Tahl's birthday party!

 Tahl had his first ever solo birthday party on Sunday afternoon at our house.  It was a "book party," and we had so much fun. 

We had books with matching stuffed animals all over the house to decorate.  It was hard for Tahl not to steal all the animals back to his room. 

There was an area all set up for the kids to make bags to take to the library. 

I made two examples for everyone.  I thought it was a fun craft. The kids also made book marks at our kitchen table. 

On the way out the door, everyone got bookworms (gummy worms) as a party favor. 

We had our favorite animals and books in the dining room. 

Emily and I worked together on this party (and Grey's.)  The banners turned out really cute. 

We had lots of book themed foods.  There was Clifford's puppy chow, Rainbow Fish gold fish, Peter Rabbit's veggies, the Hungry Caterpillar's fruit, the Pigeon's hot dogs, and Pinkalicious pink lemonade.

 I think everyone's favorite was, of course, the puppy chow. 

We also had "If you Give a Cat a Cupcake" cupcakes.  Tahl sleeps with the cat from that book (kitty cat) every night, so it was a perfect fit for him.  He got the "Where the Wild Things Are" cupcake at the very top.  All the kids were really into choosing which book they got on their cupcake.  

 It was very hard to wait for a cupcake. 

Zev and Tahl went to the movies with Mimi at noon, and then they came home just a little early for the party. Tahl was so excited to see everything ready.  He was also excited to finally wear his GIANT elephant and piggie t-shirt. 

 My nice camera was being really weird and fuzzy, so most of my other pictures didn't turn out.  I think at some time when I set it down, some child must have picked it up... When it was time to light the candle on Tahl's cupcake, Ari had to use my phone.  

Everyone was gathered to do cupcakes, and I kept calling for Tahl.  He made a big entrance by riding into the room on his tricycle dressed up as a puppy. I had to convince him to take off the puppy jacket for pictures. 

 He has a nice blowing face. 

Please ignore the large pregnant person in the back of this photo.  Ari was trying to get a picture of Tahl eating his cupcake and smiling. This was his best one. 

He got some hand licking. 

Still wearing the puppy pants as you can see. 

This is my favorite one of the series where Ari asks him to smile. 

He licked all the frosting off first just like he does with every other food. 

I told him he could have TWO cupcakes if he would make a real smile.  I know how to get results. 

I got one action shot of Tahl's friends decorating their bags. 

A few minutes before the party ended Tahl wanted to put on his Simba costume.  It is too bad that I didn't get any pictures.  One of his friends was dressed up as a zoo keeper.  She kept chasing him around trying to put him back in the zoo.  They also played a great game where she swiped his tail.  

Tahl really had a great time. Hopefully Zev's party goes as well, and it should be even easier since it's not at home!