the birthday

Matteo's birthday fell on a Thursday. Because his party was planned for Saturday, his actual birthday was a small celebration consisting of the three of us and my mother, who flew in that morning for a five-day visit.

I took the day off and kept Matteo home from school so we picked up my mom, went out for pancakes, and spent the afternoon playing at home and making his cake. We also took his monthly photos, which turned out pretty freaking adorable. I love this boy.



I was really excited to make the cake myself in a special cake pan in the shape of a one, but due to some technical difficulties it turned out super crumbly and had to be held together with double the amount of frosting. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but it wasn't exactly what I envisioned. I also had to MacGyver the decorating frosting since the decorating tips and the tube of frosting weren't compatible.



It may not have been the prettiest cake, but it was made with a lot of love.



While I was working on the cake, Matt trimmed his mullet!



Of course we did the obligatory baby cake eating mess, which ended with him smearing it all over his foot.





After eating cake, we opened presents. Matteo found Christmas unwrapping to be a little overwhelming but this time he was old enough to not find it scary and to enjoy himself. As predicted, he LOVED the Rody!

[flickr video=5710214981 secret=031838ecc2 w=300 h=400]


One of my favorite gifts was a portrait my brother painted of Matteo. Simply awesome.



It was a very special day for a very special boy. Next up...the party!