Matthew's 1st Birthday {Part 2}

And the party continues....(click here for Part 1 ).

I saw this sign online a while back and loved the saying.  I think it fits us perfectly.  I had a friend make the vinyl for me and I painted the piece of wood to match the color scheme.  I love it!

These tissue pom poms are the easiest to make and the quickest way to add a splash of color.

(Thank you to our friends Mary and Steve for helping us get ready for the party! They came over and helped us finish last minute cleaning and details.  I showed Mary how to make the pom poms and she finished them for me.  They truly were such a BIG help! I can't thank them enough.)

Here's the monthly picture banner I made for the mantle.  This one showed case the pictueres we took of Matthew and the entire bear.  The other banner had Matthew's face close up (no bear in the picture).

In the Vietnamese culture, for the first birthday, the custom is to place the baby in front of an array of objects and the first object they reach for is thought to predict their future.  

Here is the tray we put in front of Matthew.  It consisted of a comb (meaning he will be well groomed), Money envelope (wealth), Pen/note pad (Writer), Rice Ball (that's the sweet pink rice ball below-represents prosperity), scissors (a tailor?), calculator (business man). 

I was so crazy busy running around and doing stuff that I forgot to add some things to the tray! I wanted to add a book (smart/scholary), a key (traveler), and a computer mouse (techie). Oh well.

So what did Matthew choose??

The Calculator!!

(I hope he inherit's his daddy's math skills because momma is SO bad in math!)

CAKE TIME!! 

We got a smash cake for Matthew to do his smash cake photos (more to come on that later), but decided to just make one BIG cupcake for him at his party. 

(Thanks grandma Whitcomb for making all the cupcakes!)

First things first....gotta strip the birthday boy down to his birthday suit. 

And we couldn't forget the bowtie!

While we sang Happy Birthday, Matthew did NOT want to give up his calculator (see it in the background below?).  I helped him blow out his candle and then let him go at his cupcake. At first he wasn't so sure about it, then he squished it between his hands and started eating.  He didn't even blink when I put on his birthday hat!

My mom ordered a Vietnamese cake for Matthew too.  It's one of my favorites, but Steve's not a fan of it. It's kind of like sponge cake with coconut gel in the middle.  Yummy!  Matthew didn't get any because he was all caked out by this time.

After cake, he had to go in the tub for a quick clean up!

Click here for {Part 3}

or {Part 1}