Happy First Birthday!

My dad told me that one doesn't realize how fast time passes until he or she has a child.

Truer words have never been spoken.

As the news relives Hurricane Sandy, I have been reliving the past year with Austin. I remember the weird labor/not labor pains that Sunday morning, my emotions in the delivery room, and the joyous aftermath of holding my little man. Then I blinked - and here he is, one year old!

Courtesy of cakeartistcafe.com

Planning a first birthday is kind of an odd thing since the guest of honor could probably care less whether or not you go for the vodka penne or the linguine with marina sauce. He is indifferent to the Halloween theme, his presents (actually he was very into the wrapping paper), or the shape and style of his cake. On the other hand, his mother is all over the internet trying to find fun looking appetizers, scouring the Christmas Tree Store for bargain plates and decorations, soliciting her dad's near perfect handwriting to make labels, and ordering her husband to do menial tasks that have been festering for months (like taking a homemade birdhouse out of our bathroom). Also my family likes to conceive in February so in addition to Austin, my cousin shares his birthday on the 28th, her husband is the 24th, I am the 31st, and my husband follows shortly behind us on November 13th. Although I have accepted the fact that my birthday is no longer significant, I wanted to at least acknowledge all the other aging Scorpios in the house without drawing attention away for my son.

Like any event, once the party began - all was right with the world and if the plates specifically bought for the cake went unused - then let that be the worst of my life's problems. For our costumes, I wanted something we could host in, be comfortable, and didn't cost a fortune. DJ, the excellent sport that he is, tolerate the whole scene and looked just fantastic as Popeye!




At the end of the day, despite his distaste for his sailor hat, our Austin made the perfect Swee' Pea to our Popeye and Olive Oil, enjoyed every bit of his cake, and smiled ear to eat as we sang Happy Birthday to him.

Before you have a little person, you don't think about things like timing a birthday cake around someone's nap, finding a onsie that suits your Halloween costume needs perfectly, or making sure every moment of a party is captured on film.