Isaac birthday photo blog-nanza

Isaac's birthday was this past Wednesday, and we were fortunate enough to have all four grandparents in attendance. Over their loud protests, we sent Isaac to day care in the morning so he could party down with all his buddies for his birthday:


We procured a special cake proclaiming his impending birthday happiness for this event, but in my birthday swept-upedness I forgot to take a picture of it. Grandpa Ross went with me to drop Isaac off at school and Isaac's teachers were nice enough to let him peek in on the place and check it out for himself.

Grandma Ross and I picked Isaac up at one, and she was also permitted into the secret baby world for a closer look at what Isaac does for half the day on weekdays. Isaac's teachers said he had a lot of fun, and that they took a lot of pictures which I will be able to share with the blogcommunity when I get 'em. When we got back to our house, Grandma and Grandpa O'Neal were waiting for us, and we all went out for a classy birthday lunch at everybody's fave, the International House of Pancakes:



Isaac's baby-mullet was especially sporting that day, so Grandma Ross insisted I capture his mullet-tude on e-film:



Soon it was time to open presents:



First, Isaac got a bench with pegs to wail on with a hammer, one of Dad's favorite toys when he was a tyke (thanks, Grandma & Grandpa O'Neal):



Isaac showed us what a pro he was already at the construction biz, which elicited a big round of applause from the crowd:



The next present was an adorable Lamb-y Bank, which promptly became enormously heavy as the grandpas emptied their spare change into it (thanks Grandma & Grandpa Ross, and subsequently everyone for the change):



Then Isaac opened up a scrapbook which Grandma Ross had lovingly assembled with pictures to chronicle Isaac's first year. Isaac thought this was "eh", but I was completely overjoyed to see that my baby would not suffer from MY completely negligent scrapbooking. And Grandma's hard work and excellent picture choice made me completely lose it later when I had time to pore over the book (thanks, Grandma Ross):



The next present was Toby the Tot-Bot, a new buddy for Isaac who spells, counts, talks about shapes, sings, and even RAPS as he moves his head and arms around -- a big hit with little man (thanks, Grandma & Grandpa O'Neal):



Then Isaac discovered his manly big-boy dump truck and Legos for bitty guys, thinking that these are surely a match made in heaven (thanks, Grandma & Grandpa O'Neal):



The dump truck, evidently, is also another fascinating object for his weightlifting exploits:



Isaac was insanely fascinated by this blue and green furry bag with a monster face on it lurking in the corner. He pulled out of it a new T-shirt and jeans, as well as this stylin' Indiana basketball jersey that also came with matching shorts (thanks, Aunt Robin, Uncle Joe, and cousins Nate, Emily & Sarah):



Uncle Chris and soon-to-be Aunt Jean sent Isaac a Bambi DVD, for which we also give them a shout-out. Can you tell that I am so crassly using my blog in lieu of thank-you cards?

Isaac also got a rocking horse and a mulching mower from Grandma & Grandpa O'Neal, and a Radio Flyer walker wagon from Grandma & Grandpa Ross -- these will be featured a little later. All his presents opened, we moved on to the birthday cake, a double-layer carrot number with cream cheese frosting, because I know my boy and my boy loves him some carrots. I lovingly shredded three cups of carrots for this beast, meaning there was probably a reasonable quantity of Claire-blood mixed in the batter. Mmmmm. Grandma Ross made the frosting and helped decorate the cake. Awe at our three-year-old's scrawl:



We sang "Happy Birthday" and Isaac demonstrated his early fascination with fire:



Isaac didn't get to blow out his candle, though, because Dad SUCKS and blew it out first. Argh. But he did very much enjoy his cake, and shoved handfuls in his little pie-hole relentlessly:



Then we all went outside to play with his new toys. A big hit was our creation of the "Baby Luge," a seamless marriage of the new Radio Flyer wagon and the sloped sidewalk outside our apartment:








When our backs became permanently hunched from this, we showed Isaac his mulching mower and he took off down the sidewalk by himself:



All in all, a most fabulous day was had by baby, parent, and grandparent alike. Happy birthday, kiddo!