This is part 2 of my Thanksgiving Southern California adventure.  I was so excited to be able to photograph Carter’s second birthday party!  You see Carter is a rock star.  Yes that’s right, he’s a little boy with a big following.  He has his own blog and he is loved by countless “pug people” across the world.

There is something else about Carter that makes him stand out from the crowd.  Carter is one of less than 200 people worldwide who have something called Mowat-Wilson Syndrome(MWS), a disorder that has only been known of since 1998.  Most kids with MWS don’t speak and don’t begin to walk until age 3 or 4.  Thanks to parents Sara and Scott, Carter was diagnosed at a very early age and he is *almost* walking already.  He gets around amazingly well with the aid of either a walker or his favorite little red rocket, hence the theme of the party  And oh my goodness can that boy crawl!!  He is lightning fast!

I personally had never been around anyone with special needs before so I didn’t know what to expect.  I knew from seeing pics of him and from what Sara had said that he was a generally happy little guy, but I wasn’t prepared for what a sweet, loving, AMAZING little boy he is.  It’s true.  Carter completely stole my heart.  He is just such a love.

One last thing and then I’ll get on with the pics – when I asked Sara if it was ok for me to share a little bit about MWS she sent me lots of info (much of what I used above – thank you!!), but she also had this to say: “When you see a special needs child or person, PLEASE say hello, do not be afraid to speak to the person/child normally, the mother or caregiver can explain as they feel comfortable. Just don’t ignore these special kids like they do not exist. For me, i do not mind (and encourage) any questions people might have.”  Sara is such a wonderful advocate for Carter and I admire her more than I can say.

Now, onto the pics of the most adorable birthday party ever!

All of the details were so cute!  Sara ordered most of them from Polka Dots and Pirates.  I checked out the blog and all of their stuff is adorable!

Just as I was finishing up photographing the details, the first of the guests started to arrive.

Carter’s special 2 year old shirt was so cute!

Demonstrating some of that lighting-fast crawling I was talking about earlier.

Once most of the guests had arrived, it was time to eat.  There was a ton of wonderful food, but I think these appetizers were my favorite!

And then it was present time!

The front of that super cute birthday shirt:

Carter had quite the audience while he opened his gifts.

Cake time!!  Sara had carrot cake and chocolate and vanilla cupcakes.  Yum!

Carter and one of his cousins, so cute!

He looked so cute in his birthday hat.

And as the night was winding down we had to get a quick generation shot.

Sara and family – thank you again SO MUCH for having me.  I enjoyed it so much!!  I hope you love the pics!