Birthday Boys

I was going to get some numeral candles, a 1, 3, and 4, but then I thought it would just look like I couldn't count.

We're still trying to sort out this whole sharing a birthday thing. I didn't know whether to do one cake or two cakes, if we should celebrate two different nights, or what. I think we'll figure it out more and more each year. This year we did not have enough people around to justify two cakes. I guess I should be more sentimental, but this time of year, I don't know that we can take all the extra treats. Sorry, guys. 

This has been quite the year for both Brady and Charlie. Brady's first year as a psychology professor, Charlie's first year as a person. Brady has lost about 15 pounds (just being more active, I guess, nothing deliberate, which is impressive), Charlie has gained almost 15 pounds (just shy of 24 pounds now!). Brady has developed a new line of research and expertise in ecopsychology (which he recently presented a paper for at a big interdisciplinary conference), and Charlie has developed his interpersonal skills of peekaboo and social greetings (saying and sometimes waving "hi"). These guys have so much in common.

Okay, time for Brady's prediction to come true and Charlie to completely upstage him now (which he's totally cool with having a grown-up birthday, meaning he still had to go to work and help put the kids to bed, but I did do all the cooking that day). I mean, 34 is a pretty big milestone, but . . . I didn't get a sign made for Brady, and as you can see, my toner wasn't doing great. Maybe next year.

As you can see, Charlie is starting toddlerhood off with all the right forehead bruises.

He hasn't  started walking yet beyond what he can do holding onto furniture or walls. He is a super fast crawler, so doesn't seem too motivated to find another means of getting around.

 This is what Charlie got from my parents. I had to open this one early for him because Ellie could see what it was on the box it arrived in and she was too excited. She was really good about waiting until he woke up from his nap and letting him have the first turn. Here is a video of them playing with it that I promised to post. Might be on the long side for anyone besides grandmas.

 

So after a dinner of creamy tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches (Charlie liked the first, Ellie liked the second), we blew out candles and opened presents.

I love how Charlie looks so ready to dive into the cake in this picture. Turns out he wasn't. Too much excitement. He was so ready to hit it and didn't make it to cake and ice cream.

Brady got this great cast iron combo cooker for making some amazing bread (which he's already used), along with some other cooking gadgets and books, and some gear for his bike (he usually rides his bike to work, and it's getting darker and colder for his mile commute). Charlie also got some books, cars, wall decals (he loves the ones in Ellie's room), and a mat to drive his cars on.

Here is a picture of some of the decals and the car mat/rug. Ellie loves this present too. She loves most of Charlie's presents, but has been really good about letting them be his, for the most part. She really wanted a present and to blow out candles. It was pretty confusing being so close to her birthday and there were so many presents on the table since we were celebrating two birthdays. Luckily I had a pair of Christmas socks for her that I had been saving, so I just wrapped those and let her open them. Might have to have that be a new tradition for the kids. 

So then we planned to do cake and ice cream the next day, but this is how we spent most of the next day:

Poor baby. Turns out the little cold I thought Ellie had the day before (hence the pajamas in all the pictures) was a bit more. We went in for the kids' well-check appointment and found out that Ellie had her first ear infection. Charlie had to get a bunch of shots and just wanted to sleep and be held all day. And Brady and I were both under-the-weather too. Blah. 

Charlie rebounded and we had another party on Saturday. So here are the obligatory first year messy cake pics.

And here's video because I have it and this post just isn't getting long enough, right? I think he looks kind of muppety here with the bib rolled up. This is pretty much how mealtime with Charlie goes. A bite here and there, punctuated with clapping, his "go nuts" trick (shake his head back and forth real fast), or saying "hi."

Anywho, strung out over three days, we did get a pretty good celebration in. Charlie returned to the usually, happy-go-lucky, playful boy we adore; we marvel every day at what a blessing he is to our family. And he learned how much he loves cream cheese frosting. To quote Ellie, "it's delectable."