Cooper's giant "Horton Hears A Who" birthday bash

Cooper's ginormous first birthday bash was Saturday. Still, I can't believe my baby's one! I chose a Horton Hears a Who theme because I like Dr. Seuss. Maybe I should have chosen a theme based on things Cooper likes, but breastmilk, rotisserie chicken (he likes watching it, not eating it), and cheese seemed a little weird. Next year maybe he can pick.
I originally planned to make the cake myself & I've been making practice cakes for a couple weeks (& forcing them on John), but I finally decided it was a bad idea; I knew it wouldn't turn out just like I wanted & I'd be stressed out & get no sleep. I wanted Cooper's party to be absolutely perfect (can you say Type A?), but I tried to keep in mind while I was doing it that it was for him so if I was to busy & stressed out before or during the party to play with him then what's the point? So I ordered the cake from Sam's Club & I'm so glad I did! They don't make Horton cakes, but I figured this one was close enough to a jungle to fit, sort of. Whatever - it tasted good & was so much less stressful!

Since I wasn't making the cake, & since it really wasn't a Horton cake, I made some elephant cupcakes. Not my idea - I stole it off the internet - but I think they came out pretty good.

And I made some dessert sushi, another idea I stole from the internet. They were so easy to make & cute. They're Rice Krispie treats, Fruit by the Foot, & Swedish fish. Yum!

I also made some decorations (again, stolen idea!). These are flowers made from tissue paper. I know, it's kinda girly, but they're the flowers from the book & I don't think Cooper minded. Besides, orange makes them kinda manly, right?

I was absolutely thrilled with the place I found for the party. It was a gym so it was huge. We were able to have seating for 70, tables for food & dessert, & plenty of space at the end of the room to spread out a bunch of big toys for the little kids to play with. I think we had 11 kids that were two years old or younger so it was great letting them run around (or crawl, or creep, in some cases) together. There was even a kitchen and a stage we put the presents on. I loved it! If I ever have a party this big again (highly unlikely!) I'd definitely go back.

The balloons were Cooper's favorite part. They were attached to balloon weights so Cooper was just dragging it along behind him. With his big t-shirt and bare feet (he pulled off his shoes & socks early on) he looked like a hospital patient dragging around an iv!

Again, we had a slow start to the cake. I thought he'd dive in since he loved it last time, but no. I think it was about 10 minutes again before he got interested. Cooper just likes to be stubborn & do things when he's ready to. I can't imagine where he got that from - it's not like John or I are stubborn at all.
Okay, okay, stop laughing.

Eventually he did dig in again and just ate, and ate, and ate. I finally had to wrestle the cake away from him to get him cleaned up and changed for presents.

Cooper, and Mommy, and Daddy, and grandmas, were all exhausted by the end of the day. Overall, (I think, I hope) a good time was had by all.