Belated Birthday Wishes to My Kidlets!

The first half of the calendar year is pretty birthday-intensive for our family, with my father's birthday in January, my mother's and my birthdays in February, E's in March, and V's in May. It feels like every other week is a family dinner to celebrate someone's birthday.

And now that the kids are old enough for parties, it feels like I have to skip my birthday altogether and go straight from planning my dad's birthday dinner (I don't usually plan my mom's because we have always been lumped together - it's not like I don't love my mom. Mom, if you read this, it's not that I don't love you) to planning E's birthday party. The second the last of his little party guests leaves, then it's time to plan for V's birthday party. Having their birthdays two months apart was clearly a grave tactical error on my part.

In case you don't have kids or haven't gotten to the point when your kids have opinions about their parties, I need to disclose that birthday parties are monumental events that require top-notch project management skills. But that's a topic for another day; the point is that only now, about 3 weeks after V's birthday party, do I feel like I've recovered and gotten a chance to breathe.

So *inhale*, *exhale*... Happy Belated Birthday to my two favoritest kiddios!

A Belated Happy Birthday, V!

I swore that I would not be one of those moms who lets child #2 get short-changed, but inevitably, it's hard to give undivided attention to the sweet low-maintenance baby when the high-strung three year-old is screaming his head off most of the time.

And so here I am, over a week after V's first birthday, finally acknowledging her big day. And V was as sweet and low maintenance as ever on her birthday. So low maintenance, in fact, that some people forgot she was even at her own party! That Grandma stole her away to a corner and monopolized her time had a little something to do with it, too.

A belated happy birthday to my wonderful daughter. Even though I may not get as much time with you, you have my whole heart.

Surprise!

After E's birthday party, we sat down together to open presents. E received a variety of gifts, from puzzles to baseball equipment to art supplies to toy cars. I was probably even more excited than he was at the things he received that I have an interest in: paints and brushes, puzzles, and more track kits for his GeoTrax collection. I envisioned us painting together, putting together new train track configurations, and laughing and having fun conversation as we assembled the puzzles.

The baseball, basketball, and golf sets? Meh. Maybe there is a gift receipt and I could return them for something I knew E enjoyed more. After all, he has shown no interest in sports whatsoever.

So imagine my surprise when the thing he wanted to play with most was his T-ball set! And a double surprise that he was actually really good at hitting the whiffle ball. My son, a natural athlete? Who knew??? He and his daddy were having so much fun playing T-ball on the front lawn that I couldn't help but start to like baseball a little more just watching them play together.

Then E said, "I want Mommy hit the ball." Oh no, baseball is not my thing; I was Miss Picked-Last-By-Team-Captains-During-PE from kindergarten to my senior year in high school. I was enjoying being a spectator, and I really didn't want him to see his mommy striking out.

I got my third surprise of the day when I was able to hit the ball that the machine pitched to me. And after a few swings, I was hitting line drives between first and second base. Guess who is playing with E out on the front lawn these days? Daddy is happy to catch a quick nap after work while Mommy and E play T-ball.

And to think I almost returned that toy! So this is a little reminder to myself not to impose my own likes and dislikes on my kids, and also to keep an open mind about what time with them can teach me about myself as well.

Happy Birthday, E!

Today is my son E's third birthday. He was acting very "3" today, but all in all, he was well-behaved and gracious in accepting all the special exceptions he was granted in honor of his big day: opening presents; TV after dinner; ice cream (ok, soy ice cream) for dessert. He even consented to sit on the potty twice tonight in a cursory show of cooperation in our potty training efforts.

Until I got pregnant, I didn't really think that I would have kids (neither did my friends). And after I got pregnant, I wasn't sure if the whole mommy thing would take. So imagine my surprise to find that I love being a mom, and that on this day, I feel like I am the one who got the best present of all.

Happy Birthday, E!