Let the Wild Rumpus Start! (Eli's 1st Birthday Party)

Today was Eli's first birthday party. He officially turned 1 yesterday. It is hard to believe that he is already a year old. In some ways, it seems like he has been with us forever, and in some ways, it feels like I was just pregnant.

Since we call Eli our little monster, I decided to do a Where the Wild Things Are theme. I made invitations that had Eli's face in Max's wolf costume. I put that same picture on a t-shirt that Eli wore. I decorated the cake with green icing, palm trees, and cardboard cutouts of Max and the wild things. We blew up some green balloons that the kids, especially Eli, really enjoyed playing with.

A lot of family and friends came to the house for the celebration. Eli was excited to see everyone and to play with his cousins.

We started with presents since we knew the cake would be messy. Eli was not as into unwrapping presents as he was at Christmas time. At Christmas, he tried unwrapping every gift he could get his hands on. I think he might have been a bit overwhelmed today. Everyone was watching, and all the big kids were trying to unwrap presents for him. He got some neat new toys that I am sure he will enjoy playing with. He also got some very cute clothes.

We did the cake next. I stripped him down to his diaper because I didn't want him to stain his Wild Things t-shirt with green icing. He took his time checking the cake out before slowly tearing it apart. He really enjoyed the cake taking some very large bites. We got some great pictures of him eating it and smiling. He ate almost the whole piece we gave him. He made a pretty good mess on himself and promptly took a bath right afterwards.

It was a fun, albeit crazy day. It is too bad that Eli won't remember this special and momentous day.