Sammy's 1st birthday party part 1 - Playdate and Family

I can't believe that my baby has turned one! It feels just like yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital!

Oh man and how our lives have changed! I can't imagine life without him in it! :)

We celebrated his birthday last week and oh boy, did we had fun! It was so awesome. We had a kid's-themed birthday party by decorating our place with supplies I got online. It's a German website but I'm guessing that they ordered their supplies from the U.S. They do have a lot to choose from though, so making up my mind was tough.

Once that was done, I had to decide how we wanted to celebrate his birthday. His birthday fell on a weekday so it wasn't ideal to have a party. Hence, we decided to have a small celebration on his actual birthday while postponing the party to the weekend.

We had a playdate gathering on his actual birthday. I baked a cake, we sang a birthday song for him and he spent the afternoon playing with his buddies. When I got home, we celebrated his birthday again with some close friends and my in-laws over dinner. He got a little chocolate muffin with a candle and another birthday song.

This boy is such an extrovert! I thought he would be completely exhausted after his playdate and might not be in the best of all moods in the evening when we had guests over. But he simply took a power nap in the car on the way back home from the playdate and when we arrived home, he was all smiley and basking in the limelight again. Went to bed at 11pm+ without a word of complaint. I'm really treasuring this as long as it lasts!

It was really special celebrating the exact 1-year anniversary of being in labour to bring forth this child. Before Sammy, I never really knew what to do with a kid in my arms. I would never hold a baby, let alone a newborn - for fear of dropping him/her. If a baby cried, I would panic and quickly return the baby to the mom because I was scared of being "scolded" that I made the baby cry.

But since Sammy came along, its like suddenly the maternal instinct took over. I remember the overwhelming innate sense of wanting to protect my little one even back in the hospital. That I would never let anything in the world hurt him. Ever. Even now, I would simply observe him and my heart would just fill with joy and I can't help but smile at him. And when he smiles back, its like heaven on earth. Oh and his laughter. Hubby and I would become clowns just to hear his high-pitched belly laughs.

Becoming a mom has awakened my senses to notice the other "species" of humans called "babies / toddlers". I find myself attracted to these cute little beings and I realized, "Oh boy, babies do like me!" Ok, not all babies, but you get the drift.

So yeah, I'm constantly thankful to God in my heart for blessing me with this kid and opening the door of unexplored territory called "motherhood" for me. Its such a privilege to be a Mom and I'm absolutely savouring every step of the journey. As such, I'm excited to see what the next phase of toddlerhood would bring for us.

At the playdate with his signature spoon which he doesn't let go of these days

 I made a donna-welle (typical German cake)

My little munchkin and his spoon of course!

 With your Godma

 On your little bobby car (our present for you) which we hope you will use at some point in time!

  The almost-complete family minus the Aunt

Our little family of 3 with the chocolate muffin

Another family pix with Daddy and  his "huh" look in the background

My boy has so many monkey faces!

  Yeah baby, you're crawling into your second year now! 

That was his actual-day birthday celebration. I'll blog about his party over the next few days!