Mason is One!

How could a year have gone by already?  On Friday, September 12, my sweet baby turned one.  Sometimes it seems that time is going by so slow and then all of a sudden it's been a year.  Mason Alexander has been quite different than his brothers.  From the start, he was needy.  I feel like I don't have many pictures of him from his early months just because I was holding him all the time.  He never wanted to be put down.  He started his "I only want mommy" phase early on.  From about the time he was 4 or 5 months he would scream if someone other than me tried to put him to bed.  He even screamed at Daddy.  Fortunately, that didn't last too long and Daddy was able to get more baby snuggle time again.  He loved watching his big brothers and once he was on the move he was able to get to them!  He has a fascination with Caleb's hair.  He squeals with delight when Caleb is around and tries to pull those curly locks!  He calls out for Micah (sounds like "Ma") when he leaves the room.  Meal times have become a challenge.  Any time I'm in the kitchen he comes in, smacking his lips ready to eat.  Speaking of eating, boy can this kid eat!  He never liked baby food so he's pretty much been eating regular food from the start.  He especially loves meat and now that he's had a birthday party, cake!

For my older two boys we had first birthday parties.  I never tried to make them over the top but we always seemed to have a lot of people around.  I really just wanted a simple celebration for Mason's first birthday.  (Please don't be offended if you weren't invited!)  I wanted it to be low key because it can be pretty overwhelming for a one year old to have a lot of people around him.  We planned an easy lunch time party with the grandparents and a few others.  I got some balloons and Micah insisted we put up streamers to decorate!  I am not good at cake decorating so most of the time I just buy a cake for my kids but for their first birthdays I have always made them one!  I have a giant cupcake pan that seems to be the perfect first birthday cake.  Traditionally, we always make it a yellow cake with chocolate frosting.  That is Brad's favorite and was always my favorite as a kid.  I would have to say I put more effort into this one than any of the others!

Micah's first cake 2008

Caleb's first cake 2011

Mason's first cake 2014

I usually make some regular cupcakes to go with it but this year I decided to offer a non-chocolate option and also use my teddy bear cake pan!

Teddy Bear Spice Cake

I know that my cake decorating is pretty weak, but there is something special about making their first birthday cakes.  I think it also reminds me of my own mom.  She made many cakes for us when we were little and she wasn't very good at decorating them.  I feel like my sloppy cake art is a tribute to her in a way and hopefully it is special to my boys!

Mason is the first child I've had who actually ate his cake!  Micah and Caleb were both afraid to get messy.  I remember Micah sitting there looking at it like he really wanted a bite but wished someone would feed it to him.  I stuck his hand in the frosting and he sat very still and wouldn't touch anything!  Caleb also didn't know what to do.  We tried to get him to dig into it but that just made him cry!  He's four now and still hates to get messy.

Mason didn't hesitate.  He was thinking about crying just after we put him in the high chair with a bib on.  He thought lunch was over and didn't want to sit there.

Then we brought the cake out and set it down in front of him.  He didn't show much emotion but just dug right in!

I think he mostly got the frosting!  It had quite a bit on there!  After he made a sufficient mess, we took the cake off the tray and cut off a slice for him to have.  It was a pretty big cake to just let him tear into the whole thing himself!  He really enjoyed it though.

Words cannot express how much I love this kid!  I feel like for all the hardships that come with having a baby, there are also many joys.  It's a lot of time, energy and work to care for him but it's also so much fun.  I think he's the lucky one being the third child.  I don't know that I enjoyed my first two as much as I could have at this age.  Now I feel more relaxed and able to enjoy where he's at in life.  I'm constantly chasing him around and having to stop what I'm doing to focus on him but I really enjoy it.  I love being with him and seeing what he'll do next!  He was my sweet, little birthday present!  I hope you had a great first birthday, Mason Alexander!  I'm looking forward to what this next year brings!