David did have a birthday, and we did have a very nice party for him. I've just been so swamped with moving house-sits & getting the school year underway that I haven't yet blogged on it! Although it took me till 9/9 to post this blog, I'll post-date it and pretend the party was yesterday (it occurred on Saturday the 30th).
We invited his birth parents, who were due for a visit anyway, and his birth mother invited her oldest sister (now both of her sisters know about and have met David, but her --and the birth father's -- parents are not in the know.
When they first arrived David was still napping. He had dozed in the car during an errand, and then refused to nap. That did stress me out, because in one of his birth parents' previous visits he had been woken from a nap, and proceeded to have a melt-down. It was super important to me that he not meltdown, since I wanted his birth parents to enjoy their visit. He finally started napping just 20 minutes before they were scheduled to arrive, so we let him sleep a little longer and chatted together. It was good to catch up on their lives a little bit.
We finally did wake him, and they played with him for a while while his birth aunt helped me frost the cake (thick & dark frosting, as per Taylor's request!). We sang and carried David's high chair outside, giving a big slice of chocolate cake and hoping to see him make a huge mess. But he was so tentative about the thing! He poked at it and clapped a lot, but took some encouragement from Taylor (a big spoonful of it) to get going. Nothing like Reese Baird, who (a few years back now) dug into his 1st birthday cake with relish and abandon, smearing it quickly over his belly and hands and face. Eventually David did get messy enough for Taylor to feel satisfied! That or else it was the bees bugging us that drove us to our next activity. I was not eager to learn how allergic David may be!
After cake we went for a short swim. David liked that, though the air had cooled down, so we didn't stay in the water for long. We ate a pizza dinner together and let him open presents. The wrapping paper was the most exciting thing. Taylor and I bought a very nice wooden toy for him, but his other gifts from Ma and Pop were used: eleven! Sandra Boyton books (I asked on the PAMP list for nicely used ones, and got 11!); a used Fisher Price race track (spirals down); and a used cow Halloween costume. He got a very cool truck from Grandma and Grandpa Halverson, and a pair of Soft Shoe boots from Tutu and Gumpa, as well as $1 (a tradition from my Henderson grandparents, and then my own parents, to receive a dollar for every year). David's birth aunt made him a little counting book with animal appliques, though some are coming loose and we'll have to figure out how to reattach. His birth parents bought him a really nice PBK wooden block set, and the lovely book Always, in which they wrote a beautiful note for him. They are tender-hearts and do love him, and I'm glad he'll have that record of their love.
He was royally spoiled with gifts and attention! The next day, what did he play with? The wood stove, getting into the ashes, and the unsteady, tipsy lamp in the living room. Sigh. I don't think we'll worry about buying our next child a single thing when they turn 1! Not because we will love him or her any less, but because we will know s/he only really wants the wrapping paper!
Finally messy!
