Monday, April 2, 2012

Happy birthday little boy!

Yes, I am behind in my posts.  It's not like I don't have things to write about, because I do.  I just can't find the time to write.  Work has been crazy, the kids are terrific but crazy, the kitchen has been crazy (I am cooking up a storm), and Adam's work has been crazy, which has led me to do more around the house and with the kids.  The good news is that after 6 weeks of at least one person being sick in our family, everyone is healthy.  Yay!!!

And my little baby had a birthday.  I can't believe he is one year old already.  I remember when he was born. 
And now . . .


We had a small family gathering to celebrate his birthday, and of course, I made him a special cake.

I took the kids to the store to get some decorations.  I wanted to specifically say 1st birthday, so I knew I was limited.  There were 2 for boys, one just blue, and one Sesame Street.  Sesame Street won.  Then I remembered that my friend made an Elmo cake for her daughter's birthday a couple of years ago, and sure enough she still had the directions and the cake pan.  I think it turned out pretty good.  For the cake, I used this recipe.  Now everyone is different when it comes to cakes, and I am not a huge cake fan (I said cake, not sweets people), but I thought this cake tasted amazing!  It's a little more dense than most cakes probably, but I thought it tasted awesome.  I did half organic whole wheat pastry flour and half organic unbleached white flour.  If you have to bake a cake anytime soon, I recommend this recipe. 

And here I am in hte kitchen cooking.  We had dinner at our house for the little guy's party.  I made hummus, homemade trail mix, spaghetti with 2 kinds of meatballs (one had meat and one did not), salad bar, garlic bread, and of course, the cake.  Dinner was a hit.  Everyone enjoyed it!

Everyone was not a fan of the party hats though.  I was lucky to get this one picture with my kids and their party hits (mine too of course).  I can't believe how big they are getting.

I wish I had pictures of the little guy eating his cake, but they wouldn't upload.  I will add them later if I can get it work.  Now Hope is a girly girl, and that has absolutely nothing to do with the way she is being raised.  She is all about skirts, dresses, princesses, and not getting sticky.  So one her first birthday, she was not into the whole cake in mouth thing.  It wasn't for her.  She didn't really even play with it.  Total bummer.  But my Aidan, he is a different story.  We gave him a whole eye of Elmo, so it was like his own individual cake.  He started out slow, but once he figured it it was a lot of yummy sugary stuff, he went crazy.  He had it all over his mouth, hands, it was . . . AWESOME!  I loved every minute of it.  I will never forget that moment. 

I then took the little guy into his 1 year appointment and he is weight is ok.  He is in the 7th percentile and still pretty picky about what he eats and how he eats it.  He only has 2 teeth still so I don't feel like I can give him much, but we are trying.  I am still nursing, but not as often and not in a rigid schedule like before.  He has had whole milk and had no problems with it.  I really struggle with what to give him.  He take organic whole milk with most meals and a little extra when I am not around, but he doesn't drink that much.  I nurse him anywhere between 2 and 4 times a day and then at night if he is waking up (he has been sick with an ear infection so I am currently nursing him when he wakes which is twice a night right now).  I am trying to be careful about soy with him because he is a boy, but the kid does like tofu. He hasn't had any meat, and doesn't like beans.  If there are any moms who have picky kids, tell me what you give them.  I refuse to have him eat chicken nuggets and mac and cheese every week.  We are doing what the ped recommends which is to just keep introducing the food over and over. 

Oh, and 4 days after the little guy's birthday, I celebrated my birthday.  The hubs did a great job for my birthday.  I felt very special.  And the cake I had was awesome!  It's a special place we get cakes for each other and they even come in vegan versions.

4 comments:

  1. My almost two-year-old is sooo picky also. She will not eat her veggies or fruits and she is starting to have poop problems. You are lucky he drinks milk because mine won't at home. But she does it at daycare. I can't figure that out.

    I have slipped a couple of times giving her foods I swore I wouldn't ever give her just cause I need to get her to eat. I just bought a cookbook for toddlers "No Whine With Dinner" and am going to try out some recipes.

    I wasn't raised on good healthy foods so I'm trying to change for her. But she still hasn't eaten at McDonalds, but I know that may change at some point. I just don't want her having it often.

    Her birthday party is next weekend and she is having an Elmo party also. Your cake looked great!

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  2. Happy birthday to the little guy! Looks like it was a great celebration! We are getting ready to celebrate my little ones first bday next week. I'm so excited for it! I wasn't going to give her cake, but now that I read is, I might reconsider. If its that special to watch them "eat" cake, maybe I should. I'll think it over.

    My little one was pretty picky too. And she's tiny. Probably 15 lbs at one year. I'm not even sure she's on the chart percentile wise. But she does eat and lovers roasted vegetables! She will seriously devour eggplant, squash, zucchini, asparagus. I just roast them with some fresh herbs. She also loves yogurt (I give her fage total Greek yogurt - just plain) and oatmeal. She loves whole wheat toast, whole grain waffles, peas, applesauce (unsweetened) and miso soup with tofu and rice. She also like cheese (but has to be in the mood) and whole wheat pasta (I don't really serve them together, but it can be hit or miss with both of these things). Hope that helps.

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  3. Runner26 - The little guy gets very, very little in the way of sweets. The birthday was a treat. That was the only cake he got, no leftovers for him. I am really trying to get him on a good path before he gets influenced by others, i.e. preschool.

    Wendy - My daughter is like yours. She is a great eater. The little guy, not so much. Cheese and yogurt are now on the no list after eating them for months. Who knows what is going on. He is doing pretty good at fruits at least.

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  4. the recipe and the cake look so good!! happy birthday!

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