Happy FIRST Birthday, Nolan!

A year has flown by and our little guy is now ONE year old! 

His birthday landed on a Wednesday this year, so his birthday party was planned for the following Saturday. Since we still wanted to do something special for him on Wednesday, we had balloons ready for when he woke up in the morning. 

Good Morning Birthday Boy!

Enjoying his balloons

Our One year old!

So big!

I had taken the whole week off to use my family leave before it expired (more on that in another post), so Nolan and I got to spend the day together. We played at home in the morning, then headed to Ardmore Gymboree for a mommy and me class. Nolan wasn't the biggest fan of these classes, but we managed to have a good time (his favorite part was the sing along). We then walked over to Peace a Pizza and had lunch together. Nolan ate all the chicken off my slice! He's getting to be a good eater and likes trying what Joe and I have on our plates. We then had a quick shopping trip at Trader Joe's for his party food and the farmers market for some fresh gourmet cupcakes and headed home where Nolan took a nap. When daddy got home it was time for presents (round #1)!

The Birthday boy!

Presents!

Excited to open them

He's now able to rip wrapping paper, making presents much more fun

Wooden cars and truck!

He loves them!

Boys and their cars :)

The tops are interchangeable - he's got a police bulldozer now :)

Check it out!

I'm the Birthday Boy shirt!

After presents and dinner (Nolan got some of his favorite - Grandma's meatballs!) we served the gourmet cupcakes. I had chocolate peanut butter, Joe had lemon, and Nolan had vanilla.

Ready for his first taste of cupcake!

Happy Birthday to you!

A bit unsure

Not a happy camper haha

Mommy is sad he didnt like it!

Encouraging him to try more

Trying another taste

Let's call it a semi-success!

We had a great day! I loved having the week off to spend with my (not so little) boy - I felt like we had some really great bonding time (so much so that he cried after I left him at daycare most of this week...) But definitely still worth it :) There are a bunch more birthday posts to come, but his actual birthday was a special little day with our little family. It was surreal to think about what happened a year ago that day. His entrance into the world was such an amazing surprise being so early, and ever since life has been a wonderful whirlwind. We love you to the moon and back, Nolan Lucas!

April 3rd, 2012. Minutes after Nolan was born.

Our first family photo in the delivery room