Happy 1st Birthday, Elise!

John's steady girlfriend Elise turned 1 on the 23rd, and we went over to her house for some carrot cake cupcakes that evening. Her daddy returned home for his two-week R&R just in time to celebrate her special day with her! John was, of course, a little nervous to meet his future father-in-law for the first time. After all, Mr. Mike is the other man in Elise's life. But the two of them got along just swell :)

Before getting in their highchairs for cupcakes, the kids played with Elise's awesome birthday gift.....a Fisher-Price mini house! When they both tried playing with one particular part of the house (the calendar, for example), we'd just put one baby outside the front door and the other inside. An easy solution!

We brought over part of Elise's birthday gift for her to open, and not surprisingly, the pink bow on top of the gift was her favorite thing. It distracted her (and John) for a good ten minutes. John tried "sharing" Elise's bow, which culminated in a very funny moment in the foyer. (See video.)



But back to the gift.....here is the birthday girl opening her gift from us, some Eric Carle books about colors, numbers and words. Look at the concentration on her face as she contemplates how to remove the tissue paper!

"Hmm....." Elise said. "This tissue paper in my hand is much more interesting than the book Mommy is trying to show me!"

While Elise opened her gift, John prowled around the family room, looking for something to get into.

When it was cupcake time, Elise waited patiently in her highchair for hers to be served to her.

Once the candle had been lit, the kids couldn't take their eyes off the prize!

But while Elise loved her cupcake and ate all but a few scattered crumbs of it, her boyfriend was less than impressed with his. (Big surprise.) Here are the two 12-month-olds in an "after" photo.....