Jude's birthday bonanza began early. Because we were leaving to go to Des Moines for Thanksgiving, the birthday celebration began on Wednesday, two days before the big day. First, Skyleah came over and gave Jude his first present of the week - a walking wooden duck toy. Then Max from next door came over with a present and serenaded Jude with a guitar singing Happy Birthday which transfixed Jude as you can see in the photo above.
The following morning we flew out to Des Moines. It was Thanksgiving and thankfully our short trip was a breeze and we arrived in plenty of time for the big meal. The whole family was there - Baba, Grandpa, Mandy, Nathan, and Jude's cousin Lily who was very excited to see Jude. After a wonderful turkey feast we went to bed early in anticipation of the big celebration the next day.
One. We had been saying this number to Jude and holding up our index finger all month. And what a celebration it was. It started early right after Jude woke up (which was after a solid 11 hour sleep - hooray!) when Baba presented Jude with a blue "birthday boy" baseball cap which he wore all morning. When Lily came over he received a button book and a fleece jacket. After Jude woke up from his afternoon nap the celebration really began. Baba gave Jude another hat, that you can see in the photo below - a crown that said "Baby's 1st Birthday".
We had brought all of Jude's presents from his family in Australia as well as his Aunt Judy in Florida with us. For the next half hour Jude was presented with an assortment of gifts from his entire family. There were books, clothes, stuffed animals and lots of games. But being only one, he played with the wrapping paper more than the actual toys. Still he enjoyed all the excitement I think.
Then we had his birthday dinner. Which for the adults consisted of pizza and for Jude his usual vegetables - sweet potatoes, edamame, and kidney beans. Then for dessert, Marcy had made carrot cupcakes with cream cheese and we put a little candle in it as you can see in the photo below. We all sang happy birthday and Jude blew out the candle (with Marcy's help). While Jude seemed to like the taste of the cake he didn't like the fact that the cream cheese stuck to his fingers.
Below is the photo of all of us wearing our birthday hats before the birthday dinner.
We thought that Jude might walk on his birthday but he is not quite ready yet. Several times during the day he stood unassisted for 30 seconds of more but when he tried to take a step forward he fell down. His first steps could be any day now.
