The baby giant panda at the National Zoo in Washington is turning 1 next week, and his caretakers have shared online posts of his milestone year.

       While Xiao Qi Ji’s birthday is Aug. 21, zoo officials have planned several celebratory activities that start Monday and continue through the week. And next Saturday, panda fans can tune in on the zoo’s Giant Panda Cam at 7:30 a.m. to see Xiao Qi Ji enjoy an ice birthday cake. His parents — mama Mei Xiang — and dad Tian Tian will also enjoy their own ice cakes in honor of their son’s first birthday.

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       If viewers miss the cake-eating moment, a video will be shared online later, zoo officials said.

       During the past year the giant panda cub has reached a number of milestones, including going through his first veterinary exam, his first steps, getting his first toys — a small red egg and a PVC puzzle feeder — and having his first taste of sweet potato.

       Plus there was his first frolic in the snow and then he went to “Panda Cub Preschool,” at 8 months old, where he started to work with trainers at the zoo. One of his exercises was to sniff a buoy on a stick. When he did it right, his keepers said “good job” and he usually got one of his favorite treats — a pear or an apple.

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       Xiao Qi Ji is called a “miracle” cub, because his mother, at age 22, was the oldest giant panda to give birth in the country. At her age, his mom had a less than 1 percent chance of having another cub. He was the D.C. zoo’s first giant panda cub in five years.

       The zoo’s chief veterinarian, Don Neiffer, had said at his birth that it was “like that Hail Mary football pass.”

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       Because Xiao Qi Ji (SHIAU-chi-ji) — whose name translates as “little miracle” in English — was born in a chaotic year of a global pandemic, he made his debut to the public virtually. In January, the panda-care team had him do its “first-ever virtual encounter” with Xiao Qi Ji. They played a little game of tug-of-war with him using a bright green ball that was scented like green apple.

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       Xiao Qi Ji is a quick learner, zoo officials said, describing him as “smart, observant, inquisitive and goofy bear.”

       At 10 months old, he learned a new behavior — to stand up. When keeper Mariel Lally “holds her hand in front of her face and points her index finger up to the sky, then slowly raises it,” the zoo officials said, Xiao Qi Ji follows her finger and stands up on his hind legs. Ta-Dah!

       Xiao Qi Ji can turn almost any item into a toy, said his keepers. He’s fond of turning pieces of bamboo or sticks he finds outside into a fun item for play. But as a younger cub, keepers said, he still tends to “be more cautious than his brothers and sisters were” at this age. He tends to take his time in climbing up or down and is careful in his footing.

       And when it gets too hot outside in these dog days of summer — he’s no dummy. He goes inside where his space is air-conditioned. When his name is called, he comes out — a behavior keepers call “recalling.”

       The zoo has reopened to the public, but visitors are required to wear a mask indoors, regardless of their vaccination status, and entry passes are required to visit the facility.