On Saturday, we had a birthday party for Chase at one of our new favorite places, Gantry park, with some of his little buddies and their parents :) I was really excited and had been planning to do something for him for awhile. I started out planning to be super creative, all pinterest style. I had picked out some cute invitations, plates, cups, and napkins... and then caved and got sandwiches from Subway.
I didn't get all these supplies, but it was from this set.
Chase was helping get everything ready for his party.
And we all headed off to the park. It's definitely a bit trickier out east.
Decided on the easier route :)
Arranging the Cupcakes and sandwiches for the party.
Then we picked out a nice patch of grass
Chase was a little moody, but he was much happier after lunch :)
We did try to get some family pictures in... Easier said than done.
Grandpa showing us how to pose properly :)
Hanging with his grandpa.
Checking out some presents.
Playing with Michael.
Hanging out at the park.
Melissa, the baby whisperer.
View of Manhattan from the park.
Beautiful Gantry Park
Enjoying being in actual grass again :)
... concentrating. :)
Playing with the ball.
Helping his crush escape from her stroller.
Looking at his cool new presents.
Sharing with Alexander.
More pretty park pics.
Another attempt at some pictures. Definitely going a little better this time :)
Some more play time.
At least they got a good picture!
Checking out a baseball with his Gram. that Steve found.
Having fun hanging out :)
Attack of the cute little ones.
The party was better than I expected. Just about everyone showed up, and we had a great time laughing, eating, and playing at the park. Chase was definitely tired after his party, but then once home, he just wanted to play with his new toys.
Chase gave us a gift this year on his birthday... He slept in until 7:30! Woohoo! :)
Our fancy decorations and his gifts from us-- the blue chair and more binkies.
Marcus stayed home just long enough to see (and record) Chase get his presents from us, and then he had to leave for work. Chase was really excited about his gifts. Apparently he knew they were for him :) Sorry he lost his cute pjs. Guess his diaper couldn't handle the longer sleep time.
Testing out his new chair with some breakfast.
Then he decided to use the chair as a stool and put his binkies on the entertainment center.
Our Happy Birthday Boy
I also decided to let him have some whole milk today as a birthday treat. I know treat really isn't the right word, but it was an interesting experience. He was okay with it-- not his favorite.
Later in the afternoon, Chase and I went for a walk and got him some birthday balloons. He helped carry them home. What a helpful big kid. :)
He liked to play with the balloons. It was really difficult getting a good picture of it though, sorry.
After dinner, we had some birthday cake. I made a white cake with white frosting, anticipating a mess :) Also minimal frosting for the same reason. It actually was very tasty.
It took Chase a minute to warm up to the idea of trying some cake. We basically let him figure it out on his own, just to see what he'd do.
He LOVED the messy factor.
It apparently took a lot of concentration.
But he did start eating it... eventually.
And he told us when he'd had enough and was ready to get cleaned up :)
"His" side of the cake
Once he was cleaned up, he was our smiling boy again.
Playing with the balloons one more time before bed
And he is still enjoying his birthday presents. These pictures were from the day after his birthday:
Tired boy relaxing in his chair.
Playing with the balloons before they completely deflated.
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