Super Bowl? Go Pats!
Baby G
Baby Steps…
Last week around this time, our little 11 month old Baby G, took his first steps. He took a good 4-5 steps from the coffee table to the couch, two different times. “Oh, I can’t wait to capture this on video!” I thought. Well, I’ve been waiting and waiting and the little guy has not done a repeat performance since then. He’s walked about 2 steps quite a few times, but it’s as if he forgot he could already to it, and keeps squatting back down to crawl. Oh well, as a friend on twitter noted, “Maybe that’s where they get the phrase ‘baby steps’ from!” 
I honestly think he didn’t realize he was doing it to begin with, so he isn’t trying to do something he forgot he already did! I’m not worried of course. Our first son (now 10) walked 2 weeks before his 1st birthday, and our daughter (now 9) walked at 13 months. So while he was technically the early bird, it’s okay if he takes some time to do it full-time. With the amount of trouble he gets into NOT walking, I’m totally fine with him waiting a bit!
He’s been pulling up to stand and cruising around for months now and he can crawl at bionic speed. His first birthday is less than a month away and I cannot believe how the time has flown. As the lucky witness to a lifetime of ‘firsts’ for 3 different amazing little humans, I’m savoring each second and not rushing a bit. Whenever you’re ready, Baby G…just let me get the video camera ready this time.
The Last of the Firsts?
I know parents usually joke that with the first child you do everything by the book: sterilize, keep away from hazards, and record every breath as a milestone…then by child #2 you are a bit more relaxed, you don’t have to wash that binky off every time it falls on the floor…and child #3 ends up eating dog poop off the floor. Well, I’ve always considered myself a pretty laid back mom (and I’ve got the lack of baby memory books and scrapbooking skills to prove it) but what’s different here is that baby #3 is 8 and 9 years younger than his sister and brother respectively. What that translates into is yes, I’m WAY less anal about hovering over him 24/7 but I also know he is the last baby until I have grandchildren, so I want each milestone to be that much more celebrated and treasured.
It is with that thought that the dilemma of the First Birthday Party presented itself. Do I want to do a HUGE party that he of course will not remember and invite every family member and acquaintance? Or do I keep it low-key and just do immediate family and a cake for him to destroy and wear like gloves? The additional issue is that his birthday is 3 days before Halloween, so that time of the month is littered with costume parties and other functions I’m sure. Of course, who doesn’t want to come hang out and eat cake with one of the cutest kids in Florida? 😉
I’m currently leaning toward small-but-mighty party inviting close friends and family…but my husband thinks it should just be us and a cake, so the debate rages on. My eldest son’s was similar to this, close friends, family and co-workers, while my daughter’s was much bigger with a party at Davis Farmland in Massachusetts. Since most of both of our families were up there and we were living in a teeny tiny apartment, it made more sense to do something bigger up there. Of course we’ll end up bringing him to Disney for his birthday too, but that’s not something you can invite the entire neighborhood to given the cost of admission.
How have you celebrated first birthdays in the past? Have any thoughts for what we should do? Any theme ideas or suggestions? And most importantly, how on earth am I going to top a Spaghetti & Meatballs cake?! I know no matter what we decide, it will be memorable (for us) and tons of pictures, frosting and a bath involved! I’ll be sure to share it all here when all’s said and done!