The Party!!

Neal and I started our day at 6 am (as usual) and began making his cake (more on this later). Even though his eyes are half-closed I think he has such a cute face in this picture! The original plan for the afternoon was to have a pool party and barbecue . . . but unfortunately, it was the most depressing day outside! It was gray and rainy and SOOOO humid (note my hair . . . ) so all we could do was hang out in our apartment. But we had a good time, and fortunately for Neal and his friends, they don't even really know what is going on. Having a few balloons to swat around seemed to make them content :) Btw, how do I always forget how much I love the dollar store?! All of his decorations, paper dishes, wrapping paper and candles came from there. SO cheap! I admit I am typically into more classic and scrapbooky looking style than themes such as characters or sports or whatever . . . but this is not just because he is a boy. He really LOVES balls! Especially footballs! He says ball, book, boo ball (for football) and baaaaa's like a sheep. Those are his first four words if that tells you anything! Note the gift bag with a sheep on it in the background :) Here Neal is with all of his gifts, cards, and cakes. He had been trying to hit his way into the big present - his Tonka truck - so we were letting him open that when he spotted the football that I had taken out of the box before I wrapped it so he could play with it as soon as he opened it. He immediately ditched the big package and reached for the football. You can tell by his face he was thrilled! This was not a coerced smile . . . this is just him opening it and being truly excited! We were so happy that Jon was able to work his schedule to get the whole day off! He makes everything more entertaining :)My baby with the cake I made him. As I was making this, I was so embarrassed that other people were going to see this (even my friends) - it's very difficult for me to show my creativity to people! But, I actually was impressed with myself, and I think it turned out so cute! The only problem was that I let the frosting boil on accident, it didn't go on as smooth on the crumbly sides of the cake. But Neal definitely knew what it was and wanted to play with it. Maybe he would have actually dug into that one! I'll have to remember that for next year . . . Our little family - so proud of our footballs :) Jon, Neal, Liz, Kaylynn, Oscar, Natalie, and Tarah. We were so lucky to have Tarah and Natty visiting that week, but missed Uncle Dave. Hopefully he'll be able to make it next visit!We like to let Neal play on the table . . . His face says it all!Opening the super cute basketball outfit from Kristina. He looks about as excited as Jon does when he opens clothes from me. Please take no offense though - we LOVE it, and he looks so dang cute and grown up in it! Opening his card from Grandpa Dewey (these collages are stills our camera makes when you do a video). Grandpa Dewey always remembers our birthdays and special occassions. He is so thoughtful and generous!! Part of Grandma and Grandpa's present, new swim shorts. He really needed some since I bought him some last year for this summer and of course his growth exceded my expecations :)A grocery store here in the east, Harris Teeter, gives your baby a free cake on their first birthday. (For anyone who is wondering, you go sign them up at customer service at least 6 weeks in advance and they send you a coupon . . . we just went in that day and got lucky though). So, since Neal already has a great love for treats, we thought he'd dig right in. Instead, you can see him pulling his arm away. This is what he does when he doesn't want to touch something. He is also trying to push the tray off with his other hand. So, I thought maybe he wanted a fork. He has been trying to feed himself with one for a few weeks, and sometimes he insists on one, although that sometimes is currently turning into almost always.Of course we had the video camera rolling, and literally ten minutes later, all he had done was eat little bites with his fork. SOOOO cute though!He continued to take tiny bites of frosting with his fork until Jon finally tried to help him dig in and take actual bites of cake. He also tried to pick up the little flowers with his little pinchers but just got upset that his hands were green.Finally Jon cut the cake in half for easier access, but Neal reached for us and again tried to push off the tray. I guess that was that! So we gave him a bath after which he was much happier! Neal and his friends Natalie helping Neal open the present from her . . . she is obviously more experienced, she has ten months on him!New bath toys!! While he was eating dinner, he saw his football and wanted it so bad. So we gave it to him, and he kept one hand on it while he ate with the other. He is such a funny little boy!He had so many gifts and was already overwhelmed by them, so we saved the rest from us for another day (he had only opened his football). He does love his Tonka truck though, and he pushes it around with various things in it endlessly. I didn't want to get him tons of things, just some things that we are for the stage he is at now. I love that there is a day to celebrate his birth and celebrate what a special person he is. He amazes me, and I don't want these next years to go by too fast, I want to embrace them!