Happy Javi Birthday

While the rest of Manila was celebrating Easter Sunday with Easter Egg hunts and big lunch buffets, we did something extra. We celebrated the 1st birthday of my nephew - Enrique Javier! It's amazing how it's been a year since he was born. The tiny baby who had to be incubated has grown up to be a big and happy baby. (Who has a thing for balloons.)

Yup, he's so big that he's almost half his Mom's size already. Like any Morales kid, our baby Javi is growing up to be a mini fashion plate. Here he is wearing his H&M shirt, Roca Wear jeans and belt, and his cute little Zara shoes.

As with any party, there was a lot of food. Javi wouldn't have grown that big if he didn't have this equally big appetite, so he spent most of the morning noshing on everything from spaghetti, chicken bits and fries. And despite that, he still had his eye keenly on a sundae!

Javi likes to bite on things as much as he likes to eat. For him, everything is worth taking a bite off. Whenever I carry him, he takes a bite off my shoulder or hands. As long as it doesn't move, he's likely to bite it.

See.

Aside from Javie, all the kids got into the eating action, too. As a testament to how Chickenjoy is probably THE most popular food for kids, I caught my nephews Miggy and Kurt in the midst of finishing up a leg.

Kids also love Jollibee as much as they like Chickenjoy - which is the reason why we decided to hold the party at Jollibee. Not surprisingly, the mascot was a huge hit with both the kids and the parents. He had so many antics - like doing a cartwheel. (Yes! Jollibee can do cartwheels despite his huge head and wings!) Then, while Bob was delivering his wishes for Javi, Jollibee was so touched, he cried!

Yes, he had bee tears running down his glossy cheeks.

Thankfully, his crying spell only lasted a few minutes, and then he was back to his usual happy self and gamely posing for photos with his countless fans. That included us, of course!

After the party, everyone was gushing about the celebration and how they all enjoyed themselves. The kids enjoyed all the games and the loot that they brought home. The parents enjoyed being part of the games and seeing their kids gamely playing with other kids who they've just met. And I enjoyed doing my designated job for that day - the other official photographer. (My brother-in-law pointed out how Spongebob Squarepants was looking at me in this photo.)

But photographers should have fun, too. So before we all called it a day, Miggy and I decided to pose for one last time, making fun of the easter eggs that we found that day.

The funny thing was that everyone was so happy and having so much fun, we didn't realize how time passed by. One of the managers called our attention because the next party was coming up soon and everyone from Javi's party was still there and didn't look like they were ready to leave. Well, our family have always been drawn to celebrations. So after they drove us out, we did the most logical thing to do.

We went home and continued the party there.