Kasper's First Birthday - The Party

The theme of Kasper's first birthday was sort of a given. He was born 1.1.11 so I considered this to be his super, duper Golden birthday. I also added in some rainbow colors to keep things interesting. I didn't go crazy when planning this party (except for making a video montage a day before) even though I had a million ideas. Thank you Pinterest.

Settle in...

We prepped Kasper during breakfast by asking how old he was.

He thinks he's one but looks unsure.


Inside the front door, I strung up all of Kasper's monthly pictures.


Stephanie gave K a thumbprint tree guest book for his party which also sat inside the door. I had green monkey assist.


I found this super cute Happy Birthday banner on Etsy. So cute, right???


Here is the same space with all the gifts. Kasper is a well-loved little guy for sure.


I just hung a colorful paper bunting in the sunroom.


I didn't get a picture of the food table in all of it's glory (meaning I forgot once the guests started to arrive.)


We pushed our dining room table against the window to free up more space. I found some rainbow colored fabric that my Mom made a runner out of. Stephanie made a couple tissue poms. I had wanted to make a bunch but they were hard! I pulled photos and things from around the house to have at the back of the table to honor the birthday boy. I kept it easy on myself and just served some snacky foods like veggies and dip, chex mix, taco dip, cake pops and cupcakes! I made rainbow cupcakes and they turned out SO cute!

I made a cupcake tower out of some cake stands I had and I put Kasper's special gold cupcake at the top with a little flag bunting.


Soon it was party time! Kasper experimented with some new looks to impress his guests.



He also got to open his gift from us. The ubiquitous Pottery Barn Kids chair!



It was such a fun party! We had about 30 local friends and family over. It was quite a difference to be able to entertain so many people so comfortably! I didn't get many photos of the guests. We had 2 other kids there besides K. They were older and I had a fun time looking into the future a bit.


Kasper had fun playing with Lily.

The other cute kiddo was Amelia who was pretty sure her cake pop was a sucker.


The party went from 3-5 so around 4 we called everyone in to the sunroom to watch the video we made. Yes, I made everyone watch all 11 and a half minutes. Kasper clapped as he watched. He thought the baby was cute.


After the video, it was cupcake time! He didn't love being sung to but eventually warmed up quickly to the dessert. He didn't know what to think at first!











Then after taking a couple bites of cupcake, he just smeared it all over his tray.




Too soon the party was over.

Completed and framed fingerprint tree.

Playing with all of his new toys!


This cow is called the Howdy cow and was from Emily and Devin. He's still a little small for it but is always up for a quick ride.


I also have to include a pic of Kasper from daycare on the Tuesday after his birthday. They made him a little paper crown, a homemade birthday card with all the kid's handprints and a Sandra Boynton book! Have I mentioned how much we love his daycare?


Whew! Only a week late!

The Walkin' Dude

Breaking news! Kasper started walking today! The video pretty much speaks for itself. We're so proud of our little bi-ped.



Oh, he also did this tonight just to keep himself grounded and to not get a big head about his new found mobility...



...but he quickly redeemed himself with the first question he's ever answered.


Big day!

The Inbetween Week

As this is my method of record keeping, I would be remiss if I didn't share the week between Christmas and New Years!

We headed back home Monday after Christmas because our new appliances were in (more on that later).


I had Monday and Tuesday off for the holiday but Rob had to go back to work on Tuesday. Since we had a plumber coming over, we decided to send Kasper to daycare for the day to keep him out of the house - but not before we visited Papa at work!


I went in to work on Wednesday then decided to take Thursday and Friday off to prepare for the birthday party. Turns out I really needed a lot of time while the baby was off at daycare!

Here's what else we were up to last week...

We threw lots of laying on the floor tantrums.


We tried to get into the habit of brushing our 2 front teeth.



We did lots and lots of standing (but no walking).


We had a visit from Uncle Mooney!


We snuck a bunch of snacks under a chair and hid there while we gobbled them up.


We tried our first Oreo, compliments of Papa. Loved it!



We accompanied Papa downstairs on the tambourine while staying out of the way of whirling Mama upstairs.




We managed to provide unquestionable proof that we don't only take adorable photos (note that I've labeled this picture "K tuna eye").


It was a fun week but I had a little trouble enjoying it with the big party on the horizon. I also decided to make that video montage I shared on Friday night. Like at 10 pm. 2 days before the party. I take on way too much. Luckily Rob edited it and made it awesome. Good thing we have nothing on the current horizon. Time to finally take a breather and enjoy our one year old!

Happy Birthday, Papa!

Happy Birthday to Robert (aka Papa). We love you!



P.S. Told you there was a lot to blog about! More to come...

12 months

Kasper -



You are now 12 months old. One year. Here it is, a grid of your monthly photos, the summary I've been envisioning.



One year ago, your Papa and I were in the hospital wondering just what we had gotten ourselves into! You were a wonderful baby then and you are a wonderful little boy now. In preparation for your birthday, we've done a lot of looking back and it's remarkable how much you've grown this past year (check out those teeth!).



Milestones: According to your teachers at daycare, you are able to take 2-3 steps. We haven't seen it at home yet, so you being able to walk is still unofficial. You are able to stand on your own for awhile but don't seem to trust yourself to take a step. Last month you refused to stand so maybe you're close to walking?

You are starting to communicate with us! You've been signing "milk" for awhile and usually in the correct context. Sometimes when you are hungry you sign milk when you actually just want some food. If you hear someone say "milk" or "leche" you will sign like crazy so you clearly know the word. You inconsistently sign "more". Most of the time you point at what you want and grunt and scream instead of politely asking for more. It's very cute when you remember your manners. Also according to your teachers, you can say the words leche and agua. I don't know if you can actually say them of if it's just a variation of "Es dat" which you say all.the.time. A very inquisitive child. Your favorite things to point at and ask about are the lights and the thermostat.

You know the dog says "arf arf" and will imitate her when she barks at something. It's pretty awesome to watch you figure these things out.

Food: Same old, same old. Some days you're willing to eat everything and anything some days you just want crackers and milk. I have been feeding you more and more of what we're eating instead of giving you your own little meals. It's hard because I don't know if something is going to be too spicy. I have also started to give you a little diluted juice but you much prefer milk. Now that you're 1, I have to start figuring out how to introduce cow's milk.

You nurse only twice a day now - when you wake up and before bed - and before naps on the weekends. In between you drink from a cup. It's been my choice because I know you would love to nurse all the time. An example of how much you love nursing - Papa lets you use a pacifier after your bath while you are getting lotioned up and dressed in your jammies since you're ready for bed at that point. He brings you out to the kitchen where I'm busy getting milk ready for the next day. I take you back into your room and as I sit down in the rocker you rip the paci out of your mouth and throw it away in anticipation of nursing. You still get about 14 ounces of milk at daycare.

Sleep: This is a good time to write about your sleep because you've been sleeping through the night with nary a peep for the last week or 2. You even slept in until 8ish on the days we had off! If you do wake up during the night it's almost always because you have a stuffy nose and need some saline drops. I don't nurse overnight anymore since you don't seem to need it.

You put yourself to sleep at night but have a harder time with naps. You take 2 naps and could still use a 3rd. Your naps are 1.5 hours each.

Other: Waving is back! You wave hello and goodbye to people. You imitate us when we say "Hi!" You still point but it's not as obsessive as before.

You have your bottom 2 teeth. At least you weren't toothless at your first birthday like I feared!

You LOVE books. You don't like being read to very much but you love to flip through books and point at the pictures. Sometimes when you see a dog in a book you'll bark. Also sometimes when you see a baby in your book you'll lean down and give it a kiss.

You love to crawl over, under, through, etc. Why take the easy way when you can climb over the table legs and under the chair? You also love to open all the cabinets and take everything out. It's a lot of fun for us when you do that.

You can drink through a straw! I don't know why I think that's a big deal but you just look like such a big boy sucking away on a straw.

You have started to enjoy taking objects out of where they are then attempting to put them back. It's a development I hadn't thought much about but it's definitely new and it is a nice peek at your little brain figuring things out. Your Grandma Sandra gave you a CD player and you love trying to put the CD in the slot. Such a smart boy.

You throw tantrums now! They're not terrible yet but if you are frustrated you throw yourself down on the ground and cry. Time to start a tantrum-diffusion technique.

We don't have a huge number of nicknames for you but you're called all of these at various times: Kassy, Kassy peanut, Nut, Ickle Pick.

Welcome to toddlerhood, buddy. I can't wait to see what your second year has in store. I love you so much.

Mama
















P.S. Be sure to check back soon, I have a lot to blog about the holidays and K's party!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KASPER!

The day is finally here. The day. Kasper's first birthday. Party details to follow - it was wonderful.

Kasper's first year in 11 and a half minutes...

Untitled from Jessica Williams on Vimeo.