Well, D's party went off without a hitch. Good thing I started planning as early as I did, and slowly getting things accomplished. Without the help of Kelsie, my sister-in-law, we would've been in deep doo-doo. Dan, Matt's brother, and Kelsie arrived the Thursday before D's party. Kelsie and I got to work that night on a few decorations, but Friday we spent ALL day running errands, prepping food, and decorating. I loved all the fun ideas we came up with to tie the nautical/ombre theme together! Probably one of the most memorable parts of the prepping was going to pick up 26 balloons and 1 giant 3 foot balloon. It didn't occur to me that they might not actually all fit in the car. So we shoved 13 in the trunk, scooted our seats up so that our knees were crammed into the dash, and crammed the 3 foot balloon oh so gently behind my seat (even with the back door wide open I had to shove it in little by little). The final 13 we put mostly behind the passenger seat (D's carseat was in the back too) and Kelsie held the rest down in the front so I could at least see the passenger window and side mirror. It was tight!
The party was from 12-2pm on Saturday July 20th. We had about 25 adults, and 6 kiddos under the age of 2. It was so fun to see D eating lunch surrounded by all his little friends (most of whom also have July birthdays!!!). We had a good friend of ours take photos of the party for us so Matt and I could enjoy his birthday and just be present in the moment :) Great idea. (speaking of that, I don't have our photos yet because we are also doing a separate 1 year photo session the first week of August, but trust me when I get them I will post them). D seemed a little overwhelmed by all the people and was wanting to be held and a bit clingy the whole time. He cried a few times while eating and opening presents, but after that was good to go.
The cake smash started off a little slow (like they all have that we've seen this July) but once he got into it he really seemed to enjoy it. I was torn about regular cake vs semi-healthy cake. I figure he has the rest of his life to eat sugar so for now we could scale it back a bit. The recipe was from his baby cookbook and was made with applesauce, a little brown sugar, fresh carrots, and sweetened cream cheese. I did do a trial run of cupcakes the week before to make sure he would actually eat it; I didn't want him spitting out his smash cake. Turns out he probably has a sweet tooth like his mama!
Overall, a great day and a reminder of just what great family and friends we have. So thankful we have each and every one of them to share his special day with. Going all out for the 1st birthday was fun, but this is not the new standard. From now on a few balloons with cake and ice cream will suffice :) There's a reason I'm not a full-time party planner (getting all this planned, setup, and going was a lot of work and a bit stressful!).
1 year factoids:
-LOVES bananas (understatement of the year). He enthusiastically hollers "nana! Nana! NANA!!" from his highchair anytime he's in it.
-Yogurt is another big time favorite. He'll eat just about anything if there's yogurt on it.
-signs 'all done' and 'more' consistently. sometimes signs 'more' just when he's hungry.
-weighs 22lbs 6oz and is 30 inches tall
-his vocabulary has exploded recently: Mama, Dada, banana, water, all done, bye-bye, night-night, and bubbles (he imitates our words with some accuracy when we name items for him)
-we cloth diaper the 5 days a week I'm home and I love them (I now cringe a little on the inside when I throw out a paper diaper)
-A week before his birthday we started the process of weaning. We stopped the 11:30am nursing and replaced it with breast milk in a sippy cup. Over the course of a week we continually added more and more whole milk to the sippy, until it was straight whole milk (warmed of course). Then we did the same with the 4pm nursing. Then we worked on drinking it cold from the fridge (still not a huge fan of that). Tomorrow we'll switch his bedtime bottle to whole milk (bottle will still be warmed though). So now he's just nursing in the morning, and I'm no longer pumping!!! Woohoo! I've worked twice since I quit pumping, and it sure is a lot easier at work. I just nurse him the mornings that I'm home, and right now that works for us :)
-he's very close to full-time walking. right now he'll walk from object to object on his own as long as they're not more than a few feet away. more than that, and he just crawls.
-his food preferences change frequently (i.e.- he used to love sweet potatoes, now he could care less)
-he likes to empty things (drawers, bins, containers, cabinets, baskets, etc...)
-his favorite birthday present has been his red wagon (we've gone on a lot of wagon rides recently!)
-he sleeps about 11-12 hours at night and takes two 1.5hr naps each day
- he shows a little shyness by snuggling his head into your shoulder/neck around new people
-he still has NO TEETH!! His bottom left gum is swollen/red with a teeny white dot, so it won't be long now. I was beginning to wonder if it was possible to be born without any teeth... thank goodness I won't be finding that out!
The party was from 12-2pm on Saturday July 20th. We had about 25 adults, and 6 kiddos under the age of 2. It was so fun to see D eating lunch surrounded by all his little friends (most of whom also have July birthdays!!!). We had a good friend of ours take photos of the party for us so Matt and I could enjoy his birthday and just be present in the moment :) Great idea. (speaking of that, I don't have our photos yet because we are also doing a separate 1 year photo session the first week of August, but trust me when I get them I will post them). D seemed a little overwhelmed by all the people and was wanting to be held and a bit clingy the whole time. He cried a few times while eating and opening presents, but after that was good to go.
The cake smash started off a little slow (like they all have that we've seen this July) but once he got into it he really seemed to enjoy it. I was torn about regular cake vs semi-healthy cake. I figure he has the rest of his life to eat sugar so for now we could scale it back a bit. The recipe was from his baby cookbook and was made with applesauce, a little brown sugar, fresh carrots, and sweetened cream cheese. I did do a trial run of cupcakes the week before to make sure he would actually eat it; I didn't want him spitting out his smash cake. Turns out he probably has a sweet tooth like his mama!
Overall, a great day and a reminder of just what great family and friends we have. So thankful we have each and every one of them to share his special day with. Going all out for the 1st birthday was fun, but this is not the new standard. From now on a few balloons with cake and ice cream will suffice :) There's a reason I'm not a full-time party planner (getting all this planned, setup, and going was a lot of work and a bit stressful!).
1 year factoids:
-LOVES bananas (understatement of the year). He enthusiastically hollers "nana! Nana! NANA!!" from his highchair anytime he's in it.
-Yogurt is another big time favorite. He'll eat just about anything if there's yogurt on it.
-signs 'all done' and 'more' consistently. sometimes signs 'more' just when he's hungry.
-weighs 22lbs 6oz and is 30 inches tall
-his vocabulary has exploded recently: Mama, Dada, banana, water, all done, bye-bye, night-night, and bubbles (he imitates our words with some accuracy when we name items for him)
-we cloth diaper the 5 days a week I'm home and I love them (I now cringe a little on the inside when I throw out a paper diaper)
-A week before his birthday we started the process of weaning. We stopped the 11:30am nursing and replaced it with breast milk in a sippy cup. Over the course of a week we continually added more and more whole milk to the sippy, until it was straight whole milk (warmed of course). Then we did the same with the 4pm nursing. Then we worked on drinking it cold from the fridge (still not a huge fan of that). Tomorrow we'll switch his bedtime bottle to whole milk (bottle will still be warmed though). So now he's just nursing in the morning, and I'm no longer pumping!!! Woohoo! I've worked twice since I quit pumping, and it sure is a lot easier at work. I just nurse him the mornings that I'm home, and right now that works for us :)
-he's very close to full-time walking. right now he'll walk from object to object on his own as long as they're not more than a few feet away. more than that, and he just crawls.
-his food preferences change frequently (i.e.- he used to love sweet potatoes, now he could care less)
-he likes to empty things (drawers, bins, containers, cabinets, baskets, etc...)
-his favorite birthday present has been his red wagon (we've gone on a lot of wagon rides recently!)
-he sleeps about 11-12 hours at night and takes two 1.5hr naps each day
- he shows a little shyness by snuggling his head into your shoulder/neck around new people
-he still has NO TEETH!! His bottom left gum is swollen/red with a teeny white dot, so it won't be long now. I was beginning to wonder if it was possible to be born without any teeth... thank goodness I won't be finding that out!
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| Playing with his new water table |
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| First wagon ride |
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| Uncle Dan pulled him all the way to Scooters for our morning coffee |
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| Balloon in tow |
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| Jumping in the pool |
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| Wahoo! |
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