The Birthday

I'm tired tonight, so I'll quickly recap the events of The Birthday. What a fantastic weekend!!

I had a hard time being at work on Friday. I didn't have much on my plate to do anyway, and I knew that Ms. Amanda had planned a little birthday celebration for Emily, like she does for all her kids. When I dropped Emily off, there was a big printed balloon for Emily, and the kids all ran to her shouting "It's your birthday!! You're ONE!!" They had cupcakes, and they all made cards for her, one of which read "Emily, you are my best best best best friend. Love, Emma." They had glitter and drawings all over them. It was awesome. Have I mentioned before how happy I am with Emily's daycare? :) That night, Travis and I noted when the clock said 5:50 and Emily officially reached one year. All weekend, it was fun to think about what we were doing exactly one year ago.

Saturday was the family party, and we had a small crowd of enthusiastic celebrants. My parents, Travis's parents, my grandparents and my aunt and uncle all came down for lunch, and Travis's brother came later, too. Everybody was impressed by Emily's appetite. :) We opened presents, and Emily quickly caught on that behind all that pretty paper would be something fun for her! She got lots of fun books and toys, and a little red wagon. Then we had cake, and we discovered that Travis had somehow backed into the cake while taking pictures of the occasion, so my perfect creation was a bit marred!!! I wouldn't've cared at all if I had actually taken a picture of the cake when it was perfect! Rats.

And, that was pretty much all. It wasn't really much of a party, but everybody had a really good time, especially Emily! My grandmother commented that she didn't think she'd ever seen a baby enjoy her first birthday as much as Emily did. My guests told me stories about parents who sent out formal invitations with RSVP's and provided a catered meal for 100 people at their kid's first birthday, and even hired a sitter to watch the birthday girl during the event!! Another horror story - the birthday boy didn't get to open any of his presents because his mom opened them for him during his nap. I guess throwing a first birthday party is just like the rest of parenting - as long as I put Emily first, everything else will fall into place.

Oh - and tonight Emily learned something new! I was feeding her crackers for her snack, and she'd eat a couple herself and then I'd give her one, and then I'd eat one myself, then give her one... and then she picked one up and held it out for me to eat!! It was so sweet. Then at dinner, she offered up a little handful of spaghetti for Travis to eat. What an amazing little girl I have. :)