The Day I Cried Because My Baby Turned 1.... I Mean, Happy Birthday Magnus!

Birthday picture with mom and dad, which obviously as not on Magnus' list of favorite things to do

All day on Halloween I kept thinking about the year before, when I was very LARGE with child and how my baby would be a year old the next day. My baby. 1 year old. My baby. You get it? It was sad.

But also happy, because birthdays are fun and I love them! I made waffles for Magnus' birthday breakfast, because that's his favorite. We ran some errands that day, played at the park, snuggled my (giant 1 year old) baby and made a cake.
I had been wanting to try this recipe for awhile. It is a variation on the Lion House Chocolate Cream Cake, which happens to be one of my very favorite things to eat, ever. I knew Magnus would eat whatever I placed in front of him, so this is the cake I made. The kids loved how it looked like a giant oreo cookie before I frosted it.
This has got to be one of the best things I have ever tasted. Divine.

Anyway, since it was just our little family for the birthday party, I decided to not to do the brown and green polka-dot theme I had planned on. Even though I love parties, I've never made a big deal out of my babies 1 year old birthdays for a few reasons. First of all, they don't care. Second of all, they don't remember. Third of all, I was feeling pretty lazy all week and just decided to get a few balloons, a few gifts, make the cake and voila. A birthday party for M.

And see? He loved every minute:

I really thought he would love this balloon. Turns out, he was scared of it and wouldn't take his eyes off of it once I tied it to his highchair. Until the food distracted him, of course :)
We had all of his favorite foods for dinner: (not that he told me this info or anything. I just based it upon what he eats the most of :) grilled burgers, homemade fries with frysauce, deviled eggs, oranges, and broccoli.


I love how much all of my older kids adore their baby brother. Baron really wasn't sad. He just hates pictures lately and refuses to do anything I want him to do. Like smile. Stinker.

I guess he got over his aversion to the Big Scary BalloonI was surprised how much Magnus enjoyed opening gifts. He loved getting the wrapping paper off, and once he realized there was something fun inside of each brightly wrapped package, he would happily open the next one. He received a ramp and car toy from my parents, new jammies and a book from Andy's parents, a baby cell phone from the kids, and walker/ride-on toy that plays music and talks from Andy and I. He also receievd some money from great grandparents and aunts and uncles. He loved it all!

Thanks to the walker toy, he almost has walking down. But not quite.

Cake time!

I gave him a fork and he thought that was just great. Mostly he used his hand to shove the chocolatey, creamy, sugary goodness into his mouth, but he occasionally tried the fork out too.

He just loved it, and wouldn't stop. He had a fit when it was gone and I pulled him out of his highchair to bathe him.

Still got that fork in his hand. There was no way was he letting it go...

Bathtime baby (and you can't see it, but he's got that fork in his right hand still)

Clean and fresh in his new jammies. Still has that fork...
He ended up going to bed with it and was still holding it the next morning. I guess I should let him feed himself more often if he really enjoys it that much :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY M!!