Why, why, why do my babies have to keep growing up? My mommy heart can't take it anymore! And just to make things harder this year, Google created this "Then and Now" photo showing Carter on his first birthday and then his third, this year.
Awwww! My baby love. Anyway.
This year Carter got to have his first birthday party. Because his birthday is in June, we thought a simple park party would be great. And it was! The weather was perfect. We had his friends from nursery and their older siblings come to run around the park, and all the adults got to hang out and chat.
I was actually a bit (*cough* 40 minutes *cough*) late to the party myself, due to apparently poor planning regarding timing for making the cake. When I asked Carter what kind of cake he wanted a few weeks before his birthday, he didn't say what flavor he wanted (which was what I was asking) but instead said with great enthusiasm that he wanted a Minnie Mouse cake. So I made a Minnie Mouse cake.
I had made the cakes the day before (which was itself a disaster of overflowing cake pans due to the stupid altitude here), but I saved the frostings and decorating for the morning of... when the party started at 10:00. Suffice it to say, getting up at 7:00 was insufficient. I had trouble with a clogged piping tip and could only find one coupler, so I kept having to take it out of each frosting bag and wash it for the next one. Then there was the fact that I have no experience sculpting and decorating a cake like this.
Anyway, as you can see, Minnie had a serious tan. (The red food coloring, of which I only needed a tiny drop to combine with yellow to make peach, came squirting out with reckless abandon. And rather than scoop some of it out, I mixed it in like an idiot and added a lot of yellow to balance it, which really just made it very orange. I tried adding more white frosting to lighten it, but it only helped a little. A touch of purple food dye made it more brown and less orange, and that was the best I could do. Okay, moving on.)
Carter was super excited when I brought the cake to the party. He recognized it as Minnie (which was really all I could ask for, considering), and he actually said a couple of times, "Thanks, Mommy, for making me a Minnie cake!" It was the absolute sweetest. He said it was "pretty" and that he loved it, so I was ecstatic. That was all I wanted--for him to love it. He kept asking to cut into it right then...
... so we did! It was pretty windy and hard to light the candle. On the plus side, it made it very easy for him to blow it out after the song. (I love that he looks kind of confused about that at the end of the video.)
Despite all the troubles I had with it and all of its imperfections, the cake was a hit! It is truly a tasty chocolate cake. Mmmm.
A happy boy with his cake!
After cake, the kids continued to run around the park. Eventually, Carter found his way back and asked if the presents on the table were for him. When I said yes, he got really excited and asked if he could open them.
I have never seen such an awesome reaction to present opening. When he opened every gift and saw what was inside, he gasped with excitement and then screamed with joy. I wish I'd gotten a video. He was just beside himself.
See what I mean? It was the best. What a stinkin' sweetheart.
When we got home after the party, we had lunch with Nana, Papa, Aunt Karen, Uncle Colt, Emma, Nora, and our family. Carter was way more interested in playing with his new toys than he was in eating, which we didn't try to fight. He did get some food into himself.
Then we let him open his presents from the family, which included squirt guns for the pool, an Incredibles backpack/lunchbox set for preschool, a water table from Grandma and Grandpa, and a slide. The slide was the last thing he got, and it was just in the back yard waiting for him when he went outside (it was too big to wrap). When he saw it, he gasped and screamed and did a little happy dance that was the cutest, best thing in the world. Unfortunately, I didn't get a video of it because I was instead video chatting with my parents so they could see him open his gifts. But I'm so glad they got to see his reaction, even if it means I have no video of it.
Needless to say, Carter ran down and spent the rest of the afternoon in the back yard. I got this sneaky video of him from the deck...
... and then this nice shot of him trying to shoot me with his squirt guns...
... and then this cute video, in which he's showing off for the camera.
After dinner (Carter chose macaroni and cheese), we all played the new game he got from one of his friends, Duck Duck Mouse. It's the perfect speed for him, unlike many of the other, more complicated games we try to teach him. He loved it!
When it was bedtime, I got to read to him and snuggle him in his bed. When I asked him if he had a good birthday, he said, "Yeah, it was delicious!" When I asked what his favorite part of his birthday was, he responded, "The bow!" It then became clear he was only talking about the cake, which again made me feel good. But I could tell from his excitement and joy most of the day (I mean, he's three and definitely still threw tantrums) that it was a good day for him. I call it a success!
And soon, more to come on this favorite boy of mine...
