Augie's birthday weekend

I'm a bit sheepish to report that I don't really have good pictures from our party yesterday, or from much that we did this weekend. Leif barely napped all day yesterday, and when the party came around he was overtired and upset, so I wore him in the carrier all evening - which meant that I was a bit reserved from the action and wasn't able to move around and take pictures as I would have liked. Alas. It's also difficult as there's only enough natural light to take pictures for about 3 hours each day, and the lighting in this apartment is pretty bad (I'd guess the fixtures haven't been updated in fifty years - but that's just a guess).

But, I did get some pictures, so here they are.

Our big gift to Augie was a play kitchen. He loves it. All he wants to do now is cook and wash the dishes. He puts most of his toys in the oven and in the cupboard under the sink.

Shortly after opening his present, Augie decided his bedroom - on top of the bed - was the best place for his kitchen.

I love this (it was printed on the box):

Poring over the book our friend Julie gave him:

Cake! I made a pumpkin cake with maple cream cheese frosting - it was delicious. I'm eating a piece now as I write this post.

It took him forever to go to sleep last night after the party, and he's taking a while again tonight. One day we won't be so exhausted, right?

Birthday party morning

Just a couple pics to tide you over until tomorrow (I hope!), when I can post more about Augie's second birthday (two days after his actual birthday). He loved his gift, and we had a fun time with friends. But I'm using my remaining energy tonight to write him a letter.

Happy 2nd birthday, my love!

Augie turned two today! Wow! Two years of loving and being continually amazed by this beautiful little tyrant who runs circles around me, who exhausts me, who fills me with joy and wonder with his own joy and wonder. He's such a funny little boy - he's such a little boy. He's not a baby anymore (though of course he will always be my baby).

We've decided to spend the entire weekend celebrating him. Today was just the kick-off - a couple small presents to get him started. Tomorrow we'll do fun things and give him his big gift, and then Sunday we'll have a party with friends. I can't wait to share all the merriment with him (and with you!).

When he got home from dagis (where he ate 4 servings worth of lunch!) this afternoon he took a short nap, and then we cuddled on the couch to read.

After dinner we gave him a small gift - a star box (he is so into stars right now - or, as he calls them, twinkles) filled with dark chocolate squares: 

After dinner we went to his room to open a couple presents. The bag around his neck was a gift from Auntie Tina - he keeps growing like a tiger and pointing at the tiger on the front:

An airplane from Ah Mah and Granddad - he loved it!

(Email subscribers, click here to see a video of him playing with the airplane)

He knows that bags are for going out, so he picked up his airplane and ran for the front door. I helped him put on his boots and we went for a walk through the building:

1 year - Augie's second 1st birthday

Our second 1st birthday celebration was with grandparents, great-grandma, and uncles Lee and Chris.

Augie's birthday cupcake:

Blowing out candles with Grandma (whose birthday was December 3): 

Great Uncle Chris helping:

Augie's first chocolate (except for all the bites Baba has given him when Mama wasn't looking):

Playing with his new recycling truck:

Great-Grandma Irene: 

Checking out the cool gift from Uncles Lee and Chris:

More cake!:

A father-son chat:

1 year - Augie's first 1st birthday

So far we've had two small celebrations of Augie's first birthday (with one more to come this weekend). These pictures are of the first little party, attended by Augie's parents, maternal grandparents, and maternal uncle (Ben) and cousins (Grace, Gwenn, William).

We started the celebration with Augie's birthday crown (thanks Auntie Laura!) and some gift opening:

 

Augie's first Tonka truck, from Uncle Ben:

Doing a little dance (?) to thank Uncle Ben:

Augie's first birthday cake - a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting made by Grace, Gwenn, and Mama (with carrot-grating help from Grandma):

Baba helped him dig in:

Coming tomorrow: Augie's second 1st birthday celebration.