Farewell

Grandma and Grandpa Robles headed back home today, and we were sorry to see them go.  Little Ted is not going to know what to do without his two favorite playmates around.

First Birthday Pictures

While we were less than successful at putting together a “formal” first birthday party for Little Ted, he still had lots of fun the day of.  And we were happy with the outcome as well; we never really wanted it to be “formal.”  We just wanted those present (mommy, daddy, grandma, and grandpa) to be able to relax and commemorate his birth, and on this front, it was a smashing success.

The “present” Little Ted appreciated most was having his grandparents over to visit.  We had not seen them since December, and Little Ted has changed a lot since then.  Here he is enjoying their company. 

He also liked mommy and daddy’s present, a bouquet of balloons.  As soon as we brought it into the house, he began to squeal and point.  In fact, he is still having fun playing with the balloons today, even though they don’t look this nice anymore.

When we pulled out all the birthday decorations and presents, Little Ted was excited.  He definitely knew that all the fuss was for him and that he was the V.I.P. on that day.

He opened all his presents but was particularly interested in his singing card.  He opened and closed it several times to hear the Winnie the Pooh song play.

 

But all too soon, all the presents were opened, and it was time to clean up.  This was not his favorite part.

Luckily, there was still the cake. 

Let me insert some explanation here.  It is supposed to be Legos, and it is supposed to look like this.  As you can see, something isn’t quite right here.  I substituted two different cakes from a mix for the pound cake.  They baked fine, but by the time I was ready to decorate, the kitchen was really warm, and the icing was almost liquid.  The orange colored blocks (lemon cake) were much easier to ice than the red colored blocks (butter fudge cake), which ended up making lots of crumbs.  Also, I had lots of trouble locating the right candies for the tops of the blocks.  My suspicion is that the candies may have changed since this recipe was posted, but I can’t verify that.  My situation was not helped by the fact that I live in middle-of-the-state, TX, where we are very limited in the places to purchase food items, and I waited too long to shop around.

At least I learned some very important lessons that day for future reference.  A trial run for a cake you have never done before is a good idea.  At the very least, make the cake a day in advance so that you aren’t rushed and so that you have a little more time to doctor it so that it looks like it should.

If I ever make this cake again, I will most definitely spend more time looking for the right candies for the tops of the blocks.  I will also purchase icing in the colors I need (i.e. the primary colors).  And I will take one of two approaches when it comes to icing.  I will start with a “dirty ice” layer, and then follow that up either with another layer of regular frosting or fondant (which I’ve never used, but which would make a much more attractive cake than what you see above). 

For those of you who are wondering, it tasted much better than it looked.  Little Ted enjoyed the frosting most of all.

For more pictures, check out the slideshow below.  I’ve also got some videos that I need to post, but that will take more time.  Look for them the next time you visit the blog.

First Birthday Saga

The story of Little Ted’s first birthday reminds me of the old saying, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”  As I have already mentioned on this blog, we had originally planned having his birthday party on Friday the 16th.  But that morning, we woke to find that the condo was 80+ degrees inside, and the a/c unit outside was puffing out smoke.  Uh oh – not quite the ideal situation for birthday celebrations, especially considering the birthday meal we planned and his cake would have to be baked in the oven.

So we tried again on Saturday.  I had not had enough time to make the cake ahead (like I now know I need to do for future birthdays), and I didn’t get started until after 1 p.m.  This delayed everything because the cake had to bake before our dinner could go into the oven.  On top of everything, Little Ted hadn’t had an adequate nap that afternoon, so he was ready to go to bed by 5 p.m. (an hour before his usual bedtime).  Since things were not ready and we did not feel like torturing him, we pushed back the birthday related events (opening presents, cake) to Sunday.

Sunday came, and the plan was to start the “birthday events” after Little Ted’s nap.  But we had taken a drive that morning to show Grandma and Grandpa Robles Cameron Park and mommy’s office, and during the drive, Little Ted fell asleep.  As a result, a regular nap did not happen.  I waited, hoping he would get tired enough to take his nap, but he refused.  So, sometime around 2, we dragged out all his presents, helped him open them, brought out the cake, sang happy birthday, and let him have at it.  After that, Little Ted decided it was naptime, so the festivities were over as abruptly as they had begun.  I think it was Little Ted’s way of reminding us who is in charge.

First Steps

On Sunday, July 18th, Little Ted took his first "official" steps.  We don't have any video proof that it happened; we can only offer you our testimony.  For some reason, he would not sleep that evening.  I spent a good deal of time in his room trying to get him to sleep but had no luck.  So, back downstairs we went so he could play and burn off energy.  At some point, he ended up with daddy's PlayStation contoller in his hands.  He stood up, held it out in front of him, and focused his attention on it.  Then, he stepped forward, slowly and steadily, his attention still focused on the controller.  He continued to walk until he realized what he was doing, at which point he sat down.  He hasn't walked on his own since, but today, he did make a couple of attempts to do so after walking mommy in circles around the living room.  Each time, he fell forward, caught himself, crawled away, sat down, and let out a frustrated grunt while he reached up to mommy, indicating that he wanted to give it another go.  It appears that "full-time" walking (and running) are just around the corner!

Sears Birthday Photos

Little Ted had a photo shoot at Sears this afternoon.  He was a little cranky and cried each time he changed poses, so there are several pictures where he has teardrops in his eyes.  But he did take some really good pictures - take a look by clicking on the link below:

http://www.SearsPhotos.com/ViewSharedAlbum.aspx?ShareID=6aefff24-2bc7-4693-87d8-5312af94853f

Birthday Wishes

A few days ago, while the Gonzabloggers lounged in the pool, Little Ted pondered his birthday wish list.  He knew the big day was coming up, and he wanted to wish for just the right gift.

As he pondered, he enjoyed his pool in the typical manner: he stood up, gripped his baby float, and proceeded to walk around the pool.  In fact, he walks in the pool much more often than he walks on dry land.  When he grew tired of this activity, he moved on to his second favorite activity - floating.  Floating gives him the chance to observe the sky, the trees, and the birds.  More importantly, it's very relaxing - at least when he's not bumping into mommy or daddy.  When that happens - and it happens often because the pool isn't that big - he pushes the guilty party out of the way to get to where he wants to go.  Usually, mommy is the one who ends up doing most of the moving, and sometimes it becomes a game, with mommy doing more moving and less relaxing than she had in mind.

Getting back to our story, Little Ted thought long and hard about what he wanted.  He wanted to make sure he asked for just the right gift.  After all, you only turn one once. 

Of course, mommy and daddy were not privvy to the musings of their little boy.  But they could observe his actions and saw that he continued to cross his fingers.  It was as if he was making the birthday wish over and over in his head.  For now, the Gonzablogger trio can only hope that the birthday wishes are met and that Little Ted's first birthday party is a success. 

Meet the 1 year old

Little Ted turned one on Thursday.  Can not believe a year has passed already.  We commemorated the day by letting Little Ted dig in to a cupcake.  I think he liked getting a little messy, even if he didn't eat it.

His "official" party was supposed to be today, but the A/C died, so mommy, the grandparents, and baby tried to stay cool in public places while daddy waited in the heat for the repairman to show.  Thankfully, we were able to get the problem repaired, so we can celebrate this major milestone on Saturday.  More pictures to come after the event.

This could happen to you: how preschool invaded our home

We never imagined ourselves as being the kind of people who would have children's toys permanently littered around our living room. We thought somehow that our sophisticated living area would remain that way with some careful choices for storage and with regular upkeep. But it seems that the unimaginable is now reality. We finally broke down and purchased a play mat for Little Ted, who is reachng the walking stage. Our concrete floor is not ideal for the tumbles that will inevitably occur as he perfects his skills. While he has inherited his daddy's coordination (thank goodness), we parents felt it necessary to provide him with extra padding. And that's how preschool invaded our home.

Happy 4th of July!

Sleeping Dragon

I have to apologize for the poor quality of this picture. I didn't dare use the flash for fear of waking the "sleeping dragon." That said, I still had to get a picture of Little Ted's favorite sleeping position - curled up tight in a little ball. I'm sure he won't sleep this way forever, and I wanted to remember his "roll-y poll-y" pose.

Little Reader

Hopefully, this will be a lifelong habit.