Carter's First Birthday Party!!

We celebrated Carter's first birthday party on Saturday with both sides of the family and a few friends. It was a really fun day. Carter was in a great mood all day, smiling, chatting and "toddling" all around as he started to master walking. The theme we picked was Dr. Suess, since Carter has really taken to several Dr. Suess books over the last year. We lucked into some really great decorations from my mom's friend. It turned out great!

First, we had to wake Carter up from his afternoon nap to start the party. After he got warmed up to the group, we put him in his highchair and let him enjoy his own personal cake. It's one of the first times we have just left something on this tray to explore on this own. At first he didn't quite know what to do, but once we gave him a fork and a little encouragement, he really started to get into it. He smashed, smeared, tasted and flung cake off his tray. He had a good time.

After awhile we got Carter all cleaned up and "helped" him open his presents. People were so generous. He got so many nice presents - trucks, books, clothing....He was having so much fun feeling, touching, holding and checking out all the new gifts.

But, I think his favorite part was getting to play with the "big" kids. He just stared at the kids as they played with his toys. He was so excited he tried to crawl around after the kids on the concrete. It was hurting his poor little baby knees that by the end he was crab-walking around to protect those knees. It was so cute!