November 4, 2009 Jack turned one year old. We had a small party at our neighborhood community center. Jack got a lot of attention which is what we wanted. We weren't sure what to do or how to plan a little kid's first birthday party but we decided that the important thing was that Jack felt comfortable and had a good time. We think that we succeeded in that.
There were about six other kids at the party. Jack wandered around watching them play and doing his best to join in. He got a lot of one-on-one time with family members and friends. He was very hesitant to sit down and open his presents because he wanted to keep playing. Once he started to open them though he was really intrigued. Thank you to our neighbor and friend Abby for helping Jack to open his gifts.
The one part of the party where we probably failed to make Jack feel comfortable and secure is when we stripped him down to his diaper and sat him on a table with a giant cupcake. As people gathered around he seemed tormented between being concerned and enjoying his tasty treat. We were hoping that he would dig right in and massacre the cupcake, alas, he did not. Even trying to coerce him into, going at it himself, did not work and so I had to feed it to him. He did enjoy it thoroughly though.
After the party subsided, all of our guests stayed to help us clean up. Thank you! Also, thank you to everyone who sent/brought gifts for Jack and for the cards. Jack loves playing with his new toys, reading his new books, and his new clothes look great on him. He especially seems to love his Batman shirt.
