It's a Party....

Yesterday, we had Luke's first birthday party. Technically, his birthday is Tuesday, the 21st of July, but weekends work better for parties.

We decided to keep this birthday party small -- just family. And since our families are small, SMALL it was.

Both sets of Luke's grandparents made the party. Luke's one and only great-grandparent was able to come, thanks to my dad picking her up and taking her home. Luke's only two cousins made it. Unfortunately, Luke's only aunt and uncle, Joel and Amber, weren't able to make it. They both had to work.

Luke decided (really Marc decided) that he wanted to have a "brunch" for his party. So, we had egg casserole, fruit, coffee cake, and juice. Then, to shy away a bit from the brunch, I did make a chocolate cake for Luke's first cake.

Thanks to Lori J., I made the chocolate cake in the shape of a "1."

Here's the cake....In case you can't read my writing on the cake, it says, "Let's Celebrate! Luke's 1."



I stored the cake in none other than a "DQ" cake box. So, I had a few fooled when they first arrived. Some thought that we might just be having a "DQ" cake. Nope! We had that the night before for a "Community Life" Group gathering.



I didn't want to spend bunches of money on a party that he wouldn't remember or even remotely realize what's going on. However, I didn't want a non-festive party either. SOOOO, I managed to find some 1 year decorations on sale at Target. May I just say that Target NEVER lets me down?

Here is the basic theme of the decorations? See -- nothing special. BUT, it does let everybody know what the party is for.



Here's our table set before everybody arrived. See what I mean -- a small party!



I did go on ahead and buy Luke a "Birthday Boy" t-shirt. Here he is in the shirt. He has another birthday shirt coming for his actual birthday -- yep, there will be photos then as well.



After eating, Luke had some play time with his cousins. Then, Marc helped Luke open some gifts.



One thing that Luke got was a book about "Trains." He seemed to like looking at the photos and of course, putting the book in his mouth. If any of you know my dad, you know that my dad has a train hobby. So, this book is perfect for Luke's grandfather really.



Besides the book, Luke received a new outfit, a bib, and very importantly, some money to add to his savings account (you know, the one Marc and I desperately need to get started). Luke most enjoyed, however, playing with the gift bags. What 1 year-old wouldn't enjoy that?

Shortly after presents were opened, Luke started getting a bit tired. This next photo is so "Luke." In the last couple of months or so, Luke has gotten VERY attached to a blanket that my mom made him. He likes to suck his thumb and put the old smelly blanket up to his nose. I've seen other kids do this before, but when it's your own child doing it, it's really quite funny. So, I had to capture this photo at his own birthday party -- the one of him getting tired. This was taken close to 1:00 P.M. -- you know, naptime.



By that time, we knew we were on borrowed time with Luke. So, we pulled the cake out, lit a candle, and sang "Happy Birthday." He definitely liked the singing -- as he always does.

We put him in his high chair on a mat (since this was all on carpet).



Then, we put the hat on -- which he actually didn't mind.



Then, I put the piece of cake on his tray. No, he's never had cake before.



He looked at it funny. Then, he tried to move the piece away from him -- he just didn't know what it was. Luke's not extremely outgoing, and so it probably didn't help that grandparents were snapping photos of him during this process.

Finally, I crumbled it up for him.



He still looked at it funny. FINALLY, I took a bit of it to show him. Then, he took about two bites before telling us (in his own language, of course) that he was done. That was IT. It wasn't too exciting probably for most, but for us, it was! It was our little guy's first birthday party.

Then, it was naptime. ALL DONE!

Marc is on furlough the next two weeks. So, he'll get to be home all day with us for Luke's birthday. We'll probably do something fun that day with him -- not sure what that is just yet, though.

**On a side note, this past Saturday, the 18th, (the day of Luke's party) it was Marc's dad's 85th birthday -- yep 85th! So, we did also have to wish Alvin a Happy Birthday! I think that in the last year, Marc's dad's been slightly disappointed that his first grandchild wasn't born on his birthday (he's mentioned several times that Luke's birth missed his birthday by 3 days). But, we hope at least he's happy that their birthdays are close. So, Happy Birthday Dad Friesen!