Grandson's First Birthday

I remember him crying his lungs out while flailing his skinny arms and equally skinny legs when the confinement lady was dressing him. It was the day after he came home from the hospital and he had just been given his first bath. 

All too soon we were celebrating his baby dedication and Full Moon on Christmas Day. And before you know it, we were giving out our first angpow as Grandparents to him on his first Chinese New Year.

After that, the days passed by in a blur as the family adopted a nomadic lifestyle. Some of the time he would be in KL and for the rest of the time he would in Penang. And when he is not in Malaysia, the little high flyer would be on holidays in Taiwan, Perth, Melbourne and Singapore; all within his first year. So ho mia (Hokkien meaning "good life")!

With all the running here and there, I hardly have time to spend with my baby Grandson, to enjoy him and watch him grow. Yup, I feel that I am a severely deprived grandmother. 

All too soon, one year had passed. Gone are those spindly legs. They have plumped out to be the chubbiest arms, fingers and legs ever. He is no longer a baby. Caden is now a little boy. 

I just love those chubby arms and legs, and the hands and feet and the fingers and toes!
See how he points with his fingers and the way he rubs his feet together and play
with his toes when mommy reads to him? So adorable!

He has really grown so much and in so many ways in the past twelve months. I can see Luke 2:52, my proclamation over his life, being realised as the days go by.

As his birthday approached, I was cracking my head to find a suitable present for him. It cannot be a run-of-the-mill present because a first birthday, like a 16th or a 21st birthday, is  a significant milestone. 

If I give him clothes, he will outgrow them. Likewise if I give him toys. He will play and then tire of them.

Then I had a most brilliant idea, even if I say so myself. *beams* My present to him on his first birthday was a photoshoot to commemorate the occasion. These photos shall be with him for the rest of his life and, who knows, they might even make an appearance on his wedding day! 

Hehe!

Once the photoshoot received the stamp of approval from his parents, I was given the task of finding balloons and a suitable cake for him to bash. 

The cake for Caden to bash now fully revealed.
The boy was more interested in the candles
 his mom had provided and the decorations
on the cake than in bashing the cake.

So on Caden's birthday, we went for the photoshoot in the morning. Unfortunately, the ban on publishing his photos is still on so all you will see here are parts of him. Sad case, I know. 

This is what he loves to do when he is exploring
something new. Point, point, point with his pointer.
Don't you just love those fingers!

After the shoot 'bee rushed home and spent the whole afternoon cooking a sumptuous dinner for both sides of the family - a total of 14 adults and 3 children. On top of that, she also made birthday cakes for her son and special jellies just for him so that he has something to eat on his birthday. 

It is so obvious 'bee got carried away baking a birthday cake for her son.
A cake ended up being an array of the most yummy-licious cakes. 

My 'bee is a wonderful mother but she was so exhausted and so busy that she didn't have the energy nor the time to enjoy her son's birthday. Next time we should just go out for a simple choo char or order in some pizza and reserve the cake cutting for the highlight. 

And so that was Grandson's first year and his first birthday. Our little boy is growing up so fast.