Langdon got to celebrate... and celebrate... and celebrate the big first birthday. His actual birthday was on a Wednesday, so we spent the day singing, playing, and eating.
4 weeks old
12 months old
Mary Laine insisted that I take her picture with the lamb too
Papa and Mimi came over for cupcakes that night.
He got a little help blowing out his candle
I'll confess that the icing on his face is mostly from us putting it there.
He seemed to like the cupcake, but wouldn't dig in.
Somebody was a little jealous of all of the attention that was being given to her brother - and all of the sugar from her cupcake wasn't helping matters.
The party continued when we had Langdon's party on Saturday. I'll admit that my first thought was to just have family over for cupcakes on Wednesday, but then I thought that I didn't want to skip the big to-do just because he's my second. Mary Laine's birthday was on a Sunday, so we had our Sunday school class over to celebrate. So, that's what I did for Langdon's party too - we invited our Sunday School class and a few close friends. Thankfully a couple of Langdon's buddies were able to make it (thanks Yates and Cole!), because the majority of our guests were older girls.
Langdon and Yates (who is two days older than Langdon).
Getting alot of attention from the older ladies
Since "dog" is practically the only thing that Langdon will say,
it seemed only fitting to make him a "dog" cake.
Since he didn't dig into his cake on his birthday, we thought that it may look more tempting if it was covered in cheerios. It didn't work.
Mary Laine, however, had no problems digging in. She crawled under the table to make sure that she could enjoy her cake undisturbed.
Langdon with one of his best buddies, Cole
I was a little sad that Langdon didn't seem to be very interested in the cake. A few days later, he was very hungry, so I decided to put a slice of the leftover cake in front of him to see what would happen. He gave me just what I wanted - cake on the face, in the hair - he couldn't get enough. So, here is the proof that he did devour his cake - eventually!
So, I thought that I would be all home-eck-ey (that's a word, right?) and give my baby his very first haircut. Daddy had a meeting that night, but no big deal. I could handle a toddler, and infant, a dog, a camera, and a pair of scissors, right? Look at how Proverbs 31 I am! I had given Mary Laine her first haircut and it was great. She sat perfectly still watching her video while I snipped a few unruly hairs and, voila, a cute, barely noticeable trim.
Fast-forward a year and a half. I try to recreate the scene. I use the same bumbo as the seat, play the same DVD for distration, and set-up the same surface. Yes, Langdon is a bit squirmier than his older sister. No, I didn't have the help of my husband to distract him if his head wasn't tilted exactly the right way. But all of that could probably have been dealt with. My one fatal error: a change in utensils. My mom has some scissors that she uses to cut her dog's hair. The ends are blunted to be sure that you don't cut the dog. Perfect for cutting your baby's hair too, right?
I started to snip the hair on his neck and behind his ears just to even it out and straighten it up a bit. Just a touch. Not too much. I looked at my handi-work and realized that it was perfect...ly uneven. What happened? So, I took the scissors and went back over it to straighten it out. Oh, no - big jagged zig-zags. Then it hit me - it wasn't me that was having a hard time cutting in a straight line. It was the scissors. While great for a shaggy dog, NOT great for a baby. So, I went to get the regular old scissors. I went back over it again and realized how my "tiny little trim" had turned into a massacre. I saw that it still wasn't even (my fault this time - not the scissors), but I had to yell to myself, "PUT THE SCISSORS DOWN AND STEP AWAY FROM THE BABY!!!" Poor Langdon! This is the result of his first haircut:
It either looks like Hitler, or like Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber. Either way, not exactly the look that I was going for! And just in time for his first birthday party and one-year pictures. Any suggestions for how to get hair to grow faster?
So much for "Proverbs 31" woman. Guess I'm Delilah instead.
September was another busy month. We played at home, enjoyed having family come for a visit, and went on another trip.
Langdon discovered the stairs - and this mama just got a little busier:
Bathtime is still a favorite activity. I love how Langdon is looking at Mary Laine in this picture (and also love looking at those chunky legs!):
Big man is 11 months - and this was the only decent picture that I was able to get. He refused to sit still:
We had been anticipating the arrival of some very special visitors for about a month. Gary's parents came to town, AKA Grammy and Pop-Pop. Here are the fun things that you get to do when grandparents are in town for a visit.
You get held alot:
You dance and sing:
You get on the ground and play:
You eat like a baby bird:
You read....and read, and read, and read...:
You play at the park (and some friends were there when we went - what could be better than the park with grandparents AND friends???)
I have to point out what is so special about these next two pictures. These children are all terrified of dogs. Not just a little uncomfortable, but run screaming if they see a dog in the immediate vicinity. Not quite sure how Gary did it, but we had to document the occasion with a picture (Robin and Elizabeth, I'll get you a copy):
You know who's not afraid of dogs? This guy:
Since Grammy and Pop-Pop were flying out of Jackson, we decided to all drive them down and visit the Children's Museum. I took them in January, and Mary Laine wasn't quite old enough to appreciate it. She is definitely ready now! We were there for hours and didn't even make it through the entire museum.
January, 2011:
September, 2011:
(Thanks for the idea, Aunt Laura!)
The next weekend, we headed over to Auburn to visit Aunt Su-Su. Ever since Mary Laine was old enough to say "Ma-Ma", Susanne has been teaching her that Aubie says, "War Eagle!" It has definitely been ingrained in her.
So happy to see Aunt Su-Su
Slightly afraid of Aubie
The following picture needs an explanation. Mary Laine loves Dr. Seuss's ABC book. A few months ago, she started jumping off of a chair in our family room onto her smaller chair, and as she jumps, she yells "Aunt Annie's Alligator", almost like a battle-cry. It's very funny. I'll try to get it on video one day. Well, on the way home, we stopped to play at a McDonalds, and saw that, in their playplace, they had, live and in-person, Aunt Annie's Alligator. Christmas came early this year:
The month ended with Langdon's first haircut. I gave Mary Laine her first haircut and it went very well. So, I thought that I'd try to replicate the memory for Langdon. Let's just say for now that this event deserves it's own post.
Mary Laine's first haircut: March, 2010
Langdon's first haircut: September, 2011
I'll leave you with a video. Be warned: it's quite long. I told Mary Laine that she could read a book while I dried her hair one night. I missed the beginning of the story (Fancy Nancy and the Delectable Cupcakes), but got the end. Can you tell that we've read this one a few times?
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