Birthday Weekend!

Wow, I can NOT believe that Eli is already 1 full year old!  Just a year ago, this is what we were holding in our arms, all 8lbs 13oz of him...

Our little angel.  And now, 365 days later, THIS is what we're holding, all 26+ pounds of him...

We had a wonderful time celebrating his birthday this weekend.  I think Payton thought I was crazy when he got home on Friday night and I said "Are you ready to go out for Eli's Birthday Weekend Kickoff Dinner?".   I love celebrating other people's birthdays, and now that I have this little child, my love has really gone into overdrive.  We went to dinner at Carino's, an Italian restaurant near our house on Friday night.  Eli had some yummy cheesecake, and he loved it! 

After Eli's morning nap, we went to Rudy's for lunch, then to the grocery store to stock up on goodies for a dinner we were hosting that night.   Eli met the "HEB Buddy" at HEB (our local grocery store chain for those who don't live in Central/South Texas).  Not quite sure what he thought:

We had our friends, Lindsey and Rob (who have a 9 month old cutie, Drew) over for dinner Saturday night. Eli and Drew were precious playing together. Eli's a little more mobile now that he is walking, so they didn't interact too terribly much, but it was funny to watch his reaction to having another tot in the house that played with his toys.

Sunday, for Eli's big birthday breakfast, we went to breakfast at Kerbey Lane, a local 24/7 diner here in Austin.  I went there all hours of the night during college, and they opened a more "suburban" location near our house a couple of years ago.  Eli had a big-boy breakfast, complete with eggs (first time), bacon, and a big pancake.  He loved it all, especially the pancake, which he pulled off of the plate before I could cut it up!

After he woke up from his morning nap, we went to the pool at our gym to swim and have lunch.  Now that he's walking, it was a little hard to keep him interested in being held in the water, and he preferred to walk along the shallow part of the pool, which had an incline and posed a little "balance" issue. 

For dinner, we went to a great hole-in-the-wall restaurant near our house called Jardin Corona.  He had a big boy cheese enchilada, rice, and crackers dipped in queso.  They really helped us celebrate his birthday big boy style:

 

Happy Birthday Bugger, we love you to pieces!