Simon Had a Birthday!

He's a year old. Here he is dancing to the music of one of his new toys:



It was a pretty good birthday, all in all. Family and a few friends came over. We had music, snacks, cake, toys, and at one point, a heated debate on the issue of same-sex marriage. I eventually had to shut that down, and we resumed the festivities.

Here's Simon on the drums, with the help of Papa:



With all the fires in the area, the air was smoky and unhealthy, but Simon wanted to spend a lot of time outside. Of course. We took him for several walks, but he kept wanting more. There were some sad moments when he walked to the front door and tried to open it, only to hear me say "No, Simon, we're not going outside right now." Here's Simon enjoying his precious walks:





It was a tiring day for me. I can't imagine how tiring it will be when he's old enough to have a big party with lots of friends running around. I'm going to start building up my strength.