The Party

What a great time we all had at J's birthday party! Of course, we went totally overboard on the food, but we always do.

Our menu was nowhere near as elaborate as Laura's, but there was more than enough:

Guacamole and chips, Italian sausage on rosemary skewers, shrimp cocktails, Smoked pulled pork, brisket and grilled chicken, spanish red beans and rice, grean bean casserole, fresh baked rolls, a spring salad, and buttered baby potatoes and corn. Yum! Jonas ate almost everything, which is quite amazing considering how picky he's become.

The cake turned out perfectly, and we've got some great footage of him destroying it, icicng smeared from his eyebrows to his belly-button. He really loved getting all messy, but he was a bit shy with all the people around watching him. I never thought I'd see the day that my pompous and demanding little leo acted shy and reserved.


After cake, and the necessary bath, we opened presents. He was tired by this point, and had a lot less fun with it than I thought he would. Jonas usually loves crinkling paper, so I thought tearing into gifts would be super fun for him, but he was more interested in checking out the books on Granny's bookshelf than playing with any of his new stuff.

He did get some really cool gifts, though. His favorite, so far, is a truck sent to him from his Uncle Brian, Aunt Amanda, and Cousin Aaron from Oregon. It's called a Handle Haulerand is very easy to push around. It also makes some pretty cool farm noises, and has a little horse and cow to fit into the removable corrals that fit into the truck bed. In a quiet moment last night, just before bed, Wil got some great video of him quietly pushing it around the livingroom.

Other gifts included a few Baby Einstein products. They're awesome, for any who are not familiar. Some books, clothes, and nearly the entire line of Leap Start products. They make great interactive toys, many of them bilingual. We now all know that a cow in spanish is a Vaca. :) We've heard it a million times this morning.

Overall, nothing could have gone better, and I'm so happy that we decided to make a big fuss over his first birthday, despite all the nay-sayers that thought we were being totally ridiculous.

Hey, if it were up to me, his birthday would be a national holiday. :)

Pictures to come shortly. I left the camera at my parents last night. Oops!