But before he could open presents, we wanted to Skype with Grandma and Grandpa in Georgia. They were able to sing to him and watch him blow out the candle on his birthday pancake.
We chatted while we ate, and then they watched Bennett open his presents from Mummy and Daddy, as well as the gifts that they had left when they visited over the summer plus gifts from Aunt Suzanne, Uncle Paul, Rosaline and Dekota.
And then came the fun of playing with the new presents! He really liked the gift he got from Grandma and Grandpa and put lots of train down the mine ramp and through the waterfall.
Then it was time to take our monthly photo. Bennett is pretty well trained. When he sees the chair sitting by the basement door, he knows he needs to sit down for pictures. And then when he was done, he wanted to put the chair back at his little table.
Daddy and Bennett played for a bit while Mummy worked on party prep and then it was time for lunch and nap. He somewhat resisted the nap, but he must have been tired because he fell asleep pretty quickly. And luckily he took a nice long nap which gave plenty of time to finish getting ready.
While he slept Mumma made lots of frosting and got the cakes and cupcakes finished. Daddy ran out to pick up balloons, photos, and some food for the party. When he got back we finished decorating, baked a pie, and realized we were quickly running out of time. Mumma texted Awesome Auntie Mel to come and give an extra set of hands. Which worked out well because shortly after she arrived Bennett woke up. Mel got to work cutting up fruit while Mummy and Daddy worked on getting everything else ready and all too soon people were arriving.
Here's the spread. (Daddy made all the stands that the fruit is on. Worked well to add visual appeal plus it took up less table space than having all the plates on the table.)
On Monday he ate through one apple. But he was still hungry.
On Tuesday he ate through two pears, but he was still hungry. (Mel added the "bite" marks to the apples and pears.)
On Wednesday he ate through three plums, but he was still hungry.
On Thursday he ate through four strawberries, but he was still hungry.
On Friday he ate through five oranges, but he was still hungry.
On Saturday he ate through one piece of chocolate cake...
... one ice cream cone...
... one pickle...
... one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami...
... one piece of cherry pie... (no one touched the pie, but of course I had to have it.)
... one cupcake...
... and one piece of watermelon. That night he had a stomachache!
Overall views of the dessert table and buffet table.
This shot of the table is missing some of the food, but you can see the runner a bit better.
Beverage station. Bottles of water had either a picture of one of the fruits, a caterpillar, a 2 or a B. The punch was Sprite mixed with a strawberry-lemonade concentrate that I made in early summer.
After eating it was time to go outside for some crafts. There were three crafts that I had planned.
- Caterpillar bookmark made with their thumbprints.
- Egg carton caterpillar
- Tissue paper and clothespin butterfly
Again, I am super thankful for the help of my friends. I showed them the supplies, told them (and showed- I'd made prototypes) what they were making, and they got everything set up and helped the kids.
I think I get negative points though for coming up with a craft that took too long to dry. Sorry parents for making you take home gloopy caterpillars.
After crafts came cake!
Not a fan of his hat.
Blowing out the candles. With the candles on his pancakes he got one candle not problem but then took a few tries to get the second. These he also had a bit of trouble with, and I think, in the end, I had to help.
After getting cleaned up we did the hokey-pokey. He still needs to work on his left and right, but otherwise he does really well.
Then we ended with presents. I won't bore you with those photos, but I would like to say how awesome and generous everyone is. And it was the perfect amount. I think we were on the last present when Bennett started to get tired of opening things.
Cutie Patootie Birthday Boy!
Decorations! I made 4 sets of these fruit garlands that we hung up in a few places.
Caterpillar photos. I still have last year's photos up on the wall above the caterpillar.
Caterpillar balloons on the closet doors. Looks like someone erased the chalkboard a bit.
And in the front hall, in addition to some balloons and streamers, we had the giant cupcake and favors of "Caterpillar Food" (M&Ms).
