Birthday Mania!

Well, as is tradition in this house, we don't just celebrate something once. So we followed in this tradition with Mat's first birthday and had two celebrations. I can't believe he is one year old!

Mat's Greek birthday party was held on his actual birthday (February 21) at Zorba's Greek Restaurant. It's THE best Greek food in all of the Austin/Round Rock/Pflugerville areas. There were around 21 of us. Would you believe that this kid didn't want to dive into his cake? In fact he touched it, decided it was slimy and gross, and then complained for us to clean his hands. So much for a grand showdown! Hey, at least he wore the hat I made for him. Oddly enough he did enjoy sucking on lemon slices. Go figure. I do think he liked us singing to him, though. He received some fabulous gifts, and we thank all of our friends for celebrating with us.

Mat's "Hopping Frogs" party took place at Ready, set, Play!. It's a gigantic room filled with inflatable slides, obstacle courses and bouncers. For kids it's so much fun. And for adults, well... it's so much fun! We first took Mat we went during a slow weekday evening and ended up taking turns holding him so the other could go jump on something or go down a slide. Yup, the parents can get on there, too! Anyhow, we had a spectacular turnout for this "kiddie" birthday party. I'm proud to say I baked all the cupcakes and birthday cakes for both parties (6 dozen cupcakes with cookie tops in all).
I was very pleased with my birthday cake creation. It really inspired me to continue baking special birthday cakes for his future birthdays. Although I seem to remember my mom doing this for us until we practically begged her for a store bought (probably Wal-Mart) cake like our friends had! Little did we appreciate the work that goes into throwing a party! Yet, I digress...
So along with froggy invitations, his birthday cake was a frog on a lily pad, the cupcakes had lily pads floating on blue icing water with gummy froggies sitting on top, and the centerpieces and table decorations were frog plush baskets with frog suckers in them and balloons. Mat even wore a cute little birthday frog t-shirt. Hey, when I decide on a theme, I go for it! We also had Costco sandwich rolls, organic cheddar bunnies, flaxseed chips, organic chocolote and vanilla milks, organic juices, and waters. Yes, it all sounds a bit "granola" and healthy, but it was all really good! And nobody realized (until I told them) that the cupcakes I made were very low in fat and lower calorie due to omitting eggs and oil. I used diet 7Up instead. Hey, when you use buttercream frosting, everything tastes delicious!
The kids all had fun, and the parents got to take them home all worn out and ready for bed. However I am sad to report that once again Mat had ZERO interest in trying his cake, but all of his friends helped him with eating it! That part was really cute. Most definitely Mat made out like a bandit with the gifts. We have very generous friends! I ended up putting some of the toys away for a later date.

Briefly I will mention that Mat also had his one year doctor appointment on his birthday. With his tongue depressor in hand he braved four painful shots. Dr. Rawal told us to never again bring him on his birthday, for he wouldn't look forward to seeing her. :) It seems he did have a growth spurt of sorts. He now weighs 20lbs, 3.7oz. (20th percentile) and is 29.25" tall (35th percentile). So he's still a little pipsqueak, but he's growing just fine and hitting all his milestones. Did I mention that he now walks like a pro? :-)