The GVZs: Norah's Fake First Birthday

Before I go back to work in July, Norah and I wanted to take advantage of the chance to spend some time in Austin. Even though she was only 10.5 months old, her awesome aunties and Grammy took advantage of the chance to throw her a first birthday party.

Everyone gave me a hard time for not wanting to let her eat sugar, but Aunt Stephanie went above and beyond the call of duty and made Norah a sugar free, all natural, organic cake. And she decorated it with dinosaurs.

Here's the guest of honor decked out in her dinosaur gear (Megan picked out her adorable outfit).

With Auntie Sarah (our sister from another mister).

Joe learns that babies aren't all that scary. They don't explode when you touch them.

Trevor and Megan prepare for the festivities.

Auntie Amy found a dinosaur pinata that was Norah-sized and stuffed it with fruit snacks and cheerios. Isn't their backyard awesome?

She then crowned Norah queen for the day.

The babies got to whack the pinata with a little hammer. Norah was into the pinata. She was not, however, into how the grass felt on her bare feet.

Our good friend Wyatt had a little better luck with the hammer.

Uncle Mark stood watch.

The lovely Jocelyn also got a try.

Once the little kids had a shot, Trevor brought out the big guns. No little hammer could satisfy him. He needed the stick.

Joe and Laura watch the hilarity.

As do Grammy and Aunt Kristin.

I thought for sure he would take poor dino down, but luckily the pinata was still intact by the time it was Megan's turn.

I even took a swing (I will save the shame and humiliation of the pictures).

The Bernfelds and Riley watch the action. I don't think they ate any of the Cheerios or fruit snacks.

The Lusks watch as well. I bet they had some fruit snacks.

The Bunker-Hendersons. I bet Wyatt got some Cheerios.

The carnage. It doesn't really look that bad considering the beating it took....

Riley the wonder dog. As a quick aside...Riley and I are not the best of friends. For a dog I suppose he is okay, but he's still, well. A dog. It was just my luck then that Norah would fall madly in love with him. She said her second word while in Austin--'Ri Ri'. She would scream with delight every time she saw him and spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out how to get her hands on him.

The cake is ready for action.

(It was a little windy).

You never would know it was healthy by the way Norah dug into that cake. Everyone else tore off a little piece as well (and admitted it was quite tasty).