The big birthday party

John's big birthday party was January 9th, the day after his real birthday. We had the party at Grandma Kay's house, and all our local family friends were in attendance -- Ethan and Lindsay, Nick and Jan, Steve and Ruthanne, Beverly, Ray and Wrenne, the Repsholdts and the Beals. (Jack Beal is John's little neighbor buddy who will turn 2 next week). I made a big pot of chili, and Lindsay made an adorable dump truck cake and construction-themed cupcakes.

Before dinner, I filmed John and Jack playing with the new Cars toys that John had gotten from his friend Austin. I actually got John to tell the camera how old he was ("Two!" he shouts, holding up all ten fingers). I also got him to sing the "Happy Birthday" song.

Happy birthday to John from Sarah Schuchard on Vimeo.

John didn't really care for his chili very much, but he loved the fresh veggie platter and the cornbread.

John opened his presents in the dining room. After opening a few by himself, he decided it would be ok to let Jack help him, so we put both kids on the table and let them go at it. John received so many nice gifts! One of his favorite gifts was a bright yellow flashlight from his Aunt Beverly.

I got a few videos of the gift opening.....

First bday present from Sarah Schuchard on Vimeo.

More gift opening from Sarah Schuchard on Vimeo.

I didn't get any videos of John blowing out his birthday cake candles because the camera was completely full (whoops!), but the photos I got turned out great, I think. John was acting very strangely the whole time we were singing "Happy Birthday" to him. I think he was actually a little embarrassed to have everyone looking and singing at him!

John wanted to sit on his Uncle Ethan's lap to eat his cupcake. This year, John actually wanted to eat the cake! (He definitely has a sweet tooth.) He started off slowly, but he soon realized it would be infinitely more yummy to devour the whole cupcake in two bites.

After he ate his own cupcake, John came over to where I was sitting and asked for a bite of my piece of cake. Mommy had to indulge the birthday boy, of course.

Speaking of cupcakes, Lila was an absolute cupcake during the party! She really enjoyed being held by her Aunt Wrenne and Aunt Beverly. The outfit Lila is wearing in this photo was a gift from her Uncle Ethan and Aunt Lindsay.....a fitting gift for her big brother's birthday party!

By the time the party was over, Grandma and I were exhausted. It had been a VERY long weekend of grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking and baking. Of course John was exhausted too. The night of his party, John didn't get into bed until after 8:30 p.m.! He slept in a little later than usual the next morning. And Lila, who went to bed around 10 that night, didn't wake up until 6 a.m.! I did a double-take when I saw the time on the clock. Sadly, she has not repeated such a stretch of sleep since then.