Darek's 1st Birthday!

Tonight we celebrated Darek's 1st birthday. Darek will officially be 1 on Friday. Ryan has a CRAZY schedule this week and this was the only evening that he was going to be available. We had a great night.

Wasn't quite sure what to make of the bib.

We started with pizza for dinner (baby food for Darek). After dinner everyone watched while Darek and Alex opened Darek's presents. He loved every present he opened and didn't want to move on to the next one. He was a little overwhelmed when everything was opened. He could not decide what he wanted to play with first.

Alex loved helping Darek

After almost everything that he did, he had to clap :)

And why didn't we just get him wrapping paper for his birthday???

More clapping

We took him away from presents, stripped him down to his diaper and got him ready for his cake. I don't know what it is with me and cakes, but we had issues with one of the cakes. I had ordered and Pooh Bear cake from Walmart and they gave me a free 1st birthday cake for Darek. They made it really cute to match the big cake. But before we even got in the car it started falling apart. Turns out it wasn't made well and I had to go back in to pick up a second one. It all worked out in the end and I can't complain too much about a free cake! Darek did enjoy his cake. The second I put it on his high chair, he stuck his hands in. I gave him a little bite of the frosting and he enjoyed it but wasn't quite sure about it. He mostly enjoyed just playing in it. My favorite part was when he got his hands just covered in frosting and started clapping. He got frosting everywhere, but it was hilarious! He was so cute and so funny. Because it was green frosting, he kinda turned into the Hulk. After he was tired of playing in the cake, I took him upstairs for a couple baths. The water turned a beautiful lime green and even after the second bath and a lot of soap, he still smelled like cake.

Singing "Happy Birthday"

Alex blowing out the candle for Darek

Wasting no time

What is this stuff???

Perfect... He had so much frosting in that ear.

Ok. All done!

He was so happy to be in the bath. Although the water looks yellow, it was very green.

Naked boy playing with his Papa.

After cake and ice cream, we let him loose on his toys. He's getting so big now and tries to stand up on his own. He loves all his new toys and knows how to get them started. It's so fun watching him and his little mind at work. He learns new things every day and I am always amazed at how quickly he can pick things up.

When Ryan had to leave for work tonight, we got to see Darek do a sweet thing for the first (well, second) time. As his Daddy was saying goodbye to him, he waved goodbye to his Daddy. There was a unanimous "oooohhhh" from everyone in the room and I totally choked back tears. Ryan said he did this a little earlier today when he was alone with him.

It was a very fun evening. I was so glad that my parents, Chad, Beth, Tyson and Anna were all there to celebrate with us. I didn't get too emotional since he isn't quite 1 yet. But I'm so grateful for Darek. I'm grateful that his little life was spared and that he came out of an almost impossible situation almost completely unaffected. His life has brought so much joy into our lives and family. What a perfect, beautiful, little man he is. Happy Birthday sweet baby!