That was me on my first birthday.

You might need to view the large version to see that yes indeed, I was very intent on that fire and probably would have loved to touch it.

Now, Jacob is about 8 months old right now.

I have every reason to believe that if I were to set a lit candle in front of him, he would not focus on it and reach one finger towards it. No, I’m sure he would focus on it and lunge for it with at least two hands. Possibly so suddenly that we’d have trouble keeping him back.

This sure does keep us on our toes.

I also have no doubt that Jacob’s first birthday cake will wind up looking like mine did: