Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Party Time!

Even before I had a child I always thought parties for very young children were silly. I mean they don’t know, so just keep it simple. I subscribed to that idea even after my son was born. Especially since his first birthday was on Thanksgiving. Then as the day approached I started to have a change of heart.
 
What if he looks back and wonders why he didn’t have a party? Would it matter to him? Would it matter to me if we did not take time to stop and celebrate his first year of existence. And then I started to panic.
 
We have a huge family and all the kids are older. It will be November which clearly rules out any possibility of an outdoor event. So what on earth should we do? A children’s museum, a farm, a bounce around party, an indoor water park, the aquarium. No all of those ideas were limited to a certain number of guests or were entirely cost prohibitive. And then it came to me. Pizza and bowling! Children of all ages, adults included, love bowling. And so began the hunt for the venue.
 
We decided on a private room at a newly renovated establishment where I bowled as a child. How times have changed! I remember the days of smoke filled bowling alleys. No more of that. This place was amazing! Even the main area had leather couches instead of those hard plastic chairs. The days of writing your score on a piece of paper are also long since past. Now its electronic and projected on a big screen. The lights were dimmed for a true galactic bowling experience.
 
The baby, now an official toddler, could have cared less. He was more terrified at first by all the goings on. Most of the time was spent in my arms or his fathers and a bit of time with his grandmother playing patty cake. He was excited about three things, pizza and cake and a wrought iron railing he could cruise along near his friend Logan. Who can blame him? I mean I like pizza and cake too! Walking with friends is also pretty darn cool. 
I took lots of pictures. The important part was that he spent time with my friends and family and everyone had a marvelous time. It was the perfect first birthday party and in the end even the personalized goody bags were a hit. All the time I spent fretting was wasted energy and when I look back I know it was worth every penny because of the smiles on the kids faces as they walked out the door of my beautiful baby boy’s very first birthday party.
 






 

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Turkey baby!

My son Brenton had his first birthday on Thanksgiving this year!  It is almost as if the last year was a collage of milestones, memories and many many pictures. I cannot imagine life without my turkey baby. He is what I am absolutely positively most thankful for this year.

He was born two days before Thanksgiving last year and his birthday will always be close to Thanksgiving, so he will always be my one and only turkey baby.  I do not refer to him as such unless it is near the day of his birth.

He doesn't remind me of a turkey because he is such a lean baby.  Perhaps if he was more of a butterball I would be inclined to give the nickname more permenancy.  Still he smiles when I tickle under his chin and I call him my turkey baby.

Two days before his birthday he began feeding himself.  Prior to that he would put the food in his hands and wave it around.  Then finally after a pancake was broken into small pieces and laid out before him on the tray of his high chair did he make the connection.

I wonder now if he realized he was scheduled to shove cake into his mouth in two days.  It was almost as if he knew it was time.  When that time came he did not disappoint.  After a round of "Happy Birthday" tunes and a candle to blow out, he had a plate of small cupcakes after his first real Thanksgiving dinner.

He started with a small taste of chocolate icing and then his eyes lit up.  It was clearly delicious.  He continued to slowly feed himself making more and more of a mess as he went then he furiously shoved his hands into the cupcakes and then into his mouth over and over. 

It was exactly what I had been waiting for. I will not forget it. The feverish moment of joy as he devoured his makshift first birthday cake. Then he began to slow down and gave me the look. My turkey baby was stuffed!!!




 

Friday, November 16, 2012

Full Grown Baby

In the past few months so much has happened. My son has become an FGB. A full grown baby! He has four teeth now. I swore he would never cut that first tooth. He chewed on his hands and drooled and drooled and drooled some more and nothing.

He pulled his ears for a solid two days at which point I made his father take him to the doctor who said no ear infection he is just teething. So I thought for sure in a few days a tooth would appear. Nope, still no tooth.

I asked friends and family who all assured me it was normal and it could take a year or maybe more. It wasn't until he was ten months old that the first small white sliver of enamel made its way through that swollen pink gum.

Then not a month later bam three more all at once. It was a reminder how quickly things change. Now Brenton smiles at me with 4 teeth. Two top two bottom right in the middle.

I love these teeth not just because they were anxiously anticipated and not just because they are my babies first teeth but also because they mean he can chew food and he can bite with them and smile and show them and someday he will brush those teeth and they will fall out and the tooth fairy will come and his permanent teeth will replace them.

My son is growing up and I am reminded to stop and look at his no longer toothless grin and enjoy the changes no matter how small and look back at how he has grown as he approaches his first birthday. Four teeth amazing! My FGB is such a little man. Now if only he would call me mama.