They say time flies, and it does. Joe turned one year old this Memorial Day weekend. I still can’t believe it.

Since we just had his finalization celebration and the greater fam wasn’t planning to visit, we opted to have a small, casual celebration with just the four of us (including Noni P). We went out to lunch. The waitstaff sang “happy birthday” to Joe with a lighted candle on a plate and scared the bejeepers out of him. (Note to self: no loud singing for first birthdays.)

Why the candle and no cake? Uncompromising parents that we are, we opted for a sugar-free “cake,” and we decided to spare the poor folks at the restaurant from a 1-year-old-birthday-cake mess, so we took the celebration to Noni P’s place, laid out a tablecloth (we forgot his booster seat with tray), and sat Joe on the floor with his not-so-sugary delight. The (cup)cake was a sugar-free banana cake recipe that I amended with extra fruit/moisture. More of a banana bread, but not too bad. I did splurge by adding mini chocolate chips (just a few) and covered the whole thing in light whipping cream and chopped strawberries.

I don’t think it would have mattered if the cake was all sugar, Joe just wasn’t all that interested. He got more joy out of the disposable tablecloth we laid on the floor. Noni P did encourage him to try a bite. He seemed to enjoy the whipped cream and strawberries, and kept going back for more. I think she snuck in some super yummy (read: sugary) ice cream, but that’s ok. In the end, though, Joe just didn’t want to indulge us with a cake-in-the-face scenario. He was far too busy running around the sunroom in circles trying to destroy anything and everything he could.

We seriously need to get a video camera. These photos just don’t capture a 1-year-old windmilling his arms while running (and wobbling and stumbling and righting himself and eventually falling).