A Birthday Apiece For My Two Loved Ones

Another year for two!  Last week, as they ever shall, The Wife and The Boy celebrated their birthdays in rapid succession (and don't let's forget The Wife's first official Mother's Day!).  It was fun and delightful and we spread the festivities over several days so as to make the most of them.

Julie made a delicious cake on her day of days, and we put out a general invitation for anyone who wanted to come and take part in it.  We had some friends and family come and help us eat it, and it was definitely delicious (lemon poppyseed with almond frosting, yes, please and thank you very much).  There was some Veronica Marsing throughout the day, and some Coldplaying, and a little bit of Fairy Tale Booking too.  Happy birthday, Wife!  You make [mumbles something that sounds a lot like mid-20s-ish] look mighty fine.

She's a master!

It was so very yes.

I tried to capture this scrunchy face he's been making lately, but it didn't really come across, especially with this neat crayon brush.

And then came this fellow's big day.

(The one on the right.  I'm just there to admire.)

He was actually being squiggly and looking all over the place, The Wife just happened to shoot at the exact right moment.

He likes to fly.

On the day of we just had a little party at home with some strawberry shortcake (luckily he has taken a liking to strawberries again, after a brief period of refusing to eat them, thanks in large part to his mother's patient and repeated and gradual exposure of them to him), and webcamming with his out-of-town family.

Birthday cake!

Birthday bath!

Birthday bash aftermath!

He was having a grand old time, and of course one of his favorite things was the wrapping.

We wondered if he would be old enough to appreciate a toy like this, but we didn't wonder for long.

Then on Saturday we had a party/picnic/playdate at the park planned, but inclement weather forced us to relocate to our little place, which turned out fine, even if a little snug (which is why we planned it for the park in the first place).  There were baby muffins and baby water bottles and THREE kinds of grapes and plenty of strawberries for all.  We all ended up passing around library books that we've been enjoying, and all are enamored with Marla Frazee.

Julie's ingenious party invitation.

Another little muffin cake just for you, baby!

There were a lot of people in close quarters, but the kids enjoyed running around our yard (such as it is), and Bobo definitely was glad to have some company, as well as lots of fun presents (see aftermath photo above).

And then, of course, by the afternoon, the weather was gorgeous and the park was perfect:

Oh well, we had fun anyway!  (Bobo used up all his smiles on the swings.)

So yes, another month (The Wife's great update here), and we're just amazed our little man is a year old.  It feels like it's gone by slowly and also really quickly, but in either case, it's been a grand old time.  People always say these first years are hard and you have to wait and hope to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but seriously, these days have been golden.  He's sweet and funny and sometimes bewilderingly fussy, but for the most part he's such a good boy, and for that we are definitely grateful.  He loves giving wet kisses on any spot of the face, he is very vocal and sometimes just sits there hollering to hear his voice, and he is quite a snugglebuns, especially with his ma.  He (thankfully!) likes the bath again, he's making good headway on his Disney animation education, he finally really loves the pool, he eats heartily and happily, and he's stretching more vertically than he is horizontally, and he has definitely taken his first solo steps.

Definitely feeling Fun and Fancy Free with the Wii games.

It's never to early in life for a little Mary Blair.

Merrily on his way to nowhere in particular.

Mice and magic on an early morning.

Curiouser and curiouser.

He can fly! [X3]

Long night + early morning = Mommy and Lady both catching up on some sleep.

A beautiful day at Thanksgiving Point's Tulip Festival.  Here he scored his first little sunburn.  (It didn't seem to bother him much.)

He often finds his way to this spot.  Mayhap he's trying to tell me something?

Sunday afternoon snuggles.  Oh my beating heart.

The first visit of the season to Seven Peaks and the maiden voyage of the HMS My Baby Float.  Baby did NOT get much sunburned this day.  (But we did...  Baby sunblock doesn't really cut it for we older folks, it seems.)

Ohhhh, these twoooo.

Happy birthday, Wife, and happy first to you, my son!!!  We are ever so happy you came to live with us a whole year ago.

We celebrated through the rest of the week, including Memorial Day, when we went to Seven Peaks, grilled on the long-neglected grill and watched plenty of back-episodes of The Amazing Race.

And then, just because, here's a cake that The Wife made, totally unrelated to any of these activities: 

Remember that scene in Matlida?...