I have been photographing Chase since he was about 6 months old, and boy, is he a cutie! I was so excited to have him come for his 1-year cake smash, and he has grown into such a handsome little man.

Chase just loved Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so we did a TMNT theme for this session. The cake, with turtle colors and a little turtle power in the middle, was designed by the lovely Daneille of Hi Sweet Cupcake, and I think she did a fabulous job!

Sadly, at first, Chase wanted NOTHING to do with his cake. Just the sight of the cake made him scream, and he clung to Mom whenever we would try to put him down in front of it. But we got Chase to taste the icing at last, and once that happened, it was on! He started to devour the whole cake—digging into it, throwing it all over the place, and at one point, he decided he could not eat it fast enough and dived face first into it! By the time it was time to clean up, he didn’t want to leave the cake and struggling the whole time! Still, it was totally worth it—I’m so glad he ended up loving it in the end!

Happy first birthday, Chase! I hope your next year is just as awesome—and I hope to see you again soon!