Jesse had a fine time playing with a set of blocks his aunt and uncle sent; they’ll get to see him at the end of the month.

These photos deserved their own post. Natalie, Jesse and Maddie get their party on. I think in at least one photo, they were all looking at the same camera, which was not mine …

Thanks to Grandma Pam, Jesse had a kosher-for-Passover birthday cake, with a Passover brownie bottom, ice cream, homemade chocolate sauce and whipped cream. It was his first taste of chocolate, and all agreed it went down well after Mexican for dinner.

We hosted a big group (hurray for the empty room!) for the first night of Passover. We had grilled mahi-mahi instead of gefilte fish, but we went through my special homemade Haggadah at a breakneck clip to get to the big meal. I even got everyone to sing! And Noah made sure Jesse got something to eat before the festivities began.

On the Monday morning befre the first night of Passover, Grandpa Chuck, Grandma Pam and I took Jesse to a special storytime at the library in Fairfax all about Passover. Jesse enjoyed chewing on a Seder plate, waving the fabric matzah around and pulling Grandpa Chuck’s hair.

Sunday night, after Jesse and I picked up Dan at the airport, we went to visit Bob, Amy, Michelle, Elaina and Noah at their hotel.

Grandpa Chuck and Grandma Pam arrived on Saturday afternoon, so the three of us took Jesse to Gymboree on Sunday morning.

On Friday, we happened to be at the hotel where we got married a little more than 10 years ago. We needed photos of our roommate, of course.

I was convinced I would catch Jesse walking at Gymboree, but it turned out to be later. Here are a few videos, including the grand finale at home.