Gil’s 1st Birthday!

Well, folks, we have a one-year-old! He might be the cutest little guy I’ve ever seen, too, but of course I’m biased, haha. We had a fun day celebrating off and on, mixed in with a hike with friends, delicious naps, and plenty of playtime. I followed Gil around with the camera for part of the day to capture that first bite of cake, the joy of play, and moments with each of the members of his family.

For full disclosure, the day wasn’t perfect, and actually began and ended with meals that looked like this:

Yep. So I was glad to get some of the happier moments in between, like the ones that follow!

They shared beaters covered in cream cheese frosting as I frosted his cake. I made two: one “smash cake” for him to enjoy on his own and one entirely massive snowman cake (his “real” birthday cake) that I am basically polishing off by myself now. Too. Much. Cake. Anyone want some cake?!

We tried to get a picture of Mama and Son, but that mission failed. I like these two photos, though, because they show what I do most of the day: facilitate my children’s play/sense of adventure/lives and try to keep them from killing themselves! Ah, motherhood.

For Gil’s birthday, he and Lena got absolutely adorable matching “jammies” from my parents, but, try as I might, I couldn’t get a good picture of them together. Can you imagine why? Always on the move around here.

And then I came around the corner and saw this in action… and that looked picture perfect to me!

And finally, since I usually post portraits of my children every Monday, here is one of Lena I took this morning. The artist (and reader!) at work! She after she finished each marker or crayon, she lined them up. And then we read two huge stacks of books during Gil’s nap, a typical activity for us because I am lazy and would rather sit and read books than do craft or learning activities. Oh well!