Birthday Boy

I am still in disbelief that my tiny bundle of joy (affectionately nicknamed "Burrito") is now one. It has been over 2 months since Benjamin's birthday and I feel like it just happened. We must be doing something right. We are continually falling in love with the adorable son we have been blessed with. I have no idea what garnered us such a blessing, but I do know that nothing in my life has so far compared to the joy my son gives me. He has challenged us in new ways and has definitely added a new level of "growing up" to both of us and our marriage.

To celebrate, my good friend Steph came to visit us from Seattle to coincide with Benjamin's birthday. I took a few days off work and decided we would take him to the aquarium on his actual birthday. He really enjoyed the touch tanks, though I don't think he quite understood the two-finger rule. And I'm not sure the creatures liked being disrupted with splashing, but we had a good time. When we got home, he enjoyed one of his favorite dishes-mom's homemade macaroni and cheese.

I decided I had to plan a first birthday party for my little man, but I didn't want it to be too overwhelming for him. We tried our best to pick a time we thought would be best for him and only had family and two close friends ("aunts" Steph and Karen) attend the big event. After the dollar store proved to be a let-down for party supplies, Steph and I shopped at Party City and good old Giant. We fell in love with the baby Elmo theme and I decided to go with it. I knew I wanted to bake him a cake from scratch. It was somehow baked at around midnight and there was definitely some damage control before icing. Benjamin decided he would take his first bite of cake with a fork (what one-year old eats cake with a fork?!?!) Hopefully he has taken to some of the manners my parents drilled into us when we were kids. I thought it would be best for him to do some good old cake smashing and I think he realized the error of his previous ways. He was blessed with numerous gifts from family and friends and I must say I highly recommend the puppy dog "Scout" from Leapfrog ("Violet" is for girls). It's not expensive at all (around $20) and you can program it to say your child's name and favorite things. It also plays 10 minutes of "bedtime" music which has proven to be unmatched in it's ability to put Benjamin into dreamland. These are definitely the sweetest moments of parenthood.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!!!