The Last First

Our family's last first birthday has come and gone.  I admit it feels a little bittersweet. 

One year marks so very many things.  It marks the end of infancy.  And a return to some semblance of normalcy.  It marks the beginning of childhood, when a baby tries to figure out who they are, what they want, and how they fit into their family and the world at large.  It means the end of infant toys and baby carriers (Yay!).  It's where the seeds of mischief grow roots and begin to sprout.  When baby's will meets rules and they decide to engage in a battle for dominance.

So, in light of such an epic milestone, we had a wonderful family party, full of explosive color and chaos.  All broken down into small, manageable chunks of time so that little miss birthday girl didn't turn into little miss crabby pants.

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man.

Bake me a cake as fast as you can;

Pat it and prick it and mark it with B,

Put it in the oven for baby and me.

Yeah, I couldn't resist marking this cake with a B.  Seemed quite appropriate.

AND, I finally thought up something ultra cool to do with all the baby food jars I feel compelled to save!  Of course, I haven't figured out exactly what to do with them now that the party and the photos are done.  They are still sitting on my kitchen table giving my children a daily dose of torture.

I have been playing around with the manual settings on my camera.  I think I'm figuring a few things out.  Doesn't this photo make my plain old kitchen look so bright and cheery?  And so festive with all that color.  Love it!

Presents came first.  Naturally.

And the two older siblings where just as delighted with B's new toy as she was.  Maybe more so since they kept whisking it off to a corner somewhere to stealthily play with it.  Which didn't work out so well since it was a singing toy.

As you can see, B was not at all hesitant about digging into all that colorful frosting.

This was her reaction when we dared to take it out of her reach so we could get the top layer off to give her as a little smash cake.

Again, no hesitation diving in . . . and eating . . . and squishing . . . and smearing . . . and smashing.  THIS is why I love first birthdays.  It's ALL about the cake encounter.

The other kids thought it was hilarious that she was making such a mess and that we were letting her get away with it.

After a bath and a good night's sleep, we continued the birthday festivities the next day with balls and bubbles. 

What a ball we had at our polka dot party!