Our little boy is not a baby anymore. Neko's first birthday was great. We had a party in our backyard with all of the friends that were in town. I remember being slightly worried about him being born so close to the 4th of July. Kids with summer birthdays don't get to celebrate at school, and the Fourth is a popular time for people to travel. So he'll always have to compete with that. Sigh. We decided to have his party the weekend after his birthday, which also happened to be our 7th wedding anniversary. I completely forgot it was our anniversary the day of the party because I was so distracted by getting everything ready.
It was twice as hard to prepare to entertain here with Neko running around. Putting up streamers and balloons was difficult. I got a little frustrated and started feeling sorry for myself that we have no family nearby to help out and to come to birthday parties. Fortunately, we have some very good friends around us that love Neko, but it's just not the same as doting grandparents, aunts and uncles.
With the exception of Cora (Dan's daughter) and Evie (Joe and Kathryn's daughter), all of our friends who came had boys. There were lots of little boys running all around. I got bubbles, balls, and sidewalk chalk. We had sandwich-making stuff, beer, and grapefruit mimosas. We did cake, which seemed to completely confuse and startle Neko. He was surprisingly shy when everyone sang to him.
Here are Cora and Neko. They've seen quite a lot of each other this summer.
Jones (Melisa's son).
Marcel (Bess and Jared's son).
This is Christina (my friend from work) with her son, Cameron, who goes to daycare with Neko. In this respect, he's Neko's first real friend. It's fun to watch them interact.
Marissa holding Soren (Marco's son).
Marco, Jared holding Sebastian (their new baby), Eric (Emag), Dan, Cora, and Aaron (of course). I didn't get photos of everyone. Sorry, I'm a jerk.
When almost everyone had left, Aaron brought a few people inside to show them the new house, and Annabelle ate the remainder of both cakes. Of course.
Later on, Aaron was too tired to cook, so we took Neko out for Mexican food. It turned out to be our anniversary dinner. All in all, it was a really good day. I love my little family so much. I couldn't have asked for a better husband or son. We have loved watching Neko grow up this year. He's the best little guy-- so adventurous, curious, silly, and affectionate. He makes us so happy.
Neko decided to eat food directly off of his plate (no hands) at the restaurant, which made us both laugh.
I'll try to come for his second birthday next summer. I wish I had been there.
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