Chase turned 1 yesterday...I know, hard to believe. Like all parents everywhere say, "It went by so fast!!" We can't believe it's already been a whole year that we've had this adorable little guy in our family. He is so, so loved. We have enjoyed every minute with him. Literally, EVERY MINUTE. Even the middle of the night ones. :) He has brought us a whole new level of happiness, smiles, and laughter that we didn't even know existed. We are so very grateful to be blessed with this perfect little boy in our family. Enjoy the pictures of his big day!
The morning started out with a present from G&G Henrie...first one of the day! Chase was barely even awake yet, so it took him a little while to get into it, but turns out he's a normal kid: he LOVES wrapping paper!
Wayne made Chase some special birthday pancakes...such a great dad!
I love this face...it's the "I can't believe I'm already 1!" face. :)
We went to the Enderle's house for his birthday party because they have a lot more space than we do. Chase had a yummy breakfast burrito dinner, and everything was going well until....
....it wasn't anymore. :(
A song comes to mind: "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to, cry if I want to, cry if I want to...
you would cry too if it happened to you."
Yep, biting your tongue really hurts. I would cry too, Chase.
The little scamp crawled across the living room and under the slide to get to his presents without me noticing! Except I DID notice at the last minute and got a picture before pulling him away. :)
I love this expression. He's cute.
Totally not a baby anymore, right?!?! He looks like such a little boy in this picture. I love it and it makes me sad at the same time. But mostly I love it. ;)
Apparently Chase didn't get enough dinner due to the tongue biting incident, so he found it necessary to eat the chair. He's improved a LOT in his gross motor skills the past few months! He's crawling like a champ, pulls himself to stand, "walks" a little bit along the furniture, and has realized the the world is a whole lot more fun than he ever knew.
The birthday cake part didn't go so well. A coworker of mine told me that the tradition in their family was that the baby got a whole cake to demolish and play with and that it was always really fun and made for some great pictures. I liked the idea, so I found a healthy carrot and raisin baby cake recipe (complete with wheat flour and wheat germ) and we made a makeshift tarp for him to make a huge mess on, got the cameras ready, and this is what happened. He was uncertain, then he cried, then he coughed and gagged, then he screamed. Such a bummer. Not sure what went wrong, but it probably would have been better to put him in his high chair and have the cake on his tray instead of on a big black trash bag. Maybe he didn't like the feel of it. It also didn't help that it was already 8pm at this point and bedtime is at 7:30pm. Who knows. Whatever the case, it definitely made me sad. I was hoping he would love it. Oh well.
Lessons learned for next time.
(No comments on my fabulous cake decorating, please.)
Recovered from the traumatic cake experience, but totally in the tired and mellow zone. He had a huge pile of presents though! Lots of people love this little guy...but I love him the most. :)
The tassle ribbons were a big hit.
We saved them so he could relive the magic for the rest of the week.
Waiting patiently for Dad to hand him his next present.
Full and happy (and VERY tired) at the end of a great 1st birthday.
Happy Birthday, Chase! Many, many more!
