The Dudleys: Birthday Bash!!!

Today we celebrated Noah's first birthday with a fabulous Winnie the Pooh party! Pizza and cake were aplenty and we provided video games and minature golf for the kids, both big and little, "old" and young. ;) It was a wonderful event and Noah received many nice gifts--books, stuffed toys, farm houses, puzzles...he'll be busy for weeks! It was very special for us to be able to share Noah's first birthday with so many of people who have become such an extraordinary part of our lives over the last two years. Quite a few of them have seen us through some pretty life changing events--the pregnancy, Noah's delivery, my "D" diagnosis--so it was really nice for all of them to join us in celebrating such a special occasion.

Despite only having a twenty minute nap this morning, Noah did VERY well. He smiled, laughed, clapped, and waved...he even managed to hold up his index finger to show everyone just how old he was...a "trick" we taught him just before the party. ;) He's incredibly social, so the large gathering of people did little in terms of lessening his happy mood. Derek Ikehara, Chris' boss, became voluntary babysitter extraordinnaire and a godsend for part of the party, allowing Chris and me a few moments to talk, mingle, and be all-round good hosts. Noah seems to like Mr. Derek very much--here he is offering Noah a bottle of water:

Noah also enjoyed the company of Mr. Tim, one of Chris' many co-workers at CTF-72. He's always good for some playtime and a laugh. Here Tim is peering up from "behind bars," which consequently sent Noah into a fit of giggles:

As for the rest of the party attendees, many of them practiced their putting on the minature golf course, while others enjoyed a leisurely chat:

We finally got to the most important part of the afternoon...THE CAKE! :)

In true first birthday fashion, Noah had his own cake to demolish with his own two little hands. Unsure of what to do at first, Noah quickly assessed the situation, figured out that the pretty display piece in front of him was food (and that I wasn't going to interfere with his intent to destroy it!!), and got down to business. In less than a minute, the kid had cake smooshed between all ten fingers, rubbed it down his front, and then smeared it all over his face before eating it. I'll still be cleaning red dye out of his ears in the morning. :)

We have a great video of all of us singing "Happy Birthday" to Noah, which I'll load in another blog.

After a quick "costume" change, we concluded the party with the opening of all his great presents. Noah definitely enjoyed the colorful wrapping paper and bright cards more than the actual gifts (big surprise :) ), but he did a great job at appearing interested in every present that Chris placed in front of him and presenting big smiles as "Thank You's". What a gracious little honoree!