A Real Baby?!: Monkeying Around

For Ben's first birthday, we had a monkey-themed party. Very fitting since he loves bananas and climbing :)

Here's the birthday boy ~ looking sharp for his party!! The Invitation:

The Party Scene:

I had to show those because seriously, between the banner and the invitations, Mama had a CALLOUS on her finger from the scissors! Ahhhh....the things we do for our babies :)

Other party goods included a monkey cake, TONS of bananas, and 2 TONS of pictures of Ben throughout his first year...some would call it a shrine (ha ha!!). Mark made everyone take a banana home as a party favor because we'd never get around to eating them all.

Also out among the photos was Ben's "Official Baby Book"...the one where you record all the firsts, doctor visits, each month's happenings, etc. I worked on it NONSTOP every night for a week and I think one person actually looked at it ~ Tee Hee!! Oh so worth it, though....having a deadline to finish something is a really good motivator and it may still be hanging over my head otherwise!!

So, we visited with family, ate BBQ, and opened presents. Ben had never opened a present before and he got the hang of it very quickly! This is the first or second one we opened, so he's looking a little perplexed...

Then it was onto the good stuff....Let's Eat Cake!!! Right around this time, Ben was getting his 8th and 9th teeth - one of which was a first molar. So, "picky eater" was indeed the case for a few weeks. I made him a banana-flavored cake 1. because it fit the monkey theme, of course! and 2. in hopes he'd enjoy the cake since he'd eaten regular white cake a few times before and not been too interested.

In the end, I do think he enjoyed the cake despite the fact that he didn't actually eat that much of it. After all, what boy doesn't enjoy making a mess??!!

Here's the Before, During and After....