We had a fun little party for James at my parent's house last night. We opened his presents first.
He loved all of his new toys. When he opened his new (back-up) Puppy from Aunt Christi, I feared he would be confused...
But he gave the tail a little taste and found the new Puppy up to his high standards. Whew!
Brad and Papa had a big time getting all the toys out of their packages and put together. We didn't know what a major job that was. They didn't cover that in the parenting classes.
James loved his new pony!
And a great big ball from Aunt Christi and Uncle Cory and a Tonka truck from Nana and Papa.
He also had fun with his new dump truck, ship and manger from Nana and Papa!
James decided yesterday that since he was a big ol one year old, he didn't need an afternoon nap. So just about the time we got ready for the cake his mood cratered. I should have known.
He gagged on his dinner...
Refused to smile for Mommy to get a birthday cake picture...
Stubbornly refused...
He would have NOTHING to do with digging into the cake and getting dirty...even after I forced some icing into his mouth...
He flat out refused...
And of course my hopes of getting a cute family picture with him in his darling birthday hat were not meant to be...
Finally after getting a little Nana-fix he decided to try some cake...but only if she spoon-fed it to him...
Even then he was a little skeptical...
Go figure...The one time I actually want him to eat cake and get messy...
But at least he got to spend some quality time with Nana and Papa...
After dinner and dessert, we were exhausted...
Just in time for You-Know-Who to get all wired up from the sugar we had forced down his throat. 
Next year I will remember to do an early birthday party so my little birthday boy can be his charming darling little self.
After we got home and put James to bed, Brad and I watched the video from the day he was born and the first couple of months. I boo-hoo'd. I would give anything to hold that tiny little baby again and remember what it felt like when he was so small. Seeing him on the video did all sorts of things to my heart...and uterus. It almost made me want to do it all again. Almost...but not quite.
When we got to the part of the video when they were giving James his first bath at the hospital, Brad had filmed it all. James was screaming bloody murder and squirming all over the place. I asked Brad what he was thinking during that time and I thought that he would have some sweet emotional fatherly comment. He said, "I was thinking...'what the heck did we do!'". He had never been around babies until we had James and I can see how that would be sort of ominous and off-putting...that screeching and wriggling and all the blood and birthing stuff he had seen. Yikes! We probably should have looked into some form of therapy for him now that I think about it. I'm amazed he recovered so nicely.
Watching those first few days on video that we had James home was so funny. We were (and probably still are) such idiots. We had no clue what to do. I don't know how we would have survived without my Mom. She videoed us giving James his first bath at home and ohmygosh...we were such dorks! Brad said he remembered being terrified because James seemed so fragile. Then when we got him out and dried him off and were getting him dressed I must have brushed his hair...what tiny little bit of it there was...a million times. Then Brad re-brushed it. Heaven forbid he have unruly hair.
What a precious year and a precious boy. I love my little Jamesie.
He loved all of his new toys. When he opened his new (back-up) Puppy from Aunt Christi, I feared he would be confused...
But he gave the tail a little taste and found the new Puppy up to his high standards. Whew!
Brad and Papa had a big time getting all the toys out of their packages and put together. We didn't know what a major job that was. They didn't cover that in the parenting classes.
James loved his new pony!
And a great big ball from Aunt Christi and Uncle Cory and a Tonka truck from Nana and Papa.
He also had fun with his new dump truck, ship and manger from Nana and Papa!
James decided yesterday that since he was a big ol one year old, he didn't need an afternoon nap. So just about the time we got ready for the cake his mood cratered. I should have known.He gagged on his dinner...
Refused to smile for Mommy to get a birthday cake picture...
Stubbornly refused...
He would have NOTHING to do with digging into the cake and getting dirty...even after I forced some icing into his mouth...
He flat out refused...
And of course my hopes of getting a cute family picture with him in his darling birthday hat were not meant to be...
Finally after getting a little Nana-fix he decided to try some cake...but only if she spoon-fed it to him...
Even then he was a little skeptical...
Go figure...The one time I actually want him to eat cake and get messy...
But at least he got to spend some quality time with Nana and Papa...
After dinner and dessert, we were exhausted...
Just in time for You-Know-Who to get all wired up from the sugar we had forced down his throat. 
Next year I will remember to do an early birthday party so my little birthday boy can be his charming darling little self.After we got home and put James to bed, Brad and I watched the video from the day he was born and the first couple of months. I boo-hoo'd. I would give anything to hold that tiny little baby again and remember what it felt like when he was so small. Seeing him on the video did all sorts of things to my heart...and uterus. It almost made me want to do it all again. Almost...but not quite.
When we got to the part of the video when they were giving James his first bath at the hospital, Brad had filmed it all. James was screaming bloody murder and squirming all over the place. I asked Brad what he was thinking during that time and I thought that he would have some sweet emotional fatherly comment. He said, "I was thinking...'what the heck did we do!'". He had never been around babies until we had James and I can see how that would be sort of ominous and off-putting...that screeching and wriggling and all the blood and birthing stuff he had seen. Yikes! We probably should have looked into some form of therapy for him now that I think about it. I'm amazed he recovered so nicely.
Watching those first few days on video that we had James home was so funny. We were (and probably still are) such idiots. We had no clue what to do. I don't know how we would have survived without my Mom. She videoed us giving James his first bath at home and ohmygosh...we were such dorks! Brad said he remembered being terrified because James seemed so fragile. Then when we got him out and dried him off and were getting him dressed I must have brushed his hair...what tiny little bit of it there was...a million times. Then Brad re-brushed it. Heaven forbid he have unruly hair.
What a precious year and a precious boy. I love my little Jamesie.
Comments