Berry and Bramble: Birthday Boy Bash

I'm over a month late in posting this (about par for the course these days), but wanted to share some photos from Nicholas' first birthday. On the actual day of his birthday, I took the day off work to spend some extra time with him and take him to his one year check-up. After his shots (yuck), we came home, ate lunch, and he napped. Later in the afternoon we hit up the park for one of his favorite activities-- the swings!

When Daddy got home, we opened cards and gifts, ate a Nicholas-approved birthday dinner of chicken artichoke spinach casserole and steamed broccoli with shallot butter, and then we sang "Happy Birthday" and presented him with his first cupcake. It turns out he may not be a huge fan of sweets (yet, anyway) because he puckered up and convulsed a little bit at his first taste of frosting. In all fairness, it was a little past his bedtime and he was a little cranky due to his earlier shots, but it definitely wasn't quite the response we expected! (We didn't capture photos of the first cupcake, but recorded a video instead.)

I spent the next few days in Houston for a big work event, and then made it back to Austin on Saturday afternoon to prep for his birthday party on Sunday. We hosted about 12 adults and 4 kids for a small, but festive circus-themed party to celebrate Mr. Nicholas' first year. He tried a second cupcake (still not quite sure about all the frosting and sweet taste) and had fun opening gifts and playing with his buddies.