And then he ate cake

We had a little party for Zane this weekend. In case you haven't heard, he turned one earlier this month. Zane, I know, I still owe you a birthday letter. I'm in denial, ok, I'll get to it :)

But, despite the fact that I'm not dealing with the fact that you are now one, I didn't let that stop us from having a party and celebrating you in style! And party we did.

It was an elmo party and anyone who knows me well figured that I choose this theme all on my own. But, I had a little help from you, I mean, look how excited you get about elmo things:

(thanks for the awesome elmo phone April!)

Anyway, we're jumping ahead of things a little bit, so back to the details. Originally I was going to make Zane an elmo cake, but the egg-free cake I had to make him wasn't faring well in the elmo cake pan (although we enjoyed eating the trial runs), so I changed my vision to cupcakes. Thanks to Rose for making my vision come true, I think she did a fabulous job and I'm actually glad I had to switch to cupcakes.



The rice krispie treats were "Dorothy" shaped, for those of you familiar with all things elmo. And for the big kids, cannoli cake!



Thanks to etsy I got this adorable birthday banner (I don't want to take it down it is so cute!) and the stickers for the treat bags (which included bubbles, crayons and elmo coloring pages, and lots of yummy fish-shaped snacks).




My last piece of decor wasn't elmo related, but I just had to encorporate Zane's monthly-onesie shots into the action somehow. So, I created this banner to show of my friends' artwork from my baby shower one more time, but this time with photos of Zane wearing their creations.



The week leading up to the party we had the most beautiful weather we have seen since probably November. So what should happen the weekend of the party was a noreaster that should have had a name it was so crazy. (Noreaster Zane, perhaps?). We were a bit freaked out about what we were going to do with all the kids that were planning to show up (the good and bad of moving into a neighborhood with lots of fantastic kids). So, in a game-time decision we turned our unfinished basement into a pretty sweet play area and added a craft station too. It worked perfectly and I think (from the site of the aftermath) that the kids had a blast down there!
(Although, ironically enough, Zane still hasn't seen his new playroom, but I think he will spend many a rainy day down there in the near future!)



So, here's the birthday boy! Of course he was sporting the latest in elmo fashions :) I was actually afraid he wouldn't wear his party shirt. Everytime he sees it he gets so excited about the picture of elmo that he wants to carry the shirt around. I had to sort of hide the front and sneak it over his head. It worked.


Of course the back was cute too


Zane had a great time being passed around to all of his favorite people and when it was time for the real reason for the party (watch him eat cake of course) he did not disapoint! He devoured that elmo cupcake (after tetatively tasting the icing with a finger and waiting for me to feed him a bite first).


And I think the paparazzi had a little bit of fun watching him:


After a quick post-cupcake bath, there was time for a few gifts before Zane said goodnight. He really got into the presents this time.


So there we have it, our baby is one. Thanks to all our family and friends for helping us celebrate. We did it; we survived that crazy, sleep-deprived first year and we came out pretty good on the other side :)