupcake, though perhaps not as much as Wesley who was VERY enthusiastic in devouring his cupcake and smearing it all over himself, the table, his chair, and his sister (who is sitting next to him). Fraser very carefully ate all the frosting off the top of his cupcake first and then began breaking off small pieces and putting them neatly into his mouth. This process eventually became tedious however, and he did try to shove the entire cupcake into his mouth at once. When even that tactic proved unsuccessful he simply put the cupcake down on the table and, well, you can see.....

Uncle PJ even came out for the party and on Sunday (after Father's Day breakfast out at the local diner where Fraser gave Andy a very stylish peas and carrots tie) uncle PJ and Fraser had a great time hanging out in the truck in our back yard while Andy and I worked on the vegetable garden. I think Fraser was thrilled to spend some time with someone who thought he was interesting again.

On Monday Fraser has his very first swimming lesson. I thought he did very well, all things considered. His favorite parts were "jumping" off the wall into the pool (one, two, three, wheeeee!!!!) and crossing the pool "like a dolphin" as mommy hoisted him over her head and then back into the water over, and over, and over. And over. Getting ready to leave after getting out of the pool was, however, considerably more challenging than I had expected. Getting Fraser changed was easy enough, but then once he was in nice dry clothes I realized I didn't have anywhere to put him while I got dressed. Well, after a lot of "Fraser please stand up!" and "I'm sorry, but if you won't stand mommy has to pin you against the wall with her leg" we managed to leave, slightly damp.

Aside from learning that mommy should change herself first after swimming (since I can generally be trusted not to crawl around on the wet floor afterward) Fraser and I learned another valuable lesson yesterday as well. When Fraser needs to have blood drawn Daddy needs to take him because, as it turns out, it is not only the sight of mommy's blood that makes her almost pass out. No need to go into all the horrible details, but suffice to say halfway through the blood draw one of the nurses had to take Fraser away from me as I broke out in a cold sweat, started gagging, and the room began to go black. I know, heart of a lion. Fraser, on the other hand, handled the entire situation very well. He cried a little, but I think that was more frustration that they were holding his arms still than actual pain. And he had recovered so well by the time we left that he even flashed the nurses a winning smile. The picture above was taken when we got back from the hospital. If you look closely you can see the little bandages on the inside of both his arms. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to his doctor's appointment on Friday when he has to get his one year shots.