The day Nathy turned ONE

We only had a small window of 2 hours where our complete little family would be together today as Glen had to spend all night talking at a World Vision event. So we decided 1-3pm would be a fun filled, jam packed time of adventures for our gorgeous little boy.

It started with us all quietly creeping into his room with 4 huge balloons and his presents and then watching him slowly wake up and see not us, but the balloons, and then the fun started. Our little boy LOVES balloons and seeing them always evokes lots of "oh wow" and "wow wee" talking along with pointed fingers and a few very loud squeals! I'm sure he thought he was in heaven being woken up with the 4 huge balloons in his room. It took a while before he even wanted his presents, but luckily for him his big sister was very helpful in unwrapping them all and laying them all out nicely for his approval.

After the present ceremony we headed off to one of our local malls and bought him his current favourite food for lunch - fish, olives, cucumber and pasta. He gobbled it all down with his left hand (not normal for our very right-handed child) because his right hand firmly held onto yet another balloon that he had charmed off the Wendy's Ice Cream sales assistant when we walked past. I imagine it's very hard to ignore a little boy squealing with delight and repeatedly saying "oh wow" while pointing excitedly at your balloons. Nathy didn't even care that it was bright pink.

After his buffet lunch we headed off on a mission to pay for Nathy (& Keelia of course) to go on every kids ride in the mall. This is a new favourite activity for Nathy and he especially loves the car ones where he stands tall and proud while "driving" his car, the whole time commentating his adventures to all who can hear! Today added a whole new dimension to his experience though. It is normal practice for Mummy & Daddy to NEVER put money into these rides, as we are always begged to visit at least 5 every time we visit a mall and it was decided $2 per ride would add up pretty quickly! We prefer paying for trips back to NZ with our spare change :o) However today was a pretty special day so we added motion to Nathy's ride experience and the huge smiles and excited babbles made it worth every dollar.

Next up was a trip to the pet shop where Nathy got to check out all the little puppies, his favourite animal at the moment. It's interesting how the puppies only ever want to play with the little kids, none are interested in boring adults!

The mall trip was finished off with a visit back to Wendy's for some sorbet and another balloon before we headed home to eat some birthday cupcakes, another one of Nathy's favourite foods. And just like a boy should, he picked it up and shoved as much into his mouth as he could and got it everywhere! A perfect way to end a wonderful couple of hours with our adorable birthday boy. We love our little Nathy and thank God every day for him being in our lives.