ELLIOT'S FIRST BIRTHDAY.

 Our beautiful grandson Elliot has just turned one.  This has been quite a hard time for us as we have now missed the baby stage of hi life....  This is time that we can never recover.  We so wish that we could be there for those extra special milestones in his life...

Danish folk celebrate birthdays slightly different to us in Australia and it was good to get the photos from Pete and Maria of Elliot's first birthday..

It is also common to put the child’s birthday gifts around their bed, so that when they wake up they see the presents and get straight into unwrapping them.  Theodore was on hand to help Elliot open his gifts.  Theodore is at an age now where he is beginning to understand all about birthdays and gets quite excited by them..

Theodore helping Elliot open his birthday presents...

 The Danes have a love for their flag almost bordering on obsession - not only is it a symbol of patriotism for national holidays and football games, the Dannebrog (their name for their Danish Flag) is also the default them for birthday parties, yes, even for young children and is a staple for celebrations of any sorts.  Most Danish households have a small arsenal of flags in various sizes to suit all of life's most Danish ocassions and there 's a year round section of Dannebrog ( Danish flag) party supplies in most grocery stores.

Pete and Maria are no except to this and they make sure that the Danish flag is bought out to celebrate the boys birthdays.  Elliot, loved his flag and was very happy to wave it all around...

Elliot with his Danish birthday flag....

Pete and Maria followed the Danish tradition of giving Elliot a birthday cake, and letting him eat the cake by himself.  It is wonderful t see the joy on his face whilst he ate the cake.

This is only done for their first birthday, after that little Danes between the ages of 2 and 10 years have a special caked called a "Kagemand", or a cake man.   Bakers form this figure from sweet, yeasted dough, then give the creation clothing and a hairstyle using colorful confections.

This year Elliot  for his 1st birthday, he enjoyed his only little cake and there was no doubt about the joy he found in eating it.  

Elliot with his special birthday cupcakes....

Can I really have all this Mum...

 The afternoon was spent having a play with his big brother Theo,  at Banana Park which is their adjacent to their apartment complex.    The boys had a lovely time together...

His birthday wasn't quite the way they had envisaged it, as Maria got called away to help her Dad, who at this particular time is quite sick and has been hospitalized.  The good thing about it all is that he is too young to really realize the drama going on around him...

There is always next year and hopefully there will be dramas around his special day then.