Happy First Birthday, Cole!

Cole's first birthday was Saturday.  I know is sounds passe, but this year really has flown by; time seems to go faster with each child.  (This can be good or bad, depending on the day.  And temperament of the child!)

It still boggles the mind that a little human being can go from this

to this

in just 12 short months!  Simply amazing.

Oh - did you notice the birthday cake in the background?

Any hard-core computer gaming geek out there will recognize that cake in an instant.  (Ten extra bonus points if you correctly tell me where the cake is from without Googling it!)  For everyone else, here's a clue: The Cake Is A Lie.  (If that doesn't mean anything to you, then try this.)  

I had been searching for cake ideas for quite a while, but hadn't found anything that I liked.  Then I found Spencer playing the game and saw the cake and said out loud, "I could make that."  And Lance retorted with his usual, "Prove it!" and the rest is history.

Yes.  My baby's birthday cake is based off of a very popular video game.  Should I be worried that this doesn't seem the least bit unusual to me?  

Here's what the cake looks like in the video game.

And here's mine.  Not so bad, right?  (Yes, I got a bit overzealous with the white frosting.  Cole didn't care and neither should you.)

Most of our day was very non-birthdayish, cleaning and running errands and such.  But that evening I decided we should go out to the restaurant I had wanted to go to before I had Cole but never had the chance because he came early. 

At El Meson I had their fajitas, which came out super-hot and sizzling.  All of the steam kept blowing towards Cole; he wasn't quite sure what to think.  (Much to our amusement!)

Side note: don't you just adore his little baby curls?  I do.  Lance keeps threatening to chop them off.  I think he's just jealous of Cole's extreme cuteness.

After dinner we went home for cake and presents.  Cole wasn't quite sure of what to make of the cake.  The first time we sang to him he acted shy and wouldn't even look at the cake.  I accidentally blew out the candle while we were singing, so we sang again.  He was a little more into it that time.  (And of course we recorded both. :)

Then it was time for presents.  It's very safe to say that Spencer and Josh were much more excited about this than Cole.  They "helped" him out quite a bit.  They were also very proud to have each picked out a small gift for him.

They were nice enough to actually let Cole play with some of his toys after.  (With frequent reminders from mom and dad of whose birthday it was.)

A great big thank you goes out to both sets of grandparents for the wonderful gifts!  If you were here I'm sure Cole would give you a great big chomp of appreciation.  (He only bites those he loves most.)

Isn't he so cute sitting cross-legged?  I'm not sure where he picked that up, but he does it a lot lately.

Finally, it was time for cake.  In our family we give our one year old's a great big slice with a good scoop of ice cream and then let them go to town.  Fortunately, the weather was really nice so we were able to do this outside.  

It took him a few minutes to get into it, but he quickly got the hang of it.

Truly, is there such a thing as too many pictures of a baby eating his first birthday cake?  Nope.

Spencer and Josh were a little neater.  But only a little.

Soon Cole had had his fill of cake.  This was the finished product.

Then it was time for some tasty sand from the sand table.  (Cole's favorite afternoon treat.)  Mmmm...

I know.  Gross.  The first thing he does every time we go outside is grab a handful of sand and stuff it in his mouth.  Every time.  I could fight him on it, but why?  It won't kill him, and I'm assuming that eventually he will grow out of it.  Or we'll run out of sand.  One of the two.

When you have three sticky little boys, one of whom is sticky and sandy, and a nice warm day, what do you do?  Break out the sprinkler, of course!

Cole didn't really get all that clean.  He got wet and then crawled around and got more dirty.  Speaking of crawling, check out this cuteness.  When he's on the cement he doesn't like to crawl on his knees.

The evening ended in Cole's favorite way: with a warm bath and a cool sippy cup of milk.  Then he proceeded to stay awake in his crib for two hours past his bedtime.  I think he was a little wired from all the cake and a little excited by the days' events.  (Which made for a fuuunnn day at church the next day!)

Happy first birthday, Cole bear!  You are such a good, joyful little guy.  We love you so very much are are so happy to have you in our family!

Apparently I'm Not a Girl

Josh announced to me this morning that he wanted Mommy hair - which means long, thick, unevenly wavy, and terribly unmanageable, especially in humidity.  (Well, perhaps he just meant the long part.)

Me: You want long hair?

Josh: Yes.  Mommy hair.

Me: But only girls have long hair!  And you're a boy. 

Josh: But you have mommy hair!

Me: Yep.  Because I'm a girl, right?

Josh: No.  You aren't a girl - you're a mommy!

Me (knowing when resistance is futile): Hmmmm... I guess you're right.  But you still can't have long hair.

Josh: Can I have a snack?

Last Day of School

Today was Spencer's last day of school.  For a last-day-of-school surprise we met Lance for lunch at the Pizza Hut buffet - Spencer's favorite.  

Spencer is notorious for dropping pizza at buffets.  We don't go to them all that often, but when we do at least one of his pieces lands on the floor.  This time he walked back to the table sooooo verrrry carefully with his pizza.  It was cute.  Unfortunately, when he got back to the table he stood a little too closely to Cole, who took advantage of the situation and swiftly swatted Spencer's pizza onto the floor.  I just about peed my pants trying not to laugh while I consoled poor Spencer, who was quite close to tears.  (I am a terrible mother, I know.  But Lance and I had just mentioned the whole dropping-of-the-pizza-thing 37 seconds before.)  Cole looked on with a pleased look on his face.

Buffet disasters aside, Spencer is quite excited for summer vacation and, more importantly, to be a first grader next year!

Life With Boys

Today I had one of those mothering moments that can only be genuinely appreciated by those who have spent a good deal of time with little boys.

Late this afternoon Josh was on the floor playing with his trains.

In his birthday suit.

That's not the weird part.  In fact, it made perfect sense because earlier he and Spencer had been playing with the hose in the back yard.  He of course was soaked, and the only natural thing to do was strip down and then get back to playing.  (Inside and outside, of course - thank goodness for that privacy fence!)

Anywho, he had fiercely ignored my requests that he get dressed, and I didn't have enough fight left in me to force the issue.

While I was on the phone I started to hear Josh in the other room, screaming and wailing and generally making a big fuss.  I came in to discover poor Josh trying to hide from Cole, who was bound and determined to grab Josh's... er... manly bits.  That baby was on a mission, and he was pretty well succeeding.  (When Cole wants something he will stop at nothing to get it.  He suddenly develops super-human strength and speed.  It's pretty impressive.)

You can imagine how well this went over with Josh.

I had to quickly get off the phone and save the poor child.  Cole howled in protest as I picked him up, mid-grab.

In my mind's eye I can still see Joshie's scowl as I gave him his underpants and told him to get dressed.  I didn't actually say "I told you so", but I didn't need to.  I'm pretty sure he saw the smirk on my face.

Beach Bums

Today Spencer's class had a beach party, which meant he had to be appropriately attired.  And if one child's in a loud Hawaiian shirt, then all three should be!

Now I can't get  Margaritaville out of my head.  And neither should you. (You're welcome.)

Self-portrait Tuesday: Glasses

I've been really struggling with allergies this season.  They were so bad that I am now on steroids for my eyes and can't wear my contacts for a week.

I hate wearing glasses, mainly because mine are so heavy and keep falling down my nose.  My prescription is so strong that even the ultra-light lenses (which I have) are heavy.  Lucky me!

In other news...

Cole really likes macaroni and cheese for lunch. 

And I finally broke down and let the boys play in the sprinkler this afternoon.  For whatever reason they thought it was good fun to cover it up with the sand table lid.  Don't worry - they eventually got good and soaked.

Even Cole got in on the action.

Three minutes later he decided it was time to play in the sand table.  You can imagine just how fun it was to get his clothes off and clean him up.  I suspect I will be finding wet sand in his hidden nooks and crannies for days.

Kindergarten Program

Last Monday (I know - an entire week ago!) was Spencer's End-of-the-Year Kindergarten Program.  

Josh and Cole and I rushed Grandma Susie to the airport and then rushed back and made it to Spencer's program literally 60 seconds before it started.  It was perfect timing because this boy

was still a bit grouchy with me for leaving him for an entire week.  And this boy

was grouchy for whatever reason he decided to be grouchy.  Probably because he wasn't the center of attention.  This boy

was extra cute and spent most of his time up front waving happily to his little brothers and I.  (Sorry for the poor pictures - we were in the very back.)

I thought he would roll over laughing with happiness when I got Cole to wave back to him.

Here's Spencer reciting his part of the special Kindergarten Poem.  (Grandpa and Grandma had been helping him memorize it all week.)

And here's my favorite song of the program, the Math Macarena.  Sweet.

At the end Spencer received his special Kindergarten certificate.  He was really excited, as you can see.  (Sorry, it was just a bad shot.)

After the program there was an art auction, where you could buy your child's art.  The kids had put little post-its with prices on them, and you could pay at toy cash registers around the room.  It was really cute!  Here are a few of the fine art pieces I bought.  (The money they make is used for their end of the year beach party.)

After the art auction we enjoyed some cookies and soda.  Spencer had fun eating his cookie and showing me things around the classroom.  Joshie had fun sneaking at least five cookies.  (Possibly more; I got a bit distracted.)

This is Olivia.  She and Spencer have been the best of friends this year.  Hopefully they will be in the same first grade class!

The last day of school is this Friday.  Good job on such a great year in kindergarten, Spencer!