Sunday, 28 June 2009

• A Weekend of Birthday Celebrations

  But alas, Baby Surprise's birthday was not among those we celebrated this weekend.  He's still in my belly, waiting for his eviction notice, I guess! Although I'm getting pretty big and uncomfortable, we had a great weekend celebrating Jack's second birthday (a bit early, since he'll probably have a very new little brother on his actual birthday, July 12) and his friend Kai's birthday.

  Saturday was Jack's party, held in our backyard. We planned a very small gathering with family and my friends Milena and Tomomi, moms of Marcus and Kai, who were also born in July 2007. All week, I had been a little apprehensive about having a party when I felt so tired, and frankly was dragging my feet a bit on the preparation, but I am really glad we had it. I had a lot of fun, and Jack had an absolute blast. It was also fun to see everyone in our yard. Anyway, I think Jack sensed something was up Saturday morning, since we were all busy prepping for the party in the afternoon.

  Are you all scurrying around for me?
  

  Since the party was from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., we just set out some snacky foods. Johnny found a nice shady spot in the yard for the food table. We had a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme (Jack loves Mickey), and while I didn't go all out on the decorations, we did have the Mickey napkins, and a birthday banner, plus each kid (Jack, Kai, Marcus and our niece Maddy) got a MMCH character-themed straw sippy cup. I figure that when Jack gets older, I'll have to get more into the themes, anyway, so I'm taking the lazy (and economical) way out while I can!

  Jack and Johnny with the spread
  

  Jack and Marcus, looking so cute as they sit at the picnic table together

  Marcus enjoyed Jack's slide
  

  Milena, me and Tomomi
  

  I met Milena and Tomomi at the park in our old neighborhood, and besides meeting at the playground, we also used to do weekly playdates, rotating the hosting responsibility each week. Our boys had fun playing together, but the playdates were as much opportunities for us moms to unwind with each other as anything else. Occasionally we also did moms' nights out. There's not much I miss about our old place, but the frequency with which I saw my mommy friends is definitely one of them!

  After we hung out for a bit, we opened Jack's wonderful presents. He got a lot of great stuff, including a bubble mower and wading pool from Chris and Victoria; a water table from Milena and Tomomi; practically a whole new wardrobe from my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Bill; a push car from my mom; and a tricycle from June and Charles.

  Please, can we inflate the wading pool?
  

  Jack went insane over the car from my mom! He's long coveted one of these. You can't believe how complicated this is to put together, by the way. Not that I did any of the work, but the instructions had 30 steps, all poorly illustrated with little text. Johnny put this together Friday night. I don't know how he did it, but once again I am awed by my husband's handy skills.

  My own car! Finally!
  

  Here's a nice scene of the yard as we assembled the awesome water table. Although the yard does have treacherous steps, the split level was nice in that the upper level (which had more shade) could be for food and hanging out, and the bottom level was for the kids to play.

  

  It's just a table filled with water, but for some reason, toddlers love it. Jack could (and did) play with it for hours!
  

  Maddy joins in on the fun
  

  The wading pool was also a hit! Here, Kai has already figured out how to pull the drain plug. He's so smart!
  

  After presents, we did the cake. I ordered an Oreo Cookie blizzard cake from Dairy Queen, with the MMCH characters emblazoned on top. It was breezy, though, so we had a hard time keeping the candles lit. This year, Jack tried to blow them out. It was cute to watch him try. As he blew, Johnny and I made sure they went out.

  

   

  Yay, cake!
  

  He's trying to blow out the candles
  

  Happy second birthday!
  

  Milena, Jack and Johnny enjoy some cake
  

  Jack enjoyed being sung to. At bedtime, he requested that we sing Happy Birthday. So silly. I really can't believe he's almost two. Seems like just yesterday, he was a tiny swaddled bundle in my arms. I'll save the reminiscing for his actual birthday. For now, he's still my little baby!

  Today, as I mentioned, we attended Kai's Elmo-themed birthday party. I stupidly forgot my camera, but it was a great time. Jack enjoyed the delicious snacks, I munched on (vegetarian) sushi and guzzled the sparkling cider, and Johnny and I were both able to socialize while Jack amused himself with the tons of toys in the yard. We also have Marcus' birthday party next Sunday to attend, but just in case, I gave Milena Marcus' birthday present yesterday. Wishful thinking? Seriously, that would only be six days before my due date ... I'm really hoping to go this week! Last night I was having contractions every 10 minutes, but although they lasted a minute, they weren't too painful, and they disappeared when I went to sleep. I think I probably overexerted myself yesterday, and that's what brought on the contractions. So, it's back to waiting. Johnny and I have been walking a lot each evening. We'll see what happens.

  All right, so I have a funny video to share with you guys. Lately, it seemed like Jack has been saying the F-word a bunch, and we could not figure out why. We kept telling him to stop, but he would just say it at what seemed like random times. Finally, Johnny figured out what he really means when he says "f***." If you watch this video, you'll find out toward the end. (By the way, I should mention that when Jack says that a dog says "wong wong," that's because that's the Mandarin dog-barking noise.  He also knows woof woof.)

  Ah, very amusing, but you bet we'll be working on the pronunciation for that one. Tonight, when Johnny put him to bed, Jack requested, "More f***?" and it was all Johnny could do not to laugh.

  On that note, I'm off to veg in front of the TV. Send me labor vibes, everyone!

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