I'm 1!

This is my brand new pair of sneakers that my Papa bought me. He has the same pair! I love to chew on shoes and like to look hip, so it's a good gift all around. Thanks, Papa!

This is me rubbing cupcake all over my face. It was delicious--and so pretty I felt a little bad destroying it--but only for a milli-second.

This is me being silly after eating most of my very first piece of cake on my birthday. It was delicious and definitely gave me a bit of a sugar rush--as evidenced by my bedtime of after 9 that night--which is about 3 hours late for me!

Well it finally happened. I turned 1! My parents can't believe it, but I gotta tell you, I wish it would happen more often, because I had a blast! Not only did I have a small party on my birthday, but I had a HUGE party a few days after. I was given fantastic gifts, wonderful attention, and cake! My mama, who is helping me write this post, is very happy that it only happens once a year 'cause apparently it's a lot of work. I don't know about it, though, because most of it was done when I was sleeping. Also, according to Mama, none of the party could have happened without Gramma A so I've got to give her a big thanks. Also, Mama wants to thank Uncle Jess and Grandpa A because of the "Family Do" list that they completed for her. The favorite things that they did was fix the stoppers in the sinks in Mama and Papa's bathroom and remove the ugly sunburst from the garage door. Those were tasks that made Mama feel wonderful as they had been bothering her since moving into the house last May.

So, let me tell you about my birthday celebrations. On my actual birthday (July 30th), I got to go shopping with Mama and Gramma A and Jess in preparation for Jess's senior pictures and our family photos that happened on Saturday. That was pretty fun. I got to watch Uncle Jess get dressed up by Mama (much to his disdain). Then Mama and Papa took me out for a special family lunch at Old Chicago. I indulged on pasta, breadsticks, pizza, salad...and everything was so good! Then we went home and hung out as a family until I napped. For supper, Mama made me hotdogs and mac 'n cheese. It was my very first "kiddo" meal and I LOVED it! Gramma A told us that Mama and Uncle Jess loved their first hotdog too...until they regifted it later. I was lucky enough not to regift it. :-) Then for dessert, I got angelfood cake with confetti frosting (instead of my typical fruit). Boy oh boy was that delicious! I got terribly messy and even threw some cake and frosting behind me onto the new carpet. That was fun too! After the cake Mama had no choice but to strip me naked in the kitchen and then give me a nice long bath. After the bath, we opened presents. My favorite gifts of the day were new shoes, lots of baseball stuff, and a Sing-Along Stage. The stage has a mirror, microphone, and lots of songs that inspire me to sing and dance like a maniac. What a cool invention. My favorite thing to do with it is to shake the microphone, put my face on the mirror and say "bah, bah, bah". I'm pretty good at singing and dancing.

Finally, today, I had my great big birthday bash with all my friends and family. I had grandparents, great-grandparents, uncles, friends of my parents, and friends my own age! There were 4 of us babies that were born within 5 weeks of each other. We had a blast! We had some good food of beefburgers, fruit, veggies, chips, and cupcakes (definitely the best part!). Gramma A decorated the cupcakes like a baseball and put a "C" for Carter in the middle. They looked really cool and tasted even better! I destroyed my cupcake and rubbed it all over myself, Mama, and Gramma and had to have a bath while I had company 'cause I was so messy. I was kinda embarassed while that many people sang Happy Birthday to me, but it was okay. After lunch we all went outside and the big kids (parents) played yard games and us kids play BUBBLES! Mama got us giant bubbles and it was really fun. Everyone was thrilled to meet Alice too, which was kinda fun for me. I like showing off my giant puppy. :-)

Well, I am exhausted from my big day, so I'd better sign off. I want to thank everyone for making my birthday so wonderful and tell you that I look forward to celebrating your birthdays with you and am really looking forward to birthday #2!

Love to each and every one of you.

Carter.