Hannah's Tea Party Birthday

Today was Hannah's birthday party.  Meghan made a pettiskirt and a birthday shirt for Hannah, which Hannah proudly wore.

The theme was a tea party.  We had kind of a tough time coming up with a theme, as Hannah doesn't like anything in particular all that much, except her baby, and a babydoll-themed party seemed a little odd.  Plus, how do I make a cake for that?  It either looks like a dead baby, or at best it just looks weird.  And then what happens when you cut the cake?  So we just went with a tea party, which is something she likes well enough, and gives me a much better cake option.  Here is the cake I came up with.  It was the first time I used gum paste, which didn't go all that well, as I didn't like the way it dried, and it was also too brittle.  That's something I'll have to work on.  The spout ended up being too heavy, so I had to do some cake surgery on it to keep it attached, and the handle had to be repaired as well, though I was pleased with my idea to somewhat subtly incorporate the number 2 in the handle design to show it was her second birthday.  I also really liked how the fondant table cloth turned out, which went better than I thought.  All in all, it was a successful cake.  We also had a huge spread of delicious food, include some petit fours, which were outstanding.  In the background you can see our paper teacup cupcake holders, which Meghan also made.

Before we ate, people relaxed and chatted.  Alex wandered in and remembered who the biggest cat lover in the room was, and he made sure to get some quality time with Grandpa.

Mom and Ron each got some quality time with the kids.  Ron and Hannah played their usual game in which, after some debate, they conclude that Hannah's feet are "stanky".

Hannah often wants to be fed and to eat the food off other people's plates instead of her own, and we don't normally indulge her on that, but since it's her party, Meghan agreed to the birthday girl's request.

Benjamin had fun with his cousins, and he and Joshua held a brief concert which consisted of loudly banging a plastic hammer and a baby bottle on the plastic table.

While we waited for cake time, Halie read Hannah's baby book to the girls.

Finally it was cake time.  Hannah sometimes doesn't like to get her hands messy, so her preferred method of eating the cake and her cupcake was to dive right in.

Hannah was reasonably excited to open her presents, though as usual, she mostly loved pulling the tissue paper out of the bags.  Later, Halie read Clara one of the books that Matt and Abby gave to Hannah.  It was a really fun party, and Hannah seemed to really enjoy having everyone there to celebrate her big day.