Anders's First Birthday! AND First Steps!

Our baby turned ONE yesterday!

Zach had been saying for months that he wanted to have a big party with champagne for Anders's first birthday to celebrate not only his first year of life, but also the end of all the heartache of his CCAM. I talked him out of inviting everyone we know (because I'm the one who has to feed these people!) but even with our trimmed guest list, we had 35 people there.

I was too busy to take many pictures, but here's a few I managed to get other people to take for me:

I was so proud of my monkey cake!
It was my first attempt at a character cake and I love how it came out.
Isaac now wants a turtle cake for his birthday, which I think I can manage.

Ando made it through 35 people singing "happy birthday" to him, but then melted down because he tried to touch the flame and we yelled, "No!" and grabbed his hand. Poor little guy!

A little chocolate frosting will make it all better!
He acted like he knew just what to do with his cake. He dug right in!

New presents--a xylophone and a wagon with wheels thick enough for the sand or snow!

Zach made a toast that had us all in tears. It went something like this: "As a party for a one-year-old, this probably qualifies as overly indulgent, but on the other hand I can't think of anything more worthy of celebration....Let's give thanks for healthy children, for friends and family who help us carry our burdens, and for a God who holds us all in the palm of his hand."

All the kiddies (and mommas whose babies wouldn't cooperate):
Me, Nadia, Anders, Benjamin, Kiersten, Anwen, Sam, Ewan, Isaac, Esu, Matthew, Liz, and Eva.

The Birthday Boy's Big Brother, being "a star"

The party was crazy, but successful. I had made enough giant lasagnas to feed an army and we baked a couple of them in our neighbor's oven. I burned the garlic bread, but not beyond edibility. We also had salad and a veggie tray and ice cream and monkey faced cupcakes. I was also so proud of my party favors for the kids: I found little monkey, banana, and flower slippers at Target for $2.50 each! They were cute!

Anders held up better than I thought he would. He had been pretty clingy to me with all our family in town, barely letting me put him down and squirming out of anyone else's arms, but I think he enjoyed his party with all his favorite people. He and Miss Bethy's 5 year old (I think?) daughter, Kiersten, absolutely LOVE each other, just giggling and hugging every time they see each other. He also loves his big cousins, Sam and Nadia, and his almost-cousin Eva.

As you can see from the post title, Anders also took his first steps the day of his party! He's been standing on his own for about 30 seconds at a time, and Saturday when he was doing that, I held out my arms to him and he stepped toward me! A bunch of my family was there to see it, and now Zach has gotten to see both of our boys' first steps! Awesome. Ando also did the same thing today, but took about 3 or 4 steps toward me!

It's crazy to us that Anders is already a year old. He's so much smaller than Isaac was at this age, he just seems tiny! But he has made leaps and bounds in the last week or so. He waves, gives kisses, says words, eats more finger foods, and now even takes steps!

When Isaac turned one I was so sad that he wasn't going to be a baby any more, but now that I've been through a couple of toddler years with Spike, I'm really looking forward to them with Thor. I love seeing how the boys are the same in some ways and their own little selves in other ways. Anders is still a sweet, shy cuddle bug, but he's much braver than his brother was at this age. His dimpled smile and soft, white blond hair just melt my heart and I'm so proud of all that he has been through, all that he is, and all that I know he will become.

I love you, Anders Timothy! Happy First Birthday!