My little grass shack

Last weekend we had a small party for Baby J's first birthday. It was a smaller affair because I wanted to have a luau, in the Hawaiian tradition, and couldn't see making enough food for more than a limited number of people. But even so, there was lots of food to make. Fortunately, everyone who came brought a food contribution in lieu of a gift, at my request, so we ended up with a great spread. We had kalua pork, shoyu chicken, potato salad, lomi lomi tomato, sweet and sour meatballs (not very luau-ish but a hit nonetheless), pineapple upside down cake, sweet potatoes with coconut and macadamia nuts, fresh fruit, loads of rice, and birthday cake. We decorated (minimally--this is me we're talking about!) with Hawaiian fabric and fake tropical plants and entertained the older kids with crayons, markers, and a dry erase board. They also made good use of J's toys, certainly more than he usually does.

The party itself was low-key, lots of eating and talking. We did play a rousing game of Hawaiian-themed Win, Lose, or Draw, which was entertaining and uneventful until J took a nose dive into a low table near the end, giving himself a slight bloody nose and setting him off into an extended crying fit. He recovered nicely, however, in time to be put in the middle of a mat with his birthday cake, which he found much less interesting than some nearby mylar baloons. Eventually he dipped a finger into the cake but couldn't seem to figure out what all the fuss was about and had very little desire to eat any of it. Even after we put him in his high chair, and he grabbed a fistful of icing, he still wasn't sure what the heck was going on, as you can see:
These two below are my favorite shots. He is so clearly tolerating his parents' apparent insanity here!