Birthday Celebration

Jamie doesn't turn 3 until tomorrow but due to familial scheduling, we celebrated his birthday today.  In honor, I give you a pictorial essay.

Going for the big one first (his new car seat was enclosed)

Anything with construction equipment makes Jamie a happy kid.

Ball pit!

The birthday cupcakes, as requested.

 

YUM!

Ball pit nap

Nap's over! Wake up!

It was a successful birthday all the way around.

The Very Image Of A Birthday

Launching Into Seven

Today Liam turns seven. SEVEN. I say it every year and it is still true: how does time go by so fast?

Of course, I'm sure my own mother is sitting around thinking "how the heck did Cari get to be 35?!"

What can I say about Liam that hasn't already been said?  He remains the sweet, smart, wonderful, loving and caring kid he's always been.  He's also rambunctious, occasionally cantankerous, and can deploy sarcasm with deadly accuracy.  He can teeter between Tough Guy one minute and Caring Sensitivity the next.

I love that he and Jamie are suddenly starting to play together and enjoy it.  That's not to say that they don't annoy each other - and with Jamie entering the Terrifically Terrible Threes that happens a lot - but it's a nice change to hear them giggling together.

Over the last year he's found new depths of self-control and discipline as he continues his study of Tae Kwon-Do and entered school full time.  First grade has been wonderful for him and he has really been enjoying it.  His teacher makes the classroom a fun and engaging place to be which makes learning that much more exciting for Liam.

I'm so proud of the person he is becoming and I wonder how we managed it. How did all our mistakes get outweighed by whatever it was we did right? And can we continue that?

So here's to Year Seven - may it bring more happiness and joy.  Happy Birthday, Liam!

On This Day In History...

The year is 2005 and this is what I looked like:

I was 39 weeks pregnant and, clearly, I'm ecstatic about this fact.  Three days later, Liam entered our lives.

Before we knew it, 7 years had flown past and we had this on our hands:

In three more days he'll turn 7 and I really don't think I could have gotten a more awesome kid.

In Celebration of Two

Two is upon us.

It's not really any different that it was yesterday since he's been acting Two for months, but it is now official.  We celebrated with as much style as we could manage with a two year old.  I spent the day trying desperately to keep the evil from spilling out all over the place so the house would still be clean when it came time for the party.  Evil can leave a nasty stain, you know.

Evil leaked out anyway.

I planned a dinner with Scot's parents and made roast chicken, roasted potatoes, broccoli, salad, and stuffing.  Certainly more of a feast than we're used to.  I also make Unspeakably Good Chocolate Cake for dessert.

Don't laugh at me, I know it looks like it belongs on Cake Wrecks.

When it came time for presents it took a bit of coaxing to get Jamie interested. Eventually we got him to open one of his gifts from Scot and me - a ride-on firetruck.

We very nearly didn't get him off of it again.

It was a big hit.  He loved the darn thing and we won't speak of the tantrum he threw when it was bath time and he found out that he couldn't take it upstairs with him.  He was also less than pleased to learn that, after submitting to his bath, he would not be allowed to return to his beloved firetruck.  Bedtime was interesting. Ahem.

He also got books, clothes, toys, more toys, and money to put toward his new big boy bed.  We had to unwrap most of his gifts for him because guess where he was? Yup, tooling around on the firetruck.

An Incrediblock?!  You shouldn't have!

Then it was time for singing and cake.  This year, he seemed totally into the cake thing - actually eating it, that is, not just smashing it.

Please note that his entire hunk of cake is hanging off that fork.

Yum!

Happy Birthday, Jamie!  You are the Captain Kirk to your brother's Captain Picard. We love you very much and we're so glad you're here.

Two Takes Off Tomorrow

In less than 12 hours (at 6:05 am to be exact), Jamie will be two and I'm a little shocked at how fast we've gotten here.  I'm also a little shocked at being shocked in the first place.  There were so many times during his first year that I thought I was never going to make it.

His first three months stand out as a shining example of suck, for instance.

Two years later he's big, he's boisterous, he's mischievous, he's evil, he's rowdy, he's adorable, and he's loved to pieces by all of us.  He's exceptionally gifted at trying the outer limits of my patience one moment and then being ridiculously adorable (complete with a twinkle in his eye) the next.  He's a true redhead with all that implies.

We've said goodbye to so many of the trappings of babyhood - pacifiers, bottles, nursing, baby gates (yes, he's safe on the stairs) - and we're firmly in toddler territory now.  Soon, he'll be getting a new bed and we'll say goodbye to the crib - a piece of furniture that has nurtured the beginnings of not just our children but the children of two other families as well.  His babyhood is gone and, honestly, I don't miss it.  I soaked up as much of it as possible while we were in it.  I did my best to stop and make memories of the special moments.  Now we're headed into the territory where we get to have fun more fun with him.

Thanks for being you, kiddo.

The Birthday Celebration (A Very Picture Heavy Post)

To say that Liam's birthday party was a success would be an understatement.  That kid had a haul of presents so large it was embarrassing.  Wowsers.

In any case, he celebrated turning 6 in style.

Yes, we got the kid a plush tauntaun sleeping bag.  He was so excited.  We gave it to him on Wednesday (his actual birthday) and saved the rest of his gifts for his party on Saturday.

The picture of a happy Spud.

The fabric on the inside of the sleeping bag.  Yes, those are tauntaun guts.

In preparation for his birthday party, Liam helped me decorate his cupcakes.

Yes, I did put the apron on backwards, sorry for the backwards "Star Wars"

It was a very Star Wars birthday.

R2-D2 Play-Doh set

 Lego Star Wars Ship of some kind.  That horrible face he's making is because he doesn't want to take a picture.

Lego Slave I - Boba Fett's Ship 

He got lots more stuff but there are just way too many pictures - most of them bad - to share every gift he got.  After presents I made dinner and we had a very nice meal together.  And then it was time for cupcakes and singing.

My pictures of us singing to him and him blowing out the candle are utter shite so I can't put them up.  I need a new camera in the worst way.

In any case, he had a great day, loved all his gifts (even the clothes!), and was very happy his Oma and Puppa were here to celebrate with him.

Riddle Me This

How did he go from this:

to this:

so damn fast?

Tomorrow he will be six.  The day after that he'll be off to college and by the end of the week he'll be getting married.  Tempus fugit.

The Mind, It Reels.

I invite you to go and refresh your memory regarding Liam's friend David.

All done?  On to the story then.

When I picked up Liam from daycare yesterday afternoon, a little note was waiting for him in his box.  "Oh no," I thought.  "Another birthday invitation."  We've been getting those a lot lately and he's had a birthday party to attend the last two weekends.  Me, my wallet, and my wasted time are getting mighty tired of hauling him around to birthday parties.

I opened the invitation to see who it was from and it was from David.  Swear words may or may not have escaped my lips.  Only the gods know.

Without mentioning anything to Liam, I shoved it in my purse for further inspection when we arrived home.  The envelope felt awfully thick and it seemed as though there was more than just an invite in there.  I wanted to thoroughly peruse this little gem before I made any mention of it to Liam.

Was there more in there?  Oh yes, indeedy, there was.  There was an entire typed 8.5 x 11 inch piece of paper with extra information about a birthday party for a FIVE YEAR OLD.  I was a little shocked and I only got more so as I began to read.  Let's peruse together, shall we?

1. This party runs for five, count them, FIVE hours.  Who, in their right mind, has a birthday party for god knows how many 5 year olds that runs that long?  The kids will be completely wound up before those 5 hours are over.  Not to mention the logistical nightmare of trying to figure out how to deal with siblings who may or may not be able to deal with being out during that 5 hour block.
2. They are providing transportation.  Meet at daycare, transportation will take your child to the venue, then return them to daycare at the conclusion of the party.  Is this really some super secret wedding ceremony between David and Suri Cruise?  And if so, isn't a 2 year age difference a little much at this age?
3. They will be providing admission and all that good stuff as well as lunch and the standard party goody bag.  Ok, pretty normal.  If your kid doesn't like pizza, they can bring money and purchase something else.  Well, my picky ass kid wouldn't be down with either of those two options so we'd have to pack him a lunch and then hope he didn't lose it.
4. They have lined up enough chaperons that there will be one adult for every two children.  That's pretty nice of them and I appreciate it.  The problem is that I know the kind of people David is exposed to and there is not even one tiny iota of a chance that I will sanction them as chaperons for my kid.  These are the same people who took their 4 year old to see Avatar, after all.
5. Want to bring a sibling or a friend?  Go ahead, just let them know so they can pay for them.  Bloody hell, are they made of money?!
6. If I would prefer to come along and chaperon my kid, that's A-OK by them, but I have to pay to get myself in.  This one makes a lot of sense except that they're spending so much cash anyway I don't even know why they bothered.
7. They used the phrase "children's' playtime."  I think the part of my brain that deals with grammar just shriveled up and died a very nasty death.

So.  Let me make sure I have this correct.  You are throwing a birthday party for your 5 year old kid that rivals the planning process and budget of some weddings?

I am gobsmacked.  I don't know how else to put it.  My kid would be happy with some presents, a cake, and a sugar high.

The good news is that it turns out the party is scheduled for a day that we will be out of town.  We've been planning this trip for at least 4 or 5 months so we're not going to drop it so Liam can attend a birthday party.  Therefore, he will be unable to make it.  Crisis averted.

I was worried about telling Liam of this little schedule conflict but when I explained to him that we couldn't make the party because of the trip his response was "That's OK, I didn't want to go anyway."

Well.  Once again, crisis averted.

Is it Graduation Day yet?

Tomorrow Is My Birthday and I Already Got an Awesome Present.

Liam gifted me with this tonight, made especially for me by him:

Allow me to interpret.  From the left we have Scot with a red lightsaber, Liam with a blue lightsaber, Jamie with a green lightsaber, and Maggie the Wonder Beagle.

He had a little help from Dad with the spelling but otherwise it was all him.  My kid is awesome.

Birthday Fun For One and All

Yesterday we indulged in birthday fun for Jamie. My parents came into town for the weekend to celebrate with us so we started off the day with a trip to the Carnegie Museum. Um, Holy Crowded Building, Batman. We've had nice weather the last few days and that hitherto unknown deity referred to as Yellow Orb has been gracing us with his presence. I figured everyone would be outside doing something. Apparently not. They were all in Oakland at the Museum.

But, no matter, we still had fun. We saw the dinosaurs (always a popular destination) and looked at the Hall of Wildlife. We saw the special exhibit on whales and checked out the gem and mineral hall. As always, people watching in these situations is a hoot. We saw cute little kids, sullen teenagers spending their time texting (why exactly are you at a museum again?) and then we saw something I couldn't quite explain. A family had rented one of the double wide museum strollers. On one side was a little girl about 4 years old. On the other was her big (and I mean, ahem, big) brother of about 8. Now, why did you need the stroller in the first place? And even if the 4 year old required it, the 8 year old did not. Get up and use your damn legs! You might benefit from it, kid. Did the parents really need to be pushing 100 pounds worth of kids around the museum?

By the way, this is still what happens when you point a camera at Liam.

After we came home we got ready for Jamie's party. Scot's parents came over to celebrate with us so it was a small gathering. I made a very yummy recipe called "Pasta Rustica" for dinner (which I will post separately later) although Jamie had macaroni and cheese with pears. Then it came time to open gifts.

This went about as well as you would expect.

Gift #2 was this tractor from Scot's sister. Jamie immediately fell in love with it. He refused to pay any attention to anything else from there on out. Scot and I had to open all the rest of his gifts. Once we got them out of the packaging he consented to play with them but he kept returning to that tractor. He loves it.


Liam is also in love with everything Jamie got. As it was with Christmas, so it is with the birthday. Liam is into Jamie's new things to the point where Jamie can't even play with them because Liam is hogging everything. It's driving me completely insane.

Then it came time for the traditional smashing of the cake. I made cupcakes for him because I was pressed for time and it gave him a small portion of his own to destroy. It took him a few minutes to get the idea but once he did, he was all over that chocolate cake like white on rice.



He had a great time and so did everyone else. The house, in particular the kitchen, is now trashed and I've got to get off my dead duff and do something about it. However, it was a much more successful first birthday than Liam's (who got seriously ill the night of his party) and now it's back to normal life. If anyone can tell me what that is, I'd appreciate it. ;)

A Trip Down Memory Lane

One year ago today I was waking up on a typical Tuesday morning. Liam needed to have breakfast and get ready for daycare. I needed to pry open my eyelids enough to get dressed and brush my teeth so that I could drop him off.

What was not typical was two things: I was heavily pregnant and Scot had a doctor's appointment that morning for surgical follow up on his wrist.

I had two weeks until my due date. I was huge and uncomfortable and growing more so by the day. When pregnant women say that the last few weeks of pregnancy suck they mean it. In my case, I *really* meant it. My whole pregnancy and been crappy and hard and as I neared the end I wanted nothing more than for my useless and endless contractions to actually DO something. Everything in my life had become a challenge at that point and Scot was largely out of commission because of his surgery. His wrist and arm were in a cast and he was sporting the most fabulous yellow foam wedge on the arm as well.

Since he wasn't allowed to drive I had to take him to see his doctor that morning. We were expecting them to remove the pins in his arm and for him to feel a lot better and gain more use of his hand/wrist/arm. We were, in fact, counting on it. We had been told at the time of surgery that this would be what would happen.

So, when Dr. Sadist the orthopedist walked into the room and announced it was too soon to remove the pins we were both unhappy. When he looked Scot full in the face and told him to "just deal" with the pain he was in without the benefit of narcotic painkillers we both got angry. Word to the wise - never anger a heavily pregnant woman.

After a tense exchange, Dr. Sadist agreed to prescribe pain medication for the two weeks until Scot's pins came out. This, of course, was all we wanted in the first place despite the fact that Dr. Sadist acted as though we were looking to score Oxy on the street. *eyeroll* He upset me so much with his attitude and the misinformation over pin removal that I sat in the room with Scot and cried while they recasted his arm. It's a long story but I was looking forward to the end of being the only functional adult in the house and because I was so huge and uncomfortable (read: in constant pain) this was A Big Deal.

We left the office with an appointment in two weeks time to remove Scot's pins and a really paltry prescription for Vicodin. Scot was pissed. I was pissed. We walked out of the building and drove straight to Scot's GP so that he could talk to them. They were willing to take care of him and understood that I was damn near incapacitated myself.

It was a long and stressful morning for me. I spent a lot of time in the car which only ever aggravated the contraction situation. The afternoon was a bit more calm and I headed off to pick up Liam at daycare in the late afternoon.

My contractions rematerialized in the car as they always did.

When I got home with Liam they kept going which they never did.

Hmmm.

I left Liam hanging out with Scot and I went upstairs to time contractions and try to figure out what was happening. Two hours later they hadn't quit but they hadn't patterned either. They also were not exactly painful. Uncomfortable, yes. Painful? Not really. You would think that I would know labor when I saw it since I'd been through it before but I was flummoxed. While Scot got dinner for Liam and then called his Mom to have her come help put Liam to bed (Scot was unable to do bath time) I put a call into my doctor. She said to time it for another hour and if it didn't quit to come into the hospital.

It was a good thing my mother-in-law was already at our house because an hour later they hadn't quit and we had to go in. By the time we got there they were getting closer together and starting to become painful.

When I got all checked in and the doctor gave me the once over we got the word that I would be staying. Dr. Sadist had done his sadistic worst and stressed me into labor. The baby was on the way!

I got to have my epidural early so my labor was smooth and comfortable. Magee was incredibly busy that night (I got the last free L&D room) so it was just as well it was smooth sailing for me. But, around 5:50 am on March 4th, I was ready to push. At 6:05 am, Jamie was born.

One year ago today I woke up expecting my day to be normal. I woke up expecting to slog my way through at least two more weeks of pregnancy. One year ago, I ended my day by holding my newborn son.

Happy Birthday, Jamie. I love you.

That Solves The "What To Get Liam" Problem

Well, this should solve all our "what do we get the kid for Christmas" woes next year.

The AT-AT Imperial Walker

This will go perfectly with his 2.5 foot long Millenium Falcon! It comes out in August and I bet we buy it then just to avoid the Christmas Rush.

Now that we have that little problem solved I should probably move on to the "what the heck do we get Jamie for his birthday?!" problem. That one needs to be solved in the next two weeks.

A Look Back At Liam

I was sorting through some old pictures the other night and I ran across a ton from Liam's first year. Every parent says this, but I can't believe how much he's changed and how quickly it happened. Even more surprising is that when I look at those old photos, I can suddenly see the boy he's become in the baby he was.

I could upload a hundred pictures and not do it justice so I've limited myself to just five.