John turns 1 and goes bananas!

John enjoys eating bananas, swinging at the park, and being called a chunky monkey by his older brother, so the party theme chose itself. We celebrated with a small party at our house. As usual, the sugary snacks were not small, but rather large and plentiful. We enjoyed banana cupcakes, monkey bread, Oreo truffle pops, banana candy, and a banana split bar. To top it off, our guests went home with banana bread mix (and the mini monkey guests went home with a barrel of monkeys).

The birthday monkey was unimpressed by his cake (but he did like playing in it and running frosting through his hair). We tried an ice cream cone later, and he turned that away after a few licks, too. Instead he ate a big helping of goldfish crackers with his Cousin George. I have faith that John will come around to liking sweets one day.

Our wonderful guests gave John some wonderful gifts: books, games, trucks, blocks, balls, and passes to the Botantical gardens and Catch Air. One of the sweetest moments came when Henry gave John his gift. Henry has a stuffed elephant that he sleeps with named "Hank." We picked out a stuffed monkey for John, and appropriately named him "Jack." He helped John unwrap it and then said, "Here you go, John. This is your Hank." Of all the nice gifts that John received, I think his favorite was an Elmo balloon that Grandma bought at the Dollar Store that morning. He pointed for it and kissed it all day long.

We are blessed to have so many family members travel so far to celebrate John's big day with us. I know when he looks back at the photos, he will know he is and was loved.