Birthday Report

Well, it was quite a birthday. Thank you to everyone who called, mailed, texted, e-mailed and/or personally delivered birthday wishes to Harper. She was a gift-unwrapping, cake-eating, good-time-having kind-of kid this weekend.

And the winner is... CUPCAKES! Pink Girly Sprinkles and Green Monster Eyes won out. They were cute but not very delicious. I should have experimented with recipes before hand but ran out of time. Oh well, there's always next year. 

We were lucky enough to have Brad’s parents here for the week, too. Brad’s mom cooked up a storm (Brad demanded she make her World Famous Potato Salad) and Brad’s dad was somehow finagled into supervising a major engine overhaul on our car, for which we are ever indebted. It was a lovely visit and we were so glad they got to share Harper’s first birthday with us. 

Harper and Pa enjoying post-pizza shenanigans.

  

Saturday’s celebration was exhausting. Events included organic, whole wheat pizza for lunch (Harper’s food of choice these days) followed by a trip to both the children’s park and the dog park. 

"Mmmm... pizza!"

When we returned home there was (a lot of) opening presents,

"The only thing more interesting than this gift is the bubble wrap it came in."

"Clearly this is an example of using repetition as a memory aid. Well played, Nana."

... which led to unbridled singing and cake.

"Frankly, these are a little disappointing mom. I can't believe you decided to introduce me to sweets this way. What a shame."

Bath time (necessitated by the cake incident, but always a favorite) was next on the agenda and the evening ended quietly. Overall, I think it turned out to be a pretty perfect birthday.

"Wahoo! Bath time!"

The ceremonial Opening of Presents was quite a drawn out affair and started a couple of days early to accommodate the sheer volume of gifts accumulating about the house. Her gifts included:

1 Collection of Various Baby Games (thank you Aglaves) 

1 Munchkin Mozart Music Cube (thank you Talakkotturs)

1 Plastic Fish Tank Including Tank Accessories and Plastic Fish (thank you Cookes)

1 Princess Mouse (thank you Brandons)

1 Authentic Chinese Baby Outfit Ensemble (thank you Kessels)

1 Complete Outfit with Pillowcase Dress, Sweater and Hair Accessory (thank you Hedlunds)

1 Doll (thank you Daryl and Ann)

1 Child’s Dish and 1 Mug in Hand Painted, Portuguese Porcelain (thank you mom and dad)

1 Children’s Play CSA Share (from mommy and daddy)

4 Wooden, Hand Painted Cars (from mommy)

1 Bongo Drum and 1 Set of Jingle Bells (from daddy)

Enumerable Books (thank you Talakkotturs, Daryl and Ann)

Money for College (thank you Harveys, Daryl, Ann, Wayne and Jan)

Everyone was overly generous (birthday loot must be one of the perks to being a first born) and we can’t thank everyone enough for helping make her first birthday so special. It’s possible I left something off of the above list. I truly apologize if I have offended anyone by doing so but it’s been hard keeping up. Next week I’ll start on the Thank You’s, just after I finish putting the house back together.

Our birthday beauty at Stride for Strays. Thank you for the gorgeous picture, Nikki!

Anyway, on Sunday Brad and Pa worked on the car so Nana and I took Harper to Stride for Strays in the morning, and then we had a nice lunch downtown. Afterward we went to a used bookstore and picked up a couple of gems and then headed over to the aquarium to see the fish.

Harper absolutely LOVES the aquarium. Buying an annual membership was one of the smartest things I have done because we visit probably three times a month. And it shows. “Duck” was Harper’s second word and “fish” made the top 10 as a direct result of our frequent forays. This time we got to see the penguins up close, which was a thrill.

We had a front row seat until the kid on the right decided to cough directly on Harper, so we chose to move back a little.

Thanks again to everyone for the wonderful day! And here’s a video clip of the Birthday Girl wearing her plate as a hat at the pizza place on Saturday. What a creative daughter we have!