Birthday baby

L.'s birthday party went off without a hitch on Saturday. Well, except for the part where Mr. W., my dad and S. went to run a couple of quick errands. Two hours later and 45 minutes before the party was supposed to start, they dragged themselves back home with lunch.

It was great having my folks, my sister and her boy, plus Mr. W's family, our 'surrogate' grandparents, and a couple with kids close to our kids' ages over. I made a wacky cake (made with flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, vinegar, vanilla extract, oil and water) that people enjoyed well enough that we only had 1 piece left over!

The kids were great. L. handled having a house full of people (some of whom she did not know all that well) with great composure. She's at that odd age where she flips from being afraid of everyone back to her normal trust everyone in sight self. She was a little nervous about my folks, but she got over it pretty quickly. S. was her normal raucous self, and oddly enough, provided a little comfort for the friends who brought their boy over. Somebody's mother in law left her daughter in law feeling insecure about her son's behavior. She was on the receiving end of, 'If you'd put him in daycare, he would learn to behave better.' (What a way to compliment someone's parenting... not!) A.'s parents were kind of glad to see S. exhibit some of the same behaviors (and she's been in daycare since 6 weeks). And it wasn't like the kids were being awful. Normal stuff like screeching just for the sake of trying to burst ear drums. Dumping a basket full of toys all over the floor after having been told not to. Running laps around the living room. None of that is indicative (in my not so humble opinion) of a serious behavior problem.

During the party, I told them that I didn't see anything wrong with A.'s behavior. He is a bit like S. in that he has no fear of authority, and the consequences for bad behavior just don't phase him very much. We really need to get A. and S. to play together more often. They are almost always really good together.

They did have one minor altercation during the party. S. and A. had been playing in the girls' room when A. came out demanding that everybody stop. When every adult was looking his way, he said, 'S. hit me in the head with something.' Since he wasn't crying, and S. hadn't run out first to try to head off his story, I didn't think it was all that serious. A.'s earnestness did give me a fit of giggles.

L. was great fun opening presents. She played with everything that she got right away, and each of our guests felt good that they had picked out something she liked. Of course, this kid has never seen a toy she didn't love, but we don't need to get into that.

S. has a giant squishy stuffed dog named Daisy. The older L. has gotten, the more they fight over Daisy. When Mr. W. brought out a somewhat smaller version of Daisy for L., she squealed with delight, dove onto the dog and rolled around hugging him/her tight. I'm hoping we have a little puppy peace for a bit.

Happy birthday, L. I love you to the moon and back.

M.W.