Tyler-Fest 2008 - The Lynchburg Stop

We had Tyler-fest 2008 (Part One) in Lynchburg this past weekend at Grandpa's house. It was a great day with lots of visitors and lots of fun! First of all, we got to Grandpa's on Friday afternoon. Tyler started to show off his newfound walking skills, and it seems that hardwood floors are very good for new walkers! He took off! Travis & I were shocked at how many more steps he was taking, and how bold he was. He did a great job! And he continued this practice for the rest of the weekend.

Party Day started out on Saturday morning when I went out to get some balloons for the big day. I mentioned to the woman who was helping me that the balloons were for a 1 year old's birthday, and that this would be the first time he'd really ever been around balloons. I wasn't sure if he was going to love them or hate them. (Which, by the way, I ended up hating them by the time I got home. Saturday was a VERY windy day!) As soon as I brought them in the house, Tyler was intrigued. So intrigued that he toddled over to take a closer look. He kept calling the "balls" and then later it was either "ball" or "ooo", so maybe he was starting to attempt "balloon"? Maybe not. Only Tyler knows.

The cakes were delivered around 1:00. We had Geisel Nye make the cakes for us. She also made our wedding cake and groom's cake. My mom was a huge fan of her chocolate truffle cake, and thus a huge fan of Geisel's. Geisel made a big Elmo cake for the guests, and a smaller Elmo face cake for Tyler to dig into. As you can tell from the pictures, she did an amazing job, as always. The cakes were cream cheese pound cake with buttercream icing. YUM!

We made sure that Tyler had a decent nap before the festivities. Guests were scheduled to arrive at 2:00, and boy did they arrive! Uncle Eddie, Bridges and her boys, Maw-Maw & Paw-Paw Radick, Sarah & Steve English, Nana Woody, Nana Scoggin, Heath's family (all the way from PA!), Snookie & Lawrence, the Leamons, Berkley & Grace, with later appearance from Larry & Davina Hall and Robert & Debra Hamric. Tyler did a wonderful job around all of the people, and was certainly putting on a show!

We got to the cake portion of our program, and dressed him in his special t-shirt. It says, "I'm One! Got cake? I need something to wash down all that milk." Tyler was a little confused as to why everyone was singing and looking at him. I placed his Elmo cake in front of him, helped him blow out his candle, and watched. He gently placed his fingers in the rich icing and immediately started to try to flick it off. So he grabbed a little more, and flicked a little more. I tried to put some on his lips and in his mouth, but he wasn't having any of that. So I dug into his cake for him to get him started. Still not really interested. More interested in the flicking of the icing. And his balloon. Boy did he love his balloon. He did finally put a few pieces of cake in his mouth, and played in the icing for a bit, but in the end he ended up snacking on his rice cakes instead. Guess I shouldn't complain about my little boy choosing a healthy snack over cake, huh? But the rest of the guests dove into the big cake and boy, did we enjoy that! We have some leftover at our house now, and Travis & I are savoring those slices. Reminds us of our wedding!

Tyler did "help" us unwrap his gifts, and he seemed to have fun with it, especially when he got to the toy cell phone from Berkley & Grace. For weeks now, we've been trying every kind of phone imaginable to keep him away from our real cell phones and the cordless phones at home. We've taken the batteries out of old cells and cordless phones to no avail. He wants the real thing. Well, this phone talks and rings and lights up, so he's much happier. It's been a real hit. He also got a pedal car from the Scoggin side of the family. It should be lots of fun for him when the weather is nicer! He got lots of spring and summer clothes too, which is great! And lots and lots of books, which we all love!

After gifts, he got pretty tired and we knew that a nap was lurking. But all in all, he did a great job for his 1st birthday party! Thanks to Grandpa for having us all weekend and for letting us use his house! Thanks to Geisel for making such beautiful (and yummy) cakes. And thanks to everyone who showed up to help make Tyler's day even more special. He is certainly one loved little boy!

Stay tuned for Tyler-fest 2008 (Part Two).....

One last thing - we had Tyler's one year appointment this week. 22 lbs. 5 oz. and 30.25 inches long! Everything looks really good and he's now a forward-facing rider in the car now - and loving it!!!!