Baby's 1st Birthday Party

We had Jackson's 1st Birthday Party last Saturday.  His real b-day is June 22 so the party was several days early.  He seemed to love all the attention & excitement but still had absolutely no idea what the big fuss was about.  As you will see from all the pictures, Jackson also tolerated the party hat suprisingly well.

We opted for an evening cookout to avoid the mid-day heat, but it was still sweltering.  Ben got to sweat it out in front of the grill for a good part of the evening. 

We had a great time celebrating with lots of friends and family -- all 3 sets of grandparents were able to make it!  Jackson was showered with plenty of love and attention!  (Uncle Mikey also came down for the day, but we didn't get a good snapshot of him & the birthday boy)

Bebe made sure Jackson was well fed!

Hi, Poppaw!

Snuggling with Nanny & Poppy

Rockin the jammies with Oma & Opa

We set up Jackson's new water table & our baby pool along with a borrowed ball pit and the kids had a ball.  Most of the babies were too little to enjoy the water toys, but they seemed happy enough to just hang out!

Poppy & Jackson, watching the big boys swim

Loving the ball pit

Our neighbor, Ivanna.  She is a month older than Jackson &

they love to practice walking together in our cul-de-sac.

Nolan (7wks) is already trying to get Brynli's digits (11 wks). 

There's stiff competition in our n'hood -- baby boys outnumber the girls!

Nolan & Cooper getting acquainted.

My dear friend Julie & her little boy, Slade.

Jackson & Slade are 3 months apart & have so much fun on our playdates!

All the Mommies with their babies

(everyone but Julie lives in our neighborhood)

The Daddies' turn

The cake smashing was rather disappointing, however.  Jackson, who typically LOVES to play in his food, wanted nothing to do with his cake and was extremely bothered by the gooey frosting once it got stuck to his hands.  I'm not sure if he was just tired, over-stimulated or freaked out by the singing & staring, but most of our cake pictures are of him screaming.  

He did, however, enjoy opening his presents and was particularly fond of playing with the cards, wrapping paper and trash in general. 

After a day brimming with sun, fun & friends, Jackson was tuckered by the time everyone left.  He somehow managed to stay up until 9pm, sharing his new toys with Opa & Oma, who were spending the weekend with us.