The Birthday Party Part 2: The Cake!

The cake is, of course, always the highlight of the party. Tricia made a cupcake-cake, making portioning much easier. It is becoming very popular at weddings, I hear. So anyway, this photo-montage begins with the undisturbed cake, in the shape of a number 1, with beautiful, neon-coloured, stain-everything-in-sight polkadots.


the cake, pre-mess

Tricia gave one of the cupcakes, slathered in icing, to Sophia. Sophia was not entirely sure what to do with it. Here is the result


Umm... for me? I do what now?




Here. Mommy will help you. You eat it. See? Mmmm... tasty!




Well, I can mash it up with my hands but I'm still not quite sure.




In my eyes? probably not, but it's fun





Oh MAN that was good. You were right.




I can't believe I ate the whole thing

The Birthday Party

Sophia's party was not even a week ago now but it feels alternately like it was yesterday and months ago. I know it's cliche, and none of you will believe me, but she actually does look and act older now that her first birthday has come and gone.

Everyone says the first birthday party is for the parents, but I know Sophia had a wonderful time even though she probably didn't quite get that all these people were in the house to celebrate her life. The dog wasn't even that concerned with the influx of new humans, although she did kind of stick to herself for most of the time.

It was a beautiful day, hot and sunny, so we were able to have people out on the deck (under a shade-tent type thing) and the kids playing in the grass. It was the first big summer party we have had at the house, and it felt very good - people were milling about and there was lots of room and people didn't seem to feel crowded or bored or overwhelmed.

Daryl and Jennifer and Madeline and Finn came down, as did Marie-Eve and William. Ruth and Don and Ev came out from Wolseley, and got briefly lost in the maze that is Wascana Heights. And of course my parents and Tricia's parents and Aunt Pat (all the way from Washington State) were in town visiting as well, so it was a well attended party. Now to pictures.

Preparations began many days in advance - Tricia made a cupcake cake, bison burgers, salads and other fixings before the day arrived so we could concentrate on decorating and having fun with friends. She is so motivated and anti-procrastinating, it's hard to believe. They say that in University, she frequently had papers finished and handed in before the deadline. Can you imagine?


Tricia furiously polka-dotting the cake the day before the party. She actually stained her hands in preparing the bright icing. This mommy is willing to make sacrifices for her kid!

Tricia chose a theme of polka-dots for the party, and everything was polkadots. From the brightly coloured paper plates (round, hence polkadot) to the cake (cupcakes = round = polkadots, with neon polkadots of icing) to the goodies in the goodie bags (bubble stuff, floam, and other cool stuff), it was a cohesive theme. you could even consider the buffalo burgers as polkadots, and the turkey wieners (if viewed end-on) but this may be a stretch.


The food was, of course, masterfully cooked...



and enjoyed by all, both out on the deck...



and inside the house where it was a little cooler.

And then came the cake. We sang happy birthday to Sophia as the cake came out and she looked kind of shy and coy as we were singing, almost as if to say "Aw shucks guys, you shouldn't have" Very cute, and she had done the same thing when we sang to her at our little family party a couple days before!



Happy birthday to me? really?

Stay tuned for "Birthday Party part 2: the Cake!

Sitting Pretty

Sophia got her very own Adirondack chair for her birthday from Grandpa and Grandma M. I think she likes it!

hello, hello?

Most toddlers and infants love phones. Sophia is mesmerized by our cordless phones and spends lots of time pressing buttons and trying to phone far off places (oh the lights and sounds!). She was dumbfounded once when a West Jet employee handed her a phone receiver to play with... it had, of all things, a CORD?! She just looked and pulled, trying to get the handset away from the cord...it certainly wasn't something she had seen before! Crazy eh?

When Sophia visits her Grandparents in Vancouver, she spends time playing with the vintage chatter phone that I once played with. She drags it around and hangs the handset over her shoulder. In fact, we have a picture of David doing the exact same thing when he was her age. Too funny.

Anyway, we don't have such a toy at our house. Poor deprived Sophia. To remedy the problem, and to keep Sophia from trying to eat our cellphones (yet another toy of choice for Sophia) David gave her his old cell to play with. Now, when you say "bring, bring...hello, Sophia?" She takes the phone and holds it up to her ear. Now all we have to do is teach her to hold the speaker side to her ear instead of the back or side! :)

Is it for me? Really?

Hello? Hello, anyone there?

Oh, that's better...the reception is so clear!

Is this the number for Beijing? Raffi said something about calling Beijing? If Raffi said it, I gotta do it!

Our Tomato Loving Toddler

I don't like tomatoes...I never have and I doubt that I ever will (much to my mother's chagrin --she figured I would grow out of it). But just because I don't like them, it doesn't mean that I will deprive Sophia of the chance to develop a taste for them. Her Uncle Todd first exposed her to the cherry tomato some months ago, just before she had teeth. All she could do was suck it until it became a squishy mess. Now that she has teeth, she enjoys tearing into a fresh cherry tomato and eating the whole thing. This makes her daddy happy as he is growing tomatoes on our porch. So Sophia gets fresh ones when they are ready. Actually, she likes to stand on the deck and point to them when we are playing outside. She doesn't understand that the green ones aren't ready to eat yet. But it's still fun to watch.





For those of you looking for first birthday pics and blog, its coming. David is in charge of it, so they'll be up when he has some time!