Birthday Boy

We typically do big parties every other year. On the off year, we like to take the kids on a trip (to a destination of their choice if possible). For Log, this year was an off year, and we were lucky enough to have J's older brother and his family (most of it) with us to celebrate Little Man's birthday.

I made cake balls and sent them with Log to school (thank you, Bakerella!). Log wanted me to make Harry's First Birthday Cake out of a Harry Potter cookbook (sounds corny but I've gotten him to eat many new things out of his normal food-type comfort zone by saying, "Molly Weasley makes this, too" or "This is Harry's favorite vegetable"). At any rate, the cake's recipe was terribly time-consuming, so we opted for an ice cream cake topped with quidditch decorations.

Log had wanted to go to Ireland for his birthday, and we hope to travel there this fall. He spent his birthday proper at Neuschwanstein and even got to eat at McDonald's for dinner (we've been to McD's MAYBE four times since moving to Germany three years ago)!

As Log gets older, I see him stretching his legs a bit and becoming more independent. It's beautiful to watch but also a bit sad as he used to be my biggest cuddler. This year also marked the first time he didn't tell me what he wished for as he blew out his candles.