Wiley is One

On October 9 Wiley turned one. He started the celebration when he woke up in the morning, generously giving out kisses to Mommy and Daddy and Aden. We then took him and Aden to Trevecca Nazarene University where Mommy and Daddy spoke in chapel, and later that evening to another church where Mommy and Daddy spoke. We had actually celebrated the night before with one of our LINKS churches on the Tennessee District. It was already Wiley's birthday in PNG, and they threw a party for him where he got his first taste of birthday cake.

After arriving in Ohio, we invited Mommy's family to join us for a family birthday celebration. Wiley had just begun to sit still for short books, and seemed to show particular interest in the zebra page of a zoo book. So we had a zebra-stripe theme at the party. Both Aden and Wiley got excited as we set the stage and blew up some balloons. Mommy helped Aden wrap a special gift for Wiley, and then Aden immediately brought it to his brother and unwrapped it for him while Wiley watched him and played with another toy. When it was time for cake, Mommy had decorated the cake with zebra stripes, and had a small bundt cake for Wiley to enjoy all on his own. Wiley knew just what to do with the cake and didn't hesitate long before diving right in. (Quite unlike his older brother on his first birthday! For those of you who don't remember, Aden didn't like the messy icing and flicked it off of his fingers rather than licking it off.) Aden was quite a help at the party, blowing out the candle and unwrapping the gifts. We finished the party with a game of Tape the Stripes on the Zebra. Now we have to try to convince Aden that even though he unwrapped the gifts, they were really intended for Wiley.


At his one-year check-up Wiley weighed 17 pounds, 10 ounces and was 28 inches long. He is walking more and more steadily every day, and walking is becoming more and more preferred over crawling. He seems to be saying quite a few words already, and really tries to repeat almost anything we ask him to. I think Aden probably did this as well, but we didn't always recognize it. Now our ears are more trained to understand what babies and toddlers are saying (or trying to say). He especially likes to identify tractors (cack-ah) and trains (coo-coo). We were thankful for a healthy report at the doctor's office and for our happy, growing boy.