My lil' man is growing up...

Yesterday, I came home from work and tossed my keys casually on the coffee table. After a time, my lil' man noticed them and picked them up. I don't mind Clay playing with my keys, but I watch him like a hawk so that they don't end up tossed into the recycling bin or someplace weirder that I would never be able to find. He inspected them as usual, turning them over and over in his hand. Eventually he isolated one, the largest of them all, the key to our truck. He then walks over to our front door, and tries to stick the key into the key hole in the doorknob!! I was completely amazed by this and poked the husband so he could watch. 

Clay broke out into the hugest grin and looked at us like, see what I can do? I'm a big boy now!!

We laughed and cheered him on, marveling at how fast he was growing up. This is an interesting age, the 1 year old. He still has so many "baby" behaviors that he exhibits, but then he goes and does something so "little kid" like, always shocking me. 

We moved him into his big boy car seat three weeks ago, which ended the need for me to carry him in and out of the house while strapped into his infant carrier. I now hold him in my arms while I lock up the house. He watches intently every morning while I insert the keys into the lock and turn the key. I orate what I am doing and he is always fascinated by this process. Clearly, there has been some comprehension and I love these mimicking behaviors. Little minds are so fascinating with the amount of information they absorb and process. 

Clay's Woodland Themed 1st Birthday Party!

For Clay's 1st Birthday, we chose a woodland theme for his party. It was Curtis' idea, and since his nursery is decorated with a woodland theme I instantly loved the idea. For decorations, we made a picture banner of his first year of life for the mantel, complete with a little train and tree set from www.terrysvillage.com. Add a few candles, some logs and a felt fire scene and the mantel and fireplace were complete!

 

I found some adorable party favors on Etsy that hold about a 1/4 cup of candy in each one. I bought some personalized M&M's in orange, green and brown that say "Clay" instead of the traditional "M" on each candy! Super cute and fun!

My mom made an amazing wreath with little felt woodland characters for decoration. This matched the tree on the front porch to greet people as they came in.

My mother in law made a wonderful welcome sign for the front door.

I absolutely loved the amazing cake that we got from Celebrations Sweet Boutique. (Spokane, WA) We got a half sheet for the guests and a small 4 inch round cake for Clay to smash.

For food, we had sandwiches, chips, potato chips, twig pretzels, acorns (mini vanilla wafers, chocolate chip, hershey kiss, and icing), fruit cornucopia (waffle cone, red, orange and blue fruit), and the hedgehog cheese tray. 

My mom made an amazing table runner for the table. Pictures don't do it justice! I love the little felt mushrooms and the river and mountains at the end!

Clay slept through the first part of his party, but we greeted guests and served the food while he slept. We then woke the little man up and he had a lot of fun playing games and showing off for the crowd. We then undressed him and let him smash his cake. The minute he saw that big red "1" he instantly grabbed it off the cake! 

We all had fun watching him eat his cake, but the fun part was watching him share!

My brother bought Clay a mini soccer ball and Clay had a GREAT time playing catch with the kids at the party. It was really neat to see the older kids playing so well with him. It was a fantastic party and I couldn't have asked for a better day to share with my favorite little boy.

Happy 1st Birthday Clay!!!

Hedgehog Cheese Tray:

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups whole natural almonds
1 (8-ounce) package of cream cheese
1/2 cup real mayonnaise
3 crispy cooked bacon slices, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon chopped green onion
2 Black olives

Directions
Mix together the cream cheese and the mayonnaise. Add the bacon, salt and pepper, dill, and onion. Chill overnight.

On a serving platter, make a hedgehog shape with the cheese. Begin to press the almonds at a slight angle into the cheese, starting at the narrow end of the hedghog, leaving room for his face. Do this in rows, continuing to overlap rows until all the cheese is covered. Use black olives for his eyes and nose. Garnish with fake sprigs, or real ones, or with rosemary.

Serve at room temperature and spread on crackers.

 http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/the-heavyset-cheese-ball-recipe.html?oc=linkback

Clay's First Easter!

We started the day by going to church. I had chosen to go the 8 O'clock service since Clay is usually down for his nap by 9:30.  What I didn't realize was the 8am service was the church's Traditional service. Oops. I'm not a big fan of the traditional services, but Clay did well during church and Daddy did an excellent job of entertaining him.

On to breakfast! We went to IHOP and enjoyed a really nice breakfast. Clay didn't want to eat anything, and spent the entire meal turned around in his high chair, flirting with all the people sitting behind him. He was so well-behaved, I actually kept forgetting he was even there and found myself participating in an adult conversation for once. Woo! 

Homeward bound! By now it was nearly 10:30 and I thought for sure that Clay would need a nap upon arriving at home. But, he didn't seem at all tired so I set out the little Easter Eggs which I had pre-filled with yogurt covered blueberries and bunny shaped graham crackers. We all helped him "find" the eggs and helped him to open each each egg and eat a treat from inside. He seemed to really enjoy his egg hunt and definitely enjoyed the treats! Then, he got to dive into his basket! He was very interested in his sippy cups and LOVED the little wind-up chick. We played with that chick up until nap time.
All in all, it was an excellent first Easter! This was so much better than Christmas for me, because Clay actually had to time to play with and enjoy all of his gifts this time.