Happy Birthday, Joseph!

I'm a big fan of birthdays. I view them as your own special little holiday that should be filled with happiness and fun stuff. I'm good at the birthday thing. I guess it comes from having good birthdays growing up. I know that Joseph will not remember his first birthday, but I wanted it to be special and fun regardless.

I think I succeeded.

The poor thing got diagnosed with RSV on Monday. :( He had been so sick over the weekend. His stuffiness has kept him from getting much sleep....which in turn means I haven't been getting much sleep.

I noticed over the weekend that no matter how fussy he got or how bad he seemed to be feeling, that being outside made him much happier.

So, for his birthday, I took him to the Salato Wildlife Center. He had a blast checking out the bear, bald eagle, skunk, turtles, and wildcats.

Here he is deciding that he is done with looking at the buffalo:
Ready to move on to something else.

I highly recommend checking out Salato if you are in the Frankfort area. I had never been and was so surprised by how much there was to do and see! We will definitely be going back!

After his nap, I gave him his present:
A Little Tikes Cozy Coupe!

He had actually seen it the night before while Michael was putting it together. He pretty much had to assemble it around Joseph.

We decided to take it for a spin around the block, but didn't want to leave Shelby out so I tied him to the coupe.
After an afternoon of cruising and playing in the backyard, it was time for some grub. I had Michael go get him a happy meal since that is one of his favorite things to eat. Of course, RSV wrecks the appetite and he ate not much of it. We sat in the back yard and ate and let him pick at his food for a while until it started getting a bit breezy.

We came in for CUPCAKES!
He started out liking the whole cupcake "hands in icing" thing, but it quickly moved toward meltdown....he didn't like having the icing all over his hands and face. Plus he was getting tired and grumpy by this point. It really makes me rethink his smash cake for his party this weekend. I had big plans for it too!! I even bought a cute new pan! But like Michael said, I should be sure that I am doing it for him and not for me. And I think if it was up to him, he would have a small manageable piece of cake that he could eat without getting icing all over himself. :)

Stay tuned for pictures from his birthday shindig this weekend! It's gonna be great!