Weekend Recap: Basketball, Donuts, & Fountains

This weekend was jam packed with family activities, just the way I like it. We kicked off the long weekend with Saturday brunch with Joe's mom and grandma, then capped off the evening watching Robin Hood (the Disney version). Joe has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to Disney movies, and I love that one. Now I have the word Oodalolly stuck in my head on repeat. Ezzy didn't pay too much attention to it, he only likes the musical parts, and Robin Hood doesn't have very many catchy songs. I'm thinking Lion King might be more up his alley. We watched Frozen, and he liked the middle part, but lost interest toward the end when things got all dark and dramatic.

On Sunday we had breakfast with one of Joe's coworkers, and then took Ezzy to his first basketball game, a Sparks vs. San Antonio game at the Staples Center. At first he loved the jumbotron and would not take his eyes off of it. He was also pretty enamored with a pair of girls sitting a few rows in front of us. Eventually all the noise and sensory overload got to him though, so we left in the third quarter. The fact that Ezzy decided to get up in the middle of the night and play for two hours probably didn't help his mood either. (Thankfully he only pulls those kinds of stunts on nights when Daddy can get up with him. Thank you, Ez!) As you can see from the photos, he was one tired boy by the time we left the game. I think he was asleep before we even made it out of the parking lot.

On Monday I demanded we satisfy my donut craving which had been going strong for four days. We went all the way to Stan's donuts in Westwood (the best donuts!) and went a lil crazy ordering half a dozen donuts. But seriously, how can you pick just one flavor?? This was Ezzy's first donut experience, and as you can probably tell by the rabid look in his eyes, he was a fan. 

Afterward we walked off the donuts by wandering around UCLA's campus (wandering around college campuses is one of our favorite hobbies). According to Joe's pedometer we took more than 18,000 steps yesterday! That's like 9 miles. I think Ezzy's favorite part of UCLA was the fountain. I had him propped next to it (for a photo op, obviously) and he tried to walk right into the water, so I dipped his feet in. At first he was tentative, taking small little steps and looking at us like "what is this place??" Then all of a sudden he got really into it and was bent over splashing water all over himself (and me) with his tongue hanging out. I love the picture of him in the fountain with the dog in the background because the two of them were getting such enjoyment out of that fountain. Adults just don't understand what fountains are meant for. Between splashing in the fountain and practicing walking on the grass, Ezzy was tuckered out before we even made it back to the car. Daddy's shoulder is one of the best napping spots anyway. 

I hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend!

It's the Little Things: Cake Smash

Ezzy's best deer-in-the-headlight impression while we sang Happy Birthday

It looks like he actually helped us blow out the candle.

Once the singing stopped he started to get really upset...

...until he tasted the frosting.

From that first bite he was all about the cake.

The messier, the better.

Once he realized he could just shove giant pieces in his mouth at will...

...it was game over.

Notice half the cake is already missing? This was like two minutes later.

That one little tear is so sad!

There, that's what an "I devoured a whole cake by myself" face should look like.

Get your own cake, Dad!

All mine!

And I'm definitely not sharing with my cousin lurking behind me, either!

As I'm sure you gathered from the other posts I've written leading up to Ezzy's birthday, I was most excited about the cake smash. I had a feeling though that Ezzy was not gonna love having a bunch of people sing Happy Birthday to him. He sat stiffly through the song, staring directly into the camera with a traumatized look on his face. He burst into tears as soon as the singing stopped. So, naturally, I shoved some cake in his mouth as quickly as possible and then all was right in his world again. It took a little guidance to make him realize he could just tear the cake apart with his hands and shove giant fistfuls into his mouth, but once he got that down the cake disappeared in under five minutes. (I think, anyway. I went to the bathroom for some paper towels and came back to a cake-covered baby and a plate of crumbs.)

I love that last photo of Ezzy's cousin watching Ezzy eat cake behind the chair. Next time I will make sure all the kids get cake at the same time, so there are no plots on my son's life. Rookie mistake.

This week I'm linking up with Jess and Ashley for their Little Things series!

Ezra's 1st Birthday Party

There was so much excitement leading up to Ezzy's 1st Birthday party, and then it flew by like a whirlwind. Joe and I loved having so many family members that hadn't met all together in one room. A huge thanks to all the friends and family that were able to celebrate with us, and to all the family that sent love and gifts and video messages from far away. Your presence and love was the best present, everything else was icing on the cake! Speaking of cake, I'm saving the cake smash photos for a separate post, because I don't want to overload you with cuteness all in one post ;)

We had Ezzy's party at El Torito, in our own separate room, with a yummy buffet. Although this might not be the most cost effective route, I was very happy with the minimal clean up, and not having to cook or worry about food. When guests got there, we had them sign in on a copy of Dr. Seuss's Happy Birthday to You. One of my favorite parts of the party is being able to read through all the messages written to Ezzy and I know he'll love looking back on that through the years. I made two collages with 12 monthly photos of Ezzy, from birth to 1 year old, and had those set up on either side of his high chair. It was so crazy to see the change in him from month to month. Right around month three he really went from looking like a newborn, to looking like Ez (just smaller and less chubby). Afterward I gave them to the grandmas for Mother's Day. Joe and I made an Ezzy trivia quiz with 15 questions and prizes for the top 3 winners. My mom, Joe's mom, and Uncle Avery wound up winning, and they got an Ezzy mug, an Ezzy reusable shopping bag, and Ezzy magnets. For party favors I made sugar cookies shaped like a 1 and covered in different colored sprinkles placed in a clear bag along with stickers of Ezzy that I had made through Shutterfly.

The party went from 1 - 3, which overlaps with naptime, so when we got to El Torito Ezzy was sleeping in his car seat. He woke up right around the time guests started arriving, and it took a little while for him to warm up to the situation. By the end of the party he was having a great time though. His party was everything  Joe and I were hoping it would be, and again, a big thanks to everyone who celebrated this milestone with us. We love you!