Our Boy turns the Big "1"

The Birthday Boy peeking outside, awaiting the arrival of his guests.

We celebrated Rascal's first birthday on the heels of returning from our trip. (Note to self: Don't plan on returning from vacation the night before hosting a big party -- especially if you haven't baked and decorated the cake yet, shopped for party food/decorations, or wrapped any presents. Yeah, not sure where my head was on that one).

Despite my lack of pre-planning and a very, very late night of birthday party prep-work, it was a fun day filled with balloons, laughs, family, and the excitement that swirls around children and birthdays. We went with a robot theme, mostly because Roo really likes robots, and Rascal is too young to care. Roo was more than happy to help Rascal open his presents, and play with them for him too.

I appliqued him a robot outfit to fit with our theme (and I was feeling nostalgic, so all the fabric I used came from his infant onesies and receiving blankets).

The robot cake, which Roo helped me decorate. You think you know what a robot looks like until you try to make a cake that resembles one!

Unfortunately, Rascal did spend a good part of his birthday feeling under the weather. He was feverish and congested at the start of the party. By party's end, he was flushed, glassy-eyed, and a limp ragdoll in my arms. Poor guy.

I took him upstairs and rocked with him while reading the birthday book I bought for him. It's called If I Could. It is simple and sweet. It's one of the few books I've come across that celebrate the relationship between mother and son. I've seen lots of mother/daughter or father/son books, but very few mother/son books geared toward the younger crowd. Anyway, it doesn't have many words on each page (and the ones it does have, rhyme -- I know I've mentioned my affinity for rhyming text in children's books), which is one of the reasons I bought it.

Rascal just doesn't have the attention span for reading books that his sister has (and had, even at less than 1 year of age, she could sit and listen to me read until my voice was hoarse). The fact that he sat completely still and we shared a tender moment reading together confirmed what I had already suspected: he was sick, sick, sick. For the first time in history, he didn't even attempt to grab at the pages or close the book prematurely. And, sure enough, he got sick, sick, sick just shortly after I put him to bed. Literally. All over the sheets, comforter, and floor. Ugh. Not a good way to end his birthday. Fortunately, as my husband said, "At least he won't remember it."

On to some of the "loot":

Any child of the 70's will recognize this toy: the Fisher-Price garage with elevator! My sister and I played with this exact one. My sister's son and my daughter played with it, and now Rascal gets to see what all the fun is about! (P.S. Thanks for saving it, Mom!)

This delightful board book edition of Virginia Lee Burton's "The Little House."
We have two other books by her, "Katy and the Big Snow" and "Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel," which are regular reads around here.


Wooden fire truck from A Toy Garden
(yes, that is the crown I so lovingly and painstakingly sewed for him, tossed aside in the background)

A piggy bank (that is actually a puppy) from Archiver's. Roo received a piggy bank for her first birthday from my aunt, and I thought that was such a classic gift idea! I especially liked that this bank says, "Little Buddy," which is what Roo calls her brother. :) She was more than happy to fill it for him with the little bag of money that I included with it.

Rascal is a joy and a treasure. At the same time, he has pushed me way beyond my limits as a parent. And yet, each day I get up I can't wait to go back for more! My feelings for him have certainly evolved over the past year. And while it took a little longer than I had hoped, he"fits" with us now. Or, more accurately, he has molded us to fit him!! ;) We are blessed indeed.

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