While his due date was Jan. 2, his parents thought he might come into the world on Dec. 29.

Then Dec. 30. Maybe a New Year's Eve baby.

But no. 

The boy was content to not appear until 1:07 a.m. Jan. 1. Then, proud parents Chace Ladyka and Cassandra Larson of Enderby were thrilled to introduce their first child, Casey Kelvin, to the world.

Or, well, introduce him to the maternity ward staff at Vernon Jubilee Hospital.

Casey Kelvin was the first baby of 2025 born at VJH.

"He was just happy to stay inside mom," said Ladyka. "Cassandra really started pushing hard at about 11 p.m. on New Year's Eve, and it took an-hour-and-a-half, two hours, for him to come out."

Casey Kelvin weighed in at 3,670 grams, which is eight pounds, one ounce.

"Mom's doing good, tired," said Ladyka on Wednesday afternoon. "Casey has been sleeping a lot."

The young lad and his folks will be receiving a gift basket from the VJH Ladies Auxiliary, as well as flowers donated by Canada Safeway.

The New Year's Baby symbolizes the start of the new year and represents the first of the approximately 40,000 babies who are expected to be born in British Columbia in 2025.

From Jan. 1 until Dec. 16, 2024, 38,103 babies were registered as born in B.C.

Oliver is the most popular name for babies born in the province in 2024.

Oliver is followed by Olivia, Liam, Noah, Theodore, Charlotte, Lucas, Isla, Amelia and Leo, according to the Vital Statistics Agency's preliminary figures for 2024.

In 2023, the top names for babies born in B.C. were Noah, Oliver, Olivia, Theodore, Liam, Jack, Emma, Sophia, Ethan and Leo.