Party Penguin!

On Sunday, Finley had his very first birthday party. I realized in the early stages of planning that this party was certainly more for us than him, but since this may be the last party where his opinions are 100% unclear, I needed to take advantage.

We invited a bunch of his friends, who are conveniently parented by our closest friends. We also invited his grandparents and a few cousins, along with some of our closest Tufts friends who have been kind enough to come along for Finley's first trip around the sun. Here's the birthday by in all his glory (thanks, Stacy, for the photo!).

I didn't plan much for everyone to do during the party, I mean getting a bunch of toddlers to do anything at the same time would be like trying to herd cats, right? We sat around and chatted, watched football, ate snacks, dumped all the toys all over the place, played in the basement, screamed, cried, laughed, and then it was time to sing Happy Birthday and eat cake. Finley was a champ through it all. He was a little clingy here and there, but in general enjoyed seeing all the people who love him come together to celebrate.

He LOVED eating more cake, even though he didn't get a piece of the penguin since it took a few minutes to cut and I was a little afraid of the icing that I'd dyed black (he has a tendency to wipe he hands all over his face and hair when he eats these days). So I handed him a cupcake and he enjoyed that big time!

The focal point of the party (besides our little man) was the homemade, 3D penguin cake that I made for Finley. His love of Arty and new love of a giant penguin he got from us on his birthday, inspired my cake design. I did a mock up (test run) last week of building the structure and then began the real cake Friday night and completed it Sunday after dying a whole bunch of white icing black. I was SO proud of the final product and while I knew Finley would not really be able to appreciate it, someday he'll see the pictures and see what a HUGE deal we made of his first birthday :)

Too bad one of its eyes began to slip down his face...minor setback in the grand scheme of this cake creation! It was a fun experiment and while next year I'll probably just order a sheet cake, at least I can say that one time I made his cake from scratch and impressed everyone with it!

Finley said his goodbyes and we thanked everyone for coming. We cleaned up a bit and since Finley was still full of energy (despite the 20 minute nap that he took before the party), he "helped" us open some of his gifts. Finley loved seeing what was inside all the boxes and bags, what thoughtful friends we have. However, this does mean I really have to put away some of his "baby" toys to make room for these new additions...well, maybe next month :)

Thank you to everyone who helped make this day so much fun! Happy Birthday, Finley!