We celebrated Avery's birthday on Saturday, because, well, its busy season and Greg has to work ALL the time so Saturday was the first day he could be there. We had a bunch of people over, Avery's grandparents Tom and Faye, her uncle Scott and aunt Nicki and cousins Lincoln and baby Ty, and her great uncle Dan and great aunt Karen. Avery was a little confused at first about why all these people had invaded her house. She'd never seen that many people at her house before (we're pretty low key around here). And she'd decided not to take her naps that day so she was a little subdued.
The party started at 5:30...here was the spread (a little after people had started chowing down). Chipotle Chicken Pasta Salad, salsa dip and chips, strawberry cake cookies, and her ladybug cake.
Now I'm definitely not a cake decorator (as you can tell), but I guess my first try at this birthday cake thing wasn't a complete mess. Presenting Avery Claire's ladybug cake.
People milled around eating pasta and dip and cookies for a while. Chatting and talking and trying to make Avery smile (something that's usually a snap but that night was more of a challenge).
Avery enjoyed her cookies the best.
Then it was present opening time. (I figured best to open presents first so if she totally demolished her cake I could just throw her in the tub after). Lincoln was more excited about the presents at first, but his excitement got Avery into the whole thing a little bit more. This is an "activity box." We figured we better get her started early on her abacus math equations.
Here's Avery opening my favorite gift that she got. An uber cute magnetic "paper" doll set. It'll be great for church when she's a little older. Right now Avery just wanted to eat the poor doll's head.
Then it was time to sing happy birthday. We got Avery down to her onesie and let her sit in front of her cake to "blow out" her candle.
We put her in her high chair and gave her a big piece of cake. At first she was a little perplexed because I usually don't just let her go at a piece of cake like that. I guess she had to examine it to make sure it was something she really wanted to eat at first.
But soon she realized everybody was standing there staring at her. She didn't seem to like that at all. And started crying and trying to get out of her chair. She was tired and not used to so much attention.
We cleaned her up and then she played a little bit with cousin Lincoln and then fell asleep as soon as everybody had left. Here's a look at her great loot.
And a little video of her getting tired of her cake.
