Birthday Traditions

Here's a low-down of Sawyer's first birthday! He started by opening his cards. You can see he liked them--he's making The Face! Then we did some playing outdoors with Tex.
His birthday car from Gummy and Turkey!

Then on to Target, where we let him "pick out" a birthday present. Basically we let him roam the aisles in hopes that he'd get really attached to a toy.
When that failed, we picked out our own.
Running to see what it is...
For me??
A blow-up whale pool! Makayla from down the street even got in on the action.
The hose is still his favorite toy.
Why so serious??
Yum...
Aw...
A year ago, both of us were looking a bit more tired.
We closed the night with two traditions: the birthday candle and the Happy Birthday to You book by Dr. Seuss.
A close-up of the candle. I think this was actually supposed to be Geoff's, but it got lost in the shuffle. I had one like it, and every year it was the favorite part of my birthday. You light it and let it burn until it burns through the year that you're turning. I found this in the attic when we were moving--pretty neat to pass on the tradition! (Thanks for sharing your candle with us, Geoff...sorry you missed out!)
All in all, it was a fun birthday despite the lack of cake or party. We did memorable things and things that were fun for Sawyer. I still can't believe he's a year old!!