Happy Birthday Baby

Then:

And now:

A baby's first year is so amazing! 

The changes are astounding.

Where did the time go?



He decided to celebrate by working on a couple new teeth, of course.  He had a bit of a rough day with lots of fussing...

I'm thinking the cake made up for it, though.  He was pretty excited that the cake was for him!

I made Evan a rice flour carrot cake, since that's pretty much the only grain I'm letting him have right now.  I asked my Mom for her super-yummy light cream icing recipe to go on top. 

Just as I was starting to make the icing, I turned my back for one second, and Evan managed to get ahold of the hand mixer cord (I should KNOW BETTER!) and pulled it onto the floor.  Thankfully, not his head, 'cause that thing is heavy.  Nevertheless, it hit the floor with a crash and that was the end of that.  Sigh.  I really liked that hand mixer.  Anyway, I quickly called up someone who would be coming for the birthday and asked her to bring her mixer so that I could make icing!

This icing is the most amazing thing you'll ever taste and really simple, but it was a little hot in my kitchen, and this icing likes to be cold, and it got really soft really fast.  So it was hard to get on the cake and my friend said, "Just make it look messy-on-purpose!" so that's what I was going for.  I think it mainly just looks messy.  But oh well.  I'm used to having trouble with cakes.  It still tasted fantastic!

And besides, Evan couldn't wait to mess it up a little more!

He was digging in before we were even done singing!

I've seen one-year-olds who are very tentative and unsure about the whole birthday thing and need a little encouragement to dig into the cake or rip into presents.  Not Evan.  He was pretty into it! He'd been fussing quite a lot, but cheered up when he saw the cake and before I set him down with the cake, he was wriggling in my arms and making excited noises and trying to get at it!  It's like he knew exactly what it was and that it was his.  I mean, he probably really did know that.  This is a kid who really loves food!

I think he pretty much thought this was the best thing ever.

He was mowing it down and we had to really monitor the choking hazard while he ate.  He sure enjoyed that cake!

After the cake was done, he went back to fussing and whining, so we went right on to presents.

Again, no encouragement necessary.  One of his favorite things to do lately is to take things out of whatever it is in.  So opening presents was right up his alley. 

He was excited and happy with each thing.

He even studiously read his cards.  Upside-down, maybe, but who cares when you're one?

He definitely didn't mind being the center of attention, and never showed any shyness or uncertainty.  I think it helps that the people around him were all familiar and Mommy was always nearby.

It was such a lovely evening, a little muggy and buggy, but overcast so we didn't have the hot sun on us and spent the whole time out on the kitchen porch.  I just love that porch!  It's nice because now I have lots of things growing and blooming all around it and it was so nice to sit there and enjoy the summertime with yummy food and good company and a cute birthday boy.  (Cranberry mint lemonade in a "not kid" version helps, too!)

I, of course, spent most of the day as I was running around, thinking about his birth and first year.  I have to say, he's been a challenging kid so far.  But babies are a lot of work, and the time is so short.  And they're so stinkin' cute and sweet!

He's growing so fast!  He's still a baby, but I can see it won't last long. I'm gonna go squoosh and smooch him a little more...