My niece turns 1!
Here she is, the birthday girl!
Ellie’s birthday is actually next week, but Isaac and Courtney weren’t going to be around so Tamir and Jen decided to celebrate early.
…and here’s the big moment… Birthday cake!
Delicious!
In fact, all of my (six) nieces and nephews were enjoying the cake!
I put my camera on “automatic timer” and got a photo of everyone! At least most of us are looking in the right direction.
Later, we were hanging out in the playroom. Aviva told me I had something on my lips. Instead of getting up to find a mirror, I took a photo to see what it was.
It was nothing that I could see, but then Aviva wanted a lip photo, too.
That led to a silly face photo, together.
Soon it was time for presents!!!
I baught Ellie a giant teddy bear and I got a huge box to put it in and wrapped it up. The present was so big, it really got the attention of the kids! Aviva and Leo were both eager to tear into it, they even asked to open it ahead of time. It’s so funny to me that at this age, it doesn’t really matter what’s inside the box, all that matters is the size of the box. The biggest present seems to be the best!!!
Okay, here it is — notice how both Aviva and Leo try and pull it apart at the end of the video:
Here are the kids opening Isaac and Courtney’s gift to Ellie:
Somehow in the midst of the present opening maddness, something happened to make Leo sad.
But even when he’s crying, he’s cute!!!
More presents…
More crying…
And lots of photo opportunities:
Playtime:
But seriously, the best gift ever to play with seems to have been the box!!! Yes, the box was a big hit:
Aviva’s turn with the box:
Now Leo’s in the box!!! (notice Aviva knocking the box over from the back. Sneaky move… but Leo doesn’t cry this time!)
Aviva and Leo in the box together!!!
Pile on Courtney!
Courtney gives a “look” to Isaac, as if to say, “we’re not ready for kids, yet!”
Aviva dresses up Ellie’s bear:
By the end of the party, Ellie is exhausted. There she is, zonked out on Isaac’s lap, wearing the pink tutu that Aviva insisted she dress up in mid-party:
Time to go! Aviva tries kicking the cat out of the house.
But uncle Isaac comes to the cat’s rescue.
Later…
It was a day full-o-kids, as I went from Ellie’s first birthday party, to Jen and Doug’s newborn son’s bris.
I saw my high school girls, there! Here’s Sharon, Melissa, Maani and I:
Here we are with Jen:
And here’s Jen’s husband Doug, with Ezra, the man of the hour, who is now a Jew as Doug pointed out to me.
The happy family — Congratulations, you guys!
Later still….
Ended the day with Mike. It was Valentine’s Day, after all!
Dinner at home, movies and lots of laughter. That’s a good night… and a VERY long day!
