Linus' First Birthday

The rest of Linus' birthday was full of a nice combination of relaxation and preparation for the big par-tay, which was held on Saturday. The girls helped to make the party decorations.

Here Violet displays the napkins used as a model.

Amelie did a fabulous job painting the lion.

For dinner, we had homemade pizza and green beans. Bowie Grandma and Grandpa came over for our mini pre-party. I defrosted one cupcake and decorated it for Linus. The rest of us enjoyed some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

Linus, being a third child and no stranger to sweets, knew exactly what to do with his cupcake. To begin with, he grabbed a handful of icing and shoved it in his mouth. When he was done, he wanted more! So, he got part of a cookie as well. It's only your birthday once a year, right?

Next up were the gifts. We gave Linus the Traditional Salada Family First Birthday/Christmas Block Walker. (As you may have guessed, Amelie got the Block Walker for her first birthday and Violet got it for her first Christmas.) We also gave him his little painted (by Daddy) chair and The Dangerous Book for Boys. My parents gave him the fun car twirly thing.

Since Linus is our first boy, we've never had such a thing in our home. Everyone had a blast with it!

It was a wonderful day leading up to the party to end all parties. More on that in the next post.