Kenton went to the doctor this morning, since his fever was up again yesterday afternoon and last night. He has a virus, which the doctor said should clear up in 3-6 days. Nothing too serious. He already seems to feel a lot better than he did yesterday, so hopefully it will pass quickly.

We got a new toy out for him to play with today, from the stash of things Nana and Grandpa got for him when he was just a tiny baby. He had a great time pushing the wagon around his room and checking out all the blocks that came with it. He entertained himself for close to 30 minutes. He obviously likes it now, but I'm sure when he can walk, he'll really like pulling the wagon all around the house.

We've got a sick boy tonight. He'd been cranky and didn't have much of an appetite all day, but we weren't too concerned until his fever shot up to 102 this evening. We gave him some Tylenol, a cool bath, and a popsicle and the fever dropped some and he went to sleep. Despite the general lack of appetite today, he did like the popsicle and was pretty upset when it was all gone. I hope he sleeps well tonight, but even if he does I don't think Edward and I will--too much worrying.

Kenton loves to open and close things. Here he is playing with the drawers in his dresser. He entertained himself quite a while this way, but never did figure out he could open the doors on the side, too. He can't open it, but he is also fascinated by the refrigerator lately and comes crawling as fast as he can whenever you open it and wants to slam it shut. Since Ferd and Lucy also come running when the refrigerator opens, we get quite a crowd at the fridge these days.

Kenton had his 12-month checkup this morning. Things were apparently crazy at the pediatrician's office, and he and Edward had to wait almost an hour before they were called back, then had another lengthy wait before they saw the doctor. Usually the office is pretty good about not making you wait, so I'm not sure what was going on. Edward said Kenton behaved remarkably well the whole time, though. He weighs 26 1/2 lbs now--still right around the 75th percentile for height and weight and very healthy. He got several shots and seems to be feeling fine. However, the doctor said fever or another reaction to the MMR vaccine could take as long as 4-6 days to show up. We're keeping our fingers cross there won't be one.

A couple of nights ago, I looked in on Kenton after he'd been asleep for about an hour. This is the position I found him in. Pretty cute.

Yes, Ferdinand is one big cat. He and Kenton were having a good time playing with the ribbon off a birthday present, but I couldn't get a shot where Ferd was actually looking at the ribbon. He's as bad as Kenton about hamming for the camera when I point it at him!

It's Kenton's birthday! We weren't up for a big celebration, but we did enjoy some cupcakes and put up a few decorations. Kenton thought the streamers were interesting, but only until he got his hands on the cupcake. Then, nothing else mattered. He really enjoyed his cupcake. He ate the whole thing and was still yelling "bite!' (what he says when he wants more to eat) when we put him in the bathtub to rinse the cake icing off him.

Kenton talks all the time lately. Unfortunately, we understand very little of what he has to say. His first word was bye-bye, about three weeks ago. He has recently added da-di (daddy), a long I sound that means light, and bi which he says for bite, like when he wants a bite of what you're eating. I know it sounds just like bye-bye, but when he's sitting in his high chair screaming it we're pretty sure it has to do with getting a bite to eat, not telling us adios. When he babbles now, it has the rhythm of actual speech. Today at lunch he was talking away pointing at the light over the table. He's always been fascinated with lights and ceiling fans. I wish I could understand more of what he was saying, because he was sure excited about it. Even though it's just a couple of words right now, it's so exciting for him to actually be able to talk to us!

The picture above was taken at the Georgetown (KY) Public Library last week. In case you're not up on children's book characters, he's sitting in front of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, from Eric Carle's book.

While at Granny Cardin's last week we sat Kenton out in the yard and let him check out the grass. We've never really done that at our house, because our yard is very small and is more dirt and weeds than actual grass. He didn't quite know what to think of the grass and seemed a little freaked out by it. After gingerly touching it, he started fussing and wanted to be picked up. I guess he's a real city boy!

We survived our week-long trip to Kentucky to visit family and friends, and made it safely back home late Friday. Kenton had a pretty good trip, and got to have two birthday parties. Here's a shot of him enjoying birthday cake at Nana & Grandpa Chambers' house. We enjoyed getting to see everyone, but we're all glad to be back to our home and our normal routines!