One Year Old

You say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too--yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.

Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party.

-- The Beatles

Today is your first birthday!!! Actually that is a lie. When you were born that was your one and only birth day. Every birthday after that is technically a birthday party. So when people try to fool you with that old joke about how many birthday's you've had you can answer one.

Anyway, I digress. You are one year old today! 365 days old. 8760 hours old. 525,600 minutes old. 31,536,000 seconds old. We can't believe it. I'd swear you weren't a second over 10,000,000. You've aged well.

I came home from work a little early so mommy and Girlie and I could celebrate your birthday with you. It seems like you were just born. When it's your birthday, it's all about you. You get a few things on your birthday. You get a silly hat (see below). Not optional at your age unfortunately. You get a cake. Or more specifically you got a cupcake. This is a big deal for you. We have largely kept you from eating anything with sugar in it. See that pink stuff on the cake? That is pure sugar. Highly concentrated. Potent dangerous stuff. But it's your birthday so you get to eat it. You also get candles. One for each year of you have been alive (1 for you, see below). You make a wish before you blow out the candle but you can't blow it out yet so daddy blew it out off camera as mommy was taking the video of it.


Then you proceeded to dig in. Actually dig in would be a little too aggressive in the wording department. It was more like tip toeing in. Usually babies go nuts; jamming the entire cupcake into their face. Not you. You weren't sure what to do with it at first. And then after some coaxing from us you very daintily picked off some icing and put it into your mouth. Very lady like. We were impressed.


Afterwards we washed you off a little. We thought we'd have to give you a bath but you only got cake on you in a few spots so we threw you into the kitchen sink which you thought was great fun.


Next came the presents. Mommy couldn't wrap this one so it was just sitting out. It's a wagon that has some Lego-like blocks inside. We have an ulterior motive for this present. We can store more of your other toys inside.


You actually mistook this present for your own personal carriage though. Very princess-like. I pushed you around a little and you did that princess wave thing to mommy. It's all in the wrists.


Next was a big bag of goodies mysteriously wrapped up.


You had a few things in there. Not one, but two DVDs. Baby Einstein DVDs about colors and parts of your body. You already know nose, ears, and eyes. This will move into more esoteric body parts such as the esophagus, duodenum, and the femur. There will be a quiz next week. What? You're not ready for this? Hey it's Baby Einstein. Not Baby Forest Gump. We're ready for this. Trust me.


Next I opened a box from your cousins Jonathan and James and your Aunt Caroline and Uncle Larry. You supervised and made sure the opening went according to plan. No fear. Daddy's unwrapping technique is unstoppable.


Your shocked look is because you thought they sent you a baby sister which you apparently aren't ready for. Luckily it's just a doll. It has your skin coloring and hair color too.


Once you realized this you were thrilled! And it even came with a baby book for her.


Then you got some more educational toys. Flash cards. They have things like letters and numbers and colors on them. I just finished an article saying these will have no effect on your intelligence or learning. Nevertheless it's a good way to learn your alphabet and numbers.


And of course you got a book too. Your favorite. This one was Curious George.


Next you got a really cool gift. It's like a blackboard but it's made of a magnetic material. You can take a magnetic pen or those 4 magnetic pieces at the top of it and write and make shapes on the white writing part. When you want to erase it you pull down that little bug with eyes that's in the upper right hand corner and it removes the magnetic particles. I had to write your name upside down. I wasn't sure if the 's' and 'n' turned out correctly until I saw this picture.


Then we played with everything in the middle of the mat. I think you had a good time. You were very quiet today. Maybe all this stuff was overwhelming. But you can play with your toys all day tomorrow.


Make sure you thank your mom when you get older. She went out to buy you the cakes and hats and all your presents and wrapped them all up. And thank your aunt, uncle, and cousins for their nice presents too.

Happy Birthday!!

Oh yea. And next week... You get another birthday party. No I'm not kidding but thanks for asking. We're going to Los Angeles so mommy's family can see you and throw you a party too. But for this one you have to wear a really ill fitting outfit. I was supposed to wear one to but I vetoed that. I'm not so sure that will be as fun as a birthday hat but you'll probably get some more presents too! Mommy will tell you all about that party next week.