On April 22, Harper hosted his first birthday party. It was a small party, a glorified play date, really, with a few of his little friends and his grandparents in attendance. But you know me, any party is an excuse for nesting and primping
and baking and crafting to an extent that one's back becomes stiff from sitting on the floor in front of a bad movie, glue gun in one hand and a pile of felt sheets in the other.

Here's a little peek into the scene. (These photos were taken by my dad; more photos can be found in the First Birthday photo gallery).

The felt pennant banner that greeted guests at the door was inspired by the one Stef made for her friend's baby shower.

On the mantle, we displayed a photo from each month of Harper's life so far. I also decorated with these garlands I made from card stock and grosgrain ribbon. The "1"s also appeared on the invitation. After the party, I reused the medallions from the garland by affixing them to blank card stock for thank-you cards.

Delicious brunchy spread, prepared mostly by Byrne and my gourmand dad (thanks, guys!).

I made Harper his own little cake (whole-wheat applesauce spice cake with cream-cheese frosting). He loves throwing things off his highchair tray these days, and I thought a cupcake would prove a too-perfect baby-hand-sized projectile. Little did I know he'd try to pick up the 2-layer, 4-inch cake and try to throw the whole thing the ground. You can see the video of the attempted toss on Byrne's Vox blog.

Cupcakes! Peanut butter-chocolate for the grownups, and whole-wheat applesauce spice cakes for the babes. How much do you love my cupcake stand?

Happy family! Harper didn't let go of his balloon until bedtime, and even then only because the helium had given way such that the sad thing was dragging along on the floor.