Happy 1st Birthday, Baby Ryder!!

Well, I guess since he's now one, he's a 'toddler' not a baby. It was a very bittersweet day for me. You breathe a sigh of relief knowing the sometimes-difficult first year is behind you, but then you get a pang in your chest knowing that that wonderful, magical year of firsts is over. I go through this with all the kids on their birthdays (what the hell am I going to be like when my nest is empty! wahhhh!!!), feeling nostalgic for days gone by when they were tiny and dependent. But then I remind myself to find joy in the present, to cherish these new moments of discovery and independence, that this stage is precious and wonderful, too.

(Isn't he so cute in his new Oilers onesie? awwww)

Anyway.... Ryder had a great birthday. He got an Oilers jersey onesie (with matching booties and bib) and an Oilers mini stick from Gunnar; a little toy Batman with Batcar, Joker with Jokermobile (?) and an Optimus Prime transformer car from Lena and Ardan; and a kickass ride-on quad (baby-sized, just a push-with-the-feet kind) from Mommy and Daddy. I took tons of pictures of the present-opening; I guess I should clarify -- the kids opening his presents while he played with the wrapping paper. Typical, right? Lol. So I'd taken like twenty pics, I'm looking through them on the camera, and I see a strange shine on Ryder's face, right above his lip. WTF? So I look over at him playing with his new toys, and here the little snot has, well, SNOT on his face!! Like a huge rivulet running down his face. OMFG!! So in all those pics I took, my kid looks like snot-nosed trailer trash!! UGH! So yeah, you see that pic up there with Ryder in the onesie? That's the ONLY pic that wasn't a close-up, plus his head is turned to the side so you can't see the snot. *shudder*

After much debating, I decided not to do the cake-thing, but instead got mini cupcakes with sprinkles. The cupcakes were Lena's idea, she went insane when she saw them in Walmart. She bugged me all that day and the next to let her eat "just one!! please!!" but no, they were for the night of Ryder's birthday. So she moped and whined and stared in tortured agony at those chocolate-frosted cupcakes. Haha!

Ryder LOVED the cupcakes, of course. He made an absolute mess of his highchair and it wasn't until after that I realized that the damn highchair cover is literally impossible to remove from the frame for cleaning. I had to CUT it off just so I could wash it. Arrrghhhh! I took lots of pictures of the cupcake feeding frenzy because that's one of the most important things of a b-day celebration for a one-year old -- pics of that adorable face smeared brow-to-chin with cake and frosting, baby fingers mashing cake all over the highchair tray, the glassy eyes as the sugar buzz kicks in...