about that.

Saying I'm behind on Ethan's birthday posts doesn't even begin to cut it. Shortly after I made his 12 month update, The Sickness Of Doom came sweeping through our house with it's sleepless nights and hacking coughs and sore throats like little daggers being swallowed. That seemingly minor little cold I mentioned Ethan having on his actual birthday morphed into something bigger, badder, uglier -- and eventually we all got it, even my mother. Ethan ended up spending his birthday weekend being diagnosed with a double ear infection on top of everything else and as the friends and family began to travel in for his party and the to-do lists got longer and longer, I woke up with an eye infection. My eye was fused shut and the size of a golf ball and I was put on quarantine from Ethan for a few days while I was pumped full of medicines and given a pity look from doctors and nurses upon hearing that my son's first birthday party was just in a few days. I recovered, Ethan recovered, we all recovered and his birthday party this past Saturday? It went off without a hitch.

But we'll get there.

Right now, let's travel back to the 22nd, Ethan's actual birthday.

My husband had to work on Ethan's birthday. It was the first bit of bad news that would kick off a whole slew of crushed expectations. Unwilling to let anything get us down on the day our little guy turned one, we still made time for a family breakfast first thing in the morning. We opted to go to a locally owned cafe that we go to a lot (I think I ate there every day I was pregnant, actually) and they were just as excited about Ethan's birthday breakfast. So much so that they even brought him out a special little birthday surprise -- an ice-cream! It was Ethan's first time trying ice-cream and because it's basically my favorite thing ever, I was curious as to how he'd react.

At first he wasn't sure:

...But then he realized that ice-cream? It's good.

From there, Ethan and I had big plans with one of my best friends, Nea. Let me stop and tell you a little bit about Nea for a minute. When people ask her how many children she has, she answers that she has one and explains that she means Ethan. Nea truly loves Ethan like he is her own and she is someone who has been there for every step of his little life.

Nea and I had plans to make the extremely long drive down to Miami (we're talking over an hour) to take Ethan to Jungle Island. We made the drive, we parked, we paid -- and then it poured. It poured and poured and poured (and poured and poured and poured). Apparently there is only one covered walkway at Jungle Island and it only takes you to the gift shop. Throw in the fact there were 7,000 summer camps trying to also cram under this one walkway? The day was as much a success as it sounds.

But like I said, Nea and I were determined to make this day rule. And with a little determination (okay, and maybe a twenty buck bribe), it all paid off when Ethan got to snuggle a monkey.

Because folks? When you get to snuggle a monkey, your birthday clearly rules by default.