And then he was ONE.

We had a spectacular day yesterday. Little Man’s birthday was celebrated in style – Seuss-style!

Preparations began on Friday and Bebe helped me with the cupcakes while Little Man rested up.

On Saturday morning, Little Man was so excited he woke up at 6am. An hour earlier than usual and following a bagel run from Goldbergs, he was ready for  nap.  Who could possibly resist smooching this face?

Once up from his nap, he was ready to help with the cupcake decorations and while holding the bottle of sprinkles, Mom was too quick to grab his dirty bib, that I made him spill the bottle of sprinkles. It was ok with him though – he enjoyed helping me clean them up.

Saturday morning we finished up our Sneetch Treats: Green Cupcakes with Red Fish, Cookies, Whoopie Pies and Chocolate Cupcakes with the Cat’s Hat.

Little Man spent some time on the porch playing with one of his favorite new toys – a balloon! We were perfectly color coordinated for the party. Can’t you tell?

Pablos’ recommendation of  ‘Cue BBQ was spot on and we were lucky that there was leftovers for another day following the party.  Their  BBQ chicken was divine and their coleslaw was perfect. I don’t think I’ve had coleslaw that good since my parents owned the Chicken Place in NJ.

Rather than a smash cake – I opted to make homemade cupcakes for his sugar indulgence. One chocolate with white icing and one yellow cake/green with chocolate icing.  He was patient enough to wait for us to light the candle and sing to him and then he devoured his cupcakes. Barely one was fully in his mouth before he smooshed the 2nd one in.

Hey, Ma – give me more!

One of our guests brought this CAT back hoe for Little Man. Between filling it up and empty it out – it’s distracted him for hours to date.

Some of our lovely guests:

Little Man was so lucky to have all his favorite peeps with us that day.

Thanks to all for making it so special!

Oh and Ah - Landscaping

We moved ahead with some lawn love while our Meyers Zoysia decides if it wants to come back to life. Last week was mowing and blowing and this week we added pinestraw to the beds and dressed them up so that the house would look good for this weekend’s festivities.

You can see on the side of the driveway where myself and many others missed the driveway and took out some of the sod.  Poor little grass never had a chance to get it’s roots down for the winter.  We’ll be replacing this patch with some of the live sod from the side yard. The Dogwood tree in our front yard has also started to bloom. Great timing!

We’re doing a little yard renovation next week, so we’ll have more pictures soon.

Birthday Boy!

So how does one celebrate a one-year old? With balloons and new cars. Little Man woke up bright and early today – 7am.  Which is good, with the time change, we’ve added a half an hour to his night time sleep. 7pm to 7am. That we can handle.

This morning I picked him up gave him a big squeeze (I gotta take it when I can get it) and sang him Happy Birthday. 

You would think that he’d go after the cars I laid out for him, but NO – the balloons were the winner in this game.

What does birthday boy have planned for his day? He’s off to the library for Toddler Time! Yes, he’s graduated from Baby Lap Sit reading to the next level! Then he’s off to Gymboree with Miss Bebe.

Tonight Miss Bebe and I will let him delve into a cookie or cupcake (with a little icing, I do want to make sure he goes to sleep).

More exciting birthday news to follow!

Birthday Teaser

I can’t wait to celebrate Little Man next week! I’ve been busy planning the menu and organizing the décor for the day.  Looks like we’re going to have about 40 people here to ring in the festive day with us. I’m wondering if he’s going to go for the cupcake or the cake. 

Here’s a sneak peek as to what we have in store… and yes, I forgot one of the “H”s.  This is the way the folks in the UK pronounce it!  Don’’t worry, 2nd “H” coming soon!

Operation–Veggie Garden

But first, an announcement from Birthday Boy! He’s showing off some of his  new outfits. What a cutie pie! I know, I shouldn’t post the sad face, but I can’t have you believing that he is sweet and wonderful all the time, can I?

We’ve had a big couple of weekends, between replacing the screen on the porch, to the latest project – Operation Edible Garden!

Pablo’s been busy planning the wood for the beds and this past weekend we pulled the trigger and bought the wood.  And then we spent the rest of the weekend putting them together.

And of course, I couldn’t leave Home Depot without buying some raspberry bushes to plant in one of these beds!

A couple of wood screws later…

Yippie! Pablo completed Four 3x4 beds and now all we have to do is level the area, till some of the soil and fill it in! Turns out were going to need about 18 bags of dirt to fill these puppies.

So now it’s my turn to get cooking on this Operation Veggie Garden. I’ve mapped and planned our crops for this Summer.  We’re going to have onions, carrots, cucumbers, beans and peppers in the top left box.  The top right box is going to be herbs: Chives, Rosemary, Oregano, Basil, Lavender, Cilantro and Chamomile.  We’re also going to try to mx in some lettuce and spinach, but it might be too hot this summer to grow them. We’ll live and learn. The other two beds are my two of my favorite fruits – raspberries and strawberries.  Thanks to Blossom and Bloom in Milton, we planted 5 blueberry bushes last year and may have some blueberries to pick this summer.

Pablo and I came up with the idea to cut up some leftover cedar from the porch process so that we could identify our crops.

Here’s our little babies starting to grow. We’re not supposed to put them outside until after the last front – April 15th/tax day.

Our Little Prince is going to be ONE!

I can’t believe that almost a year has gone by. It seems like yesterday we were taking you home from the hospital – mom eager to get home and Dad yearning for a night in his own bed.

I look at this picture and can’t help but smile knowing all the fun times we’ve had since this day.

Eleven and a half months later we’ve already got him working.  Little Man’s credit line has just about hit the max. Diapers and formula and Mum Mum’s and O’s. ADT should be sending that check any day now…

While I’ve always enjoyed reading poems about kids, I’ll have to remember this one as we raise ours.  And I’m sure I’ll be coming back to this page to look at it many many more times.

21 Memos from a Child

Don't spoil me.
   I know quite well I shouldn't have all I ask for.
   I'm only testing you.

Don't be afraid to be firm with me.
   I prefer it; it makes me feel secure.

Don't let me form bad habits.
   I have to rely on you to detect them in early stages.

Don't let me feel smaller than I am.
   It only makes me behave stupidly “big”.

Don't correct me in front of other people if you can help it.
   I'll take more notice if you talk quietly in private.

Don't protect me from consequences.
   I need to learn the painful way sometimes.

Don't make me feel my mistakes are sins.
   It upsets my sense of values.

Don't be too upset when I say "I hate you."
   It isn't you I hate but your power to thwart me.

Don't take too much notice of my self ailments.
   Sometimes they get me the attention I need.

Don't nag.
   If you do, I'll have to protect myself by appearing deaf.

Don't forget that I can't explain myself as well as I'd like.
   This is why I'm not always very accurate.

Don't tax my honesty too much.
   I'm easily frightened into telling lies.

Don't be inconsistent.
   It completely confuses me and makes me lose faith in you.

Don't put me off when I ask questions.
   If you do, you'll find I stop asking and seek information elsewhere.

Don't tell me my fears are silly.
   They are terribly real.

Don't make rash promises.

Remember that I feel badly let down when promises are broken.

Don't ever suggest that you are perfect or infallible.
   It gives me too great a shock when I find out you are neither.

Don't think it's beneath your dignity to apologize to me.
   An honest apology makes me surprisingly warm to you.

Don't forget I love experimenting.
   I can't get on without it, so please put up with it.

Don't forget how quickly I'm growing up.
   It must be hard to keep pace with me, but please try.

Don't forget, I can't thrive without lots of understanding love.

But I don't need to tell you, do I?

Don't put me off when I ask questions.

If you do, you will find that I will stop asking and seek my information elsewhere.

I’m sure you read the list and recalled some of the experiences you had growing up and how your parents handled things. One of the things I always remember is the understanding love – which we got a lot of.  And Little Man surely will as well. As for the experimenting? Well, we’ve already noticed the differences between the girls and boys - the boys just want to dive right in.

Birthday plans to follow soon…