Party Shots!

I also made some "Rock ('s) On(e)!" t-shirts for the birthday boy and his parents.

And we tried to get a picture of the back of them. No such luck.

Rock and his father were more interested in eating watermelon than in taking a good t-shirt picture. But I love them anyway.Speaking of eating, Rock was not into eating his birthday (icing-on-ricecake) cake.
Don't be fooled by the icing on his face -- that's from when we tried to shove it in his mouth. We figured once he tasted the icing he'd like it but no. He is just incredibly health-conscious these days. That being said, he did have a lot of fun playing with the icing.
And showing off his how-old-are-you?-trick.
The backyard party scene.
Sophia playing with Rock's ship.
The Salada ladies drinking some water.
The chaos of unwrapped presents and wrapping paper.
Papa John's puppet show.
Rock and his grandparents. Appreciate the belly.
Parents and grandparents...
And the birthday boy showing off his how-old-are-you?-trick again!Molly lined up for the picture too.
And finally, Rock's favorite birthday party guest, his girlfriend Becky. He thinks she's number one. Oh wait, no. That's just him doing the how-old-are-you?-trick. Again. It really is cute and he always gets a good response so how can we blame him?

Birthday Decorations (Because I Know You Care ALOT)

Fix came up with the snazzy theme to Rock's First Birthday Party -- "ROCK ON! ROCK'S ONE!" Or abbreviated: "Rock('s) On(e)!"

Of COURSE I made a cheeseball in the shape of the number one! Would you expect anything less?
The awesome rock-n-roll records I found at the party store.

I let the kids decorate their own table outside (this is a post-party shot).
I had a flash of genius (at around 2 am the night before the party when I was making the cupcakes), and came up with the idea tomake records out of black icing and life savers.
Although some of them look more like black flowers than records, I think they were a success.
And finally, the favors.... CDs with ROCK songs. They all had ROCK in the title. I can send you a playlist if you are interested.

Birthday Evening

Grandma Cokie came over on the evening of Rock's birthday for some more birthday celebrating.

She got our whole family a birthday gift of one awesome DUST BUSTER to clean up after someone's messes. Rock also got a gift from his Great Aunt Valeta.
It's a toy that's kinda like an Ipod for kids. It plays nursery rhymes and music -- which Rock danced to.

Then we took Rock to California Tortilla for his VERY FIRST KIDS MEAL (which by the way is free on Thursday nights with the purchase of an adult entree - we will be back!). No, not all that food is for him.Rock particularly enjoyed the rice and beans.
We showed off his new trick to Grandma Cokie. The trick goes something like this:

1) The adults say "How old are you Rock?" 2) Rock holds up one finger. 3) Adults all scream with delight...

Which makes Rock wonder if we have all lost our minds.

Finally, back at home, we let Rock indulge in a ton of baby crack while we ate his brownie from his kids meal. Happy Birthday Messy Boy!

Park it Birthday Boy!

Later, on Rock's birthday, he and I went on a date to the local park/playground. And no, he doesn't have a cone head -- it's just his hair!
Rock enjoyed climbing all over the playground...

feeling the effects of static electricity...
sliding down the slide...
crawling back and forth across the open section...
staring at the other children...
AND PRACTICING TAKING A FEW STEPS ON HIS OWN!!! That's right, ever since last Tuesday (two days before his birthday), Rock has been taking (literal) baby steps towards walking. Then, at his birthday party, his walking skills exploded and he was off! Don't worry, I'll post pictures and video of this new skill soon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ROCK!

Rock wasn't quite sure why he had to wear this funny hat to eat breakfast.
It's because he's ONE YEAR OLD today!!!
After breakfast, he opened a few gifts from Mom and Dad.
Well, okay, to be honest, he just played with ribbon while Dad opened his first gift for him.
I guess I'd play with ribbon too if I was a boy and my first gift was just a bunch of clothes. Here dad shows him some new shirts we got him. He was a little more excited about this one... And rightly so! This one was a toy! "Yeah, but what does it DO?"
Since he loves his bathtime so much, we got him some "Caterpillar Spillers" bath toys. I showed Rock how he can link the cups together to make a caterpillar...And he showed me how you don't need water to play with them.

Ususally, bathtime is all business with a quick bit of splashing around at the end. But for his birthday, Rock took a luxuriously long bath (which by the way is what I would like for my birthday!) and played and played with his new toys.

No, we didn't get him this spatula for his birthday, but do I get credit for letting him play with it all morning? Add it to the ever-growing list of reach-extenders.

Even though he's a year old, Rock's eyes are still a nondescript grey color.

We are so grateful to the Lord for giving us such a beautiful, funny, healthy baby boy. Our hearts are full.

p.s. I'll post more pictures as the birthday festivities continue into the weekend!