TIM & JEAN: February 2009

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Weston's Birthday: The Movie

Super Fantastic Birthday Extravaganza!!

Well, Weston's first birthday shaped up to be a great event, and even though he had no idea that anything was going on, I think the little guy enjoyed himself. Happy birthday, fella!! Here's how everything played out:

THE PARTY!

Rather than organizing an actual birthday party (given that, like I said, Weston still doesn't really have any idea what's going on around him), we instead invited several of Weston's other baby friends to a "Baby Party in the Park" in the afternoon. It was great! There was nosh for the kids and the grownups, and there was an adjacent playground for the little ones so that they wouldn't get too antsy. Weston LOVED exploring the playground with Daddy and getting to follow around the other kids and stare at them (which he does for some reason). It was darling.

Here's the spread (hummus with tomatoes, carrots, & pita chips, chicken salad with rolls, and a baby buffet of snacks):

Here's the rest of the spread (brownies with coconut creme Hershey Kisses, madeleines, and strawberries with sweet dip):

(Can ya tell that I love preparing food for parties? It's my only excuse to go all out.)

Here are a few of the partygoers with their little ones (Jen & Ellie, Megan & Elijah, Natalie & Fallon):

Here is the youngest baby in attendance, the littlest Hernandez:

Weston got to hang out with his buds, like Ethan:

And he got to play the Slide Game with Daddy. First, Tim holds his hands and helps him walk up the slide:

Then Tim turns him around and slides him back down, to Weston's great delight:

Here's a scattering of some of the littles (Fallon, Kate, Owen, Ethan, and Lucy, in no particular order):

Weston LOVED sitting on Tim's shoulders:

I think he likes being super tall:

Now for some really great photographs of the party! Hooray! Many thanks to Dana, who is not only shockingly creative but who also has mad photo skills. Check 'em out!!

Jean and Tim and windswept Weston:

Lauren (See those two little heads there? Yep, they're her babies. Both of them. How does she do it? I don't know exactly. She's an amazing mom, but I also think she's part superhero.)

Megan and little Elijah with his giant and ridiculously cute grin:

Karla and her adorable, wiggly, curly-haired cutie Paige:

Sexy new mommy (thrice now) Doris, along with the fabulous photographer herself, Dana:

Niki, having lots of fun with her precious and super friendly (but slightly uncooperative) daughter Mia:

Sunshiny Natalie with adorable, energetic, carrot-munchin' Fallon:

And finally, my Weston, looking very mellow and content at the conclusion of the party:

THE PRESENTS!

We returned home for presents time with Weston. He enjoyed investigating the novel new items:

He especially liked the colorful blocks that (WHOA!) attach together!

He also enjoyed banging on the boxes. Therefore, a couple of his toys will stay in the boxes until the boxes lose their allure, and then we'll actually open them up:

He was super excited about a package from Gangy and Grandalf (thank you!!!):

He loved playing with the tag on a new stuffed animal:

Which, we decided, is the strangest little stuffed animal we've ever seen:

And he was OBSESSED with the tissue paper. He grabbed it and shook it and waved it around. It was hilarious:

THE CAKE!

Finally it was time for birthday cake! We naturally assumed that it would be delicious, messy, chocolatey insanity, so we stripped Weston down, placed him on a tablecloth on the floor, and presented him with a big slice of cake that he could start tearing into:

However, no "tearing into" occurred. Instead, Weston shivered and cried that his cake was one big lump instead of small, bitesize pieces:

So, birthday cake, take 2! We put a sweatshirt on him, placed him in his more familiar highchair, and started breaking off little pieces of cake. He still whimpered and cried during his first couple bites:

But then he started to really like it:

He nibbled:

And he licked his fingers:

And he stuffed his mouth:

And he ate and ate and ate:

So, we think he likes chocolate cake. All in all, a great first birthday for our favorite Weston!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

The Big Oh-One!

My baby is a year old! A YEAR OLD!!! How did this happen? When did this happen? Am I stuck in a time warp like on Lost??

Maybe so, because this year flew right by. Already I have memories that are becoming vague: holding his teeny little body, panicking at the slightest cry or stir, swaddling him, jiggling him to sleep at night, lying him on the playmat, carrying him around in his carseat, cleaning his spit-up off my clothes, nursing him nursing him nursing him (and that was only three months ago). It's amazing how time flies with a new baby -- I knew that he'd develop rapidly, but I didn't know that he'd stop being a baby so quickly.

Anyway, here's the birthday boy!!!

I'm starting a tradition of taking a photo of my children on the morning of their birthdays, and then compiling all the embarrassing bedhead photos into a big funny album. It begins!

Today we're celebrating by heading to the park for a fun little party with Weston's other baby friends, and then we'll return home and have cake and open presents. On Friday, Weston has his one-year checkup, so stats from that appointment, as well as pictures of a chocolate-frosting-smeared baby, are sure to follow then. :-)

Now, for your viewing pleasure, let's take a stroll down memory lane. I say "your viewing pleasure," but really I mean mine, because when Weston's 14 years old and we're at the mall and he sees a group of his friends and tells me to hide in another store, then I can look back at this blog post and scroll through the pictures while gingerly touching the computer screen and weeping into Weston's baby blankie that I searched for and finally found smushed into the corner under his bed along with old sneakers and gum wrappers. Haha! But seriously... I love my little guy.

Newborn Weston