Happy Birthday Mr. Max

Can someone please tell me what happened to the last 367 days? I turned around and suddenly my little boy is one! We held the official celebration today as Megan and I had another commitment on Friday night which prevented our being able to celebrate then.

We took the girls to Toys R' Us to pick out presents for Max, but their initial selections were, shall we say, less than desirable. Kaitlyn insited that Max wanted--needed--a "Maggie Leigh Magnetic Dress-up" doll kit.

Alison, on the other hand, thought Max would enjoy a tricycle, nevermind the fact that he's still learning how to walk. Her other top choice was something like a 6-ft. basketball hoop. It's clear that the family tradition of getting family members the gifts that you really wanted yourself lives on (a la the time that as a teenager I gave my father electric guitar strings for Christmas when I owned the only electric guitar in the house).


Fortunately, we were able to settle on some things that Max actually might enjoy: stacking boxes, a Sesame Street push-botton-door-opening thingy, and a firetruck he can sit on and push around.

Max also scored on thoughtful gifts from our neighbors Todd and Amy, from his cousins, and from his grandparents.


However, I think Max may have most enjoyed his birthday cake, which he finally figured out how to eat after trying several different approaches:


Unfortunately, when Max was finished he eating, he thought the best way to indicate that he had consumed enough was to take handfuls of the remaining cake/frosting/saliva mixture and toss them over the side of his highchair.

Megan took floor clean up, and I took bath duty.