Birthday Recap...

Alexander had a wonderful first birthday! The weather cooperated, family & friends came to celebrate, Alexander took two naps & was in a spectacular mood all day! We couldn't have asked for anything more.

Because of the timing of the day, we were trying to get Alexander on a slightly earlier schedule (breakfast, bath, naps, etc). He didn't necessarily want to go down for the first nap that early, but eventually he did go down and slept for an hour & a half! Dan's parents came up from NJ the night before so they could come over earlier in the day because they had to get back to NJ for Easter weekend mass. We're glad they were able to come up and celebrate some time with us even though it was a extremely busy weekend for them.

Alexander got to spend some time with Grandma & Grandpa from NJ before they headed back home. He showed them how he bounced in the moonwalk with Daddy (and before the big kids got in). He also opened his Easter basket & birthday present from them. He showed them how he pushes his truck around the house & how he goes upstairs by himself.
Then it was time for his 2nd nap before the party began - and surprisingly he went down this time without a fight. Guests started to arrive and someone a someone celebrating his first birthday slept thru it. We had 50 people and while I was worried things would be really tight & confined, however everything worked out really well. Some peopel hung out in the kitchen, dining room, living room & outside. It was perfect. Finally he woke up & it was time for the party to get underway!

We had the idea to rent a moonwalk (Elmo) to help entertain the other 16 kids. We don't have a room in our house where kids could just hang out, play games or watch tv. So that mean they would be playing outside (thank god for good weather). The moonwalk was a huge hit and went over very well! We also had goodie bags & a pinata which also helped to entertain them. Brilliant! Aunt Carolyn brought him back into the moonwalk before cake & ice cream and he loved it! Then it was time to sing Happy Birthday, cut the cake and see just how much of a mess Alexander would make with his first piece of cake. For the record, the boy is his mother's child. He didn't like the cake and didn't like the mess on his hands, he much rather have the chocolate chip cookie! After cake, a lot of the guests headed out as it was getting late. So Alexander opened presents (with the help of Skylar, Sierra, and our neighbor's two kids) with a smaller crowd. He got lots of great presents which we managed not to take pictures of him opening gifts. Don't know how we missed that one. He got lots of books which is great, I'm a huge fan of books!

After everyone left, it was time to get ready for bed. We took a couple pictures of the three of us and then it was off to bed. The first birthday was a huge success! Our little baby is now a toddler...