Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Baby M turns One!

Mashalah, he's gone from being a bundle wrapped in blue with just his little face peeking out to an active and friendly chubby-cheeked boy running around in shorts and a t-shirt.

Baby M took his first steps a couple of weeks before his first birthday. In the beginning, he took tentative steps holding on to my hand or pieces of furniture and in a few days he was running everywhere with lots of trips, bumps and falls. I've started keeping an ice-pack in the freezer ready for his next "accident" :-S

We celebrated his first birthday in Harvard Square with breakfast at IHOP (strawberry waffles!) and had a mini celebration in New Haven the following day when Mr. F's friend Essa Uncle took us to an Italian diner for dinner. Baby M was probably the youngest in the restaurant but he was on his best behavior and had all the waitresses cooing over him. We ordered a brownie with whipped cream and put a candle on it and everyone sang happy birthday :)




Birthday party number 2 was on 26th May in Karachi. We invited Baby M's grandparents and great grandparents and all our friends with young children. I ended up doing a Winnie the Pooh themed party even though I'd had my heart set on Lion King but I couldn't find Lion King-themed decorations and it was too short a notice to place custom orders... so Pooh it was. We had lots of balloons, a jumping castle and Winnie the Pooh themed goody bags (hand-made by moi!). I did the goody bags in two batches: one batch for kids aged 0 to 2 (squeeze toys, board books and soft candy) and another for kids aged 3 to 6 (magic painting book with paintbrushes and mini storybooks and playdoh). Sadly, I was so busy greeting and entertaining our guests that I forgot to take many pictures. My sister took a few snaps but they were rather blurred. Anyway, we only had time for one game (passing the pillow) because most people showed up right around 7pm even though the original invitation was for 5:30 pm :-P. Baby M spent most of the party dancing to the music by himself even though we tried to make him play with the other kids but I think he enjoys his own company too which is good... We cut the Pooh cake at 7:10, people ate and then called it a day. He got lots of presents the best one being an ELC magnetic car set with an elevator, bridge and race track... Mashalah, he loves it (as do I!)



Since most of his Daycare friends didn't show up to his party, we decided to cut another cake at the Daycare center. The aunties decorated the dining area with banners and hangings and I made a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. I was rather short on time, so I just made a "1" with smarties :). I also got pizza and munchkins for the kids...



And finally, Baby M's first year was celebrated in Lahore this past weekend (15th June 2013) with the paternal side of the family. Thanks to the downpour the night before, we had to change the venue from the garden to an indoor hall at the last minute.. The party was themed Angry Birds and organized by Baby M's meticulous aunt. All the cousins had a blast and the girls looked very pretty in their princessy outfits :). The cake was Angry Birds (don't have a picture yet) and again Baby M got lots of pwesents... A big thank you to Aunty T for organizing the party!

And so, on to the toddler years... Please pray for Baby M's good health and safety. Ameen.