In the late evening, Caelyn just can’t handle all the “strangers” looking at her and singing.
I’ve been told that I have a good memory, but I really can’t remember too many birthday parties. Mainly, I think that’s because I didn’t have too many official, full-blown parties. My birthday is the last day in July. When I was growing up, my parents almost always loaded up the “travel car” and headed to Texas from New Jersey or Alabama or Oklahoma for the last two weeks of my birthday month.
(Yes, my family had/has a car designated specifically for trips exceeding a certain mileage. The travel car is always the most reasonable, nicest car my parents can afford outright. Once it reaches a certain mileage, it gets handed down to my mom and a new travel car moves into the garage. Mom’s car becomes Dad’s car and remains his until it reaches such an old age that the only way to get rid of it is to donate it as a “cadaver” to the local technical college. There was no eating in the travel car, except for crackers, because Dad wouldn’t stop for dinner until after dark, and Mom had hypoglycemia and needed crackers for her blood sugar. Mom would hand us one cracker at a time. You had to put the entire cracker in your mouth at once, so as not to leave any crumbs. Water was allowed. Mom also held on to that. For a time, we got to have hard candy. Then my sister stuck a sucker stick down in the seat belt holder and that was over. We could bring as much entertainment as we could fit into our “rat nests,” aka duffel bags, and clean out afterwards. So my sister and I would sit with our legs crossed up on the seat, listening to Walk-Mans (once they were invented) and playing with our Spell n’ Says throughout the long trek across the eastern half of the country. We got along well enough, so long as I stayed on my side of the middle seat belt divider. Occasionally, my sister would be sweet and let me sleep with my head in her lap, but usually I got karate chopped if even my little toe drifted over to her side. When she was in college, I rigged my headphones up through the coat bar as an antenna so I could get better radio reception on my Walk-Man. She was convinced that mine was better than hers and somehow convinced my parents that she deserved to have mine. Also, just in case, if my dad ever offers you ten bucks to clean the travel car, don’t fall for it. You’ll get your ten bucks alright, after you wash it, vacuum it, and go through every crevice with a Q-tip.)
Anyway, most of them time, my birthday found us in San Antonio at my grandparents’ house. Before we moved to Oklahoma, I had an early 8th birthday pool party at my next-door neighbor’s house. I had a few slumber parties in elementary school in Oklahoma. And I went to plenty of others and even a few roller-skating birthday parties; I broke my wrist at one in third grade. My friend Susie and I had a massive 16th birthday pool party, but otherwise, it was always just the family gathered around my grandmother’s dining room table, aptly decorated by my older sister.
Obviously, I don’t remember my first birthday. I’ve never even seen a picture of it. (I’m sure my parents would claim the pictures are on slides. I’ve tried to tell them it’s okay. I know I’m the youngest.) But the point of this post isn’t really my birthday or my childhood travles anyway; it’s Caelyn’s birthday, which just happened for the first time on June 30th. We decided to just have a small get-together for a few reasons: 1) We can’t fit the entire extended family in our apartment, 2) We don’t have a ton of friends in DFW anyway, and most importantly 3) Caelyn’s afraid of crowds and she gets nervous whenever she thinks someone might take her away from me. So we held out for my parents to arrive in DFW for the week of the 4th and invited just the immediate family and the Bradshaws. My sister couldn’t be here, the Bradshaws were in Abilene visiting Cristin’s new niece, and Chris’ sister’s family went to her in-laws’ in Arkansas, so it was just us and the Grandparents, which was nice. For Caelyn’s sake (and mine), we kept things low-key. I made the invitations and decorations (with Cristin’s assistance); we went out for dinner; served cake, ice cream, milk, and coffee at home afterwards; and kept the entertainment to a background picture/music show made by Chris on the TV and presents.
The main invitation tucks inside this pocket. I can’t show it to you, because it’s not wise to tell the entire Internet world my address, email, and phone number.
Another view of the party room
Party Flowers
Party Guests (Granddaddy, Grami Roo, Nana, & Papa)
Caelyn says it’s time for presents!
On the whole, I think Caelyn had a pretty good time. She got to have a sweet potato at dinner, which is her favorite, and she made friends with another little girl in a high chair at the booth next to ours. She had a great time opening presents and checking out her new toys and the tags on her new clothes.
Presents! Presents! Presents! (Touch n’ Feel Farm, Noah’s Mega Blocks Ark, Building “Bricks,” See n’ Say, Busy Zoo, Giggle Bert/Ernie Ball, Xylophone, Big Girl Towels, Bath Toys, PJs, Clothes, Books, Peter Pan, & More)
Mommy braves the sea of presents.
Tags make a big splash!
Let’s make some music!
Caelyn’s gets ready to See n’ Say.
It takes no time for her to feel right at home in the Busy Zoo.
Turns out she doesn’t like chocolate, so she wouldn’t eat much of her cake. And it was so late that she couldn’t handle the cold of the ice cream. (I’ve seen her scarf ice cream before!) But she didn’t seem to mind letting the rest of us eat up!
The ice cream is met with anxiety.
Caelyn says she gave cake and ice cream her best shot, but it’s just not her thing. (I can’t believe my child doesn’t like frosting! It’s pure butter AND sugar!)
Worn out by the end of the night, she crawled over to me, climbed atop her new alligator xylophone, and put her head in my lap. Then she showed off her new bedtime skills while Nana and Papa tried to get their car to start.
The Party Favors: inside each were little glass tile magnets with Caelyn’s picture on them.
At the end of the night, Caelyn tries to tell her guests it’s time for her to go to bed.
I know it’s cliche to say, but the year really has gone by quickly. It’s crazy to think that just a year ago, she was completely helpless in my arms and now she wants to do everything by herself. At the same time, she’s weaved so tightly into our lives that it seems like she’s always been with us. How could I have ever not been her mom? I guess that’s how all parents feel. And I guess it never stops. I’m sure it won’t be long before she’s walking out my front door, 20-years-old with a boyfriend, on her way back to another semester of college. I’m sure I’ll make her pause to let me kiss her on the forehead and tell my sweet baby to drive safely. And I’m sure I’ll stand at the edge of the front lawn, watching as she slips around the corner and off into another state, feeling like the distance from my home to her new one really couldn’t be any farther.
9 Comments
July 10, 2007 at 2:10 pm
I found your blog via the “Tag Surfer” on wordpress. This is a really great post. We just celebrated our daughter’s first birthday in May and she didn’t like her cake either. Just a month later, however, she LOVES cake. Very messy and fun.
July 10, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Your daughter is adorable!
July 10, 2007 at 6:49 pm
These photos are absolutely beautiful. Like, something I’d see in a magazine and then want to mock for my own birthday (which is also at the end of July!). There are a few pictures from my first birthday, but not too many of them are of a non-cake-face Chelsea.
Excellent job, Mommers. Can I count on you to make the cake/invitations/decorations and party favors for my birthday? :)
July 12, 2007 at 4:32 pm
ok…it’s official..your pictures are just as good as Chris’. CUTE!!!!
July 15, 2007 at 4:13 pm
I wish my Nikon D50 would make pictures this good. Weird, huh? Must be faulty.
My parents weren’t even in the same state on my first birthday. They never said anything about it, but they flew to Denver or something and stuck my grandma with the party responsibilities. When grandma let this slip later in my life, I began what is now a decade-long guilt-fest on my Mom. The first time I mentioned it, subtly, she froze, looked at me and said, “you can’t remember that!” She still cringes when I bring it up.
Way to be there, Mama Katy!
July 16, 2007 at 8:42 pm
Sorry for the delays, everyone! As is my trend lately, I’m dreadfully behind on comments in the blog circle and on posting. There’s been a lot (kind of) going on. But I’ll be back in the game soon; I promise. You can put that on the record.
Strugglingwriter: Thank you! And it’s good to know that cake may still be on Caelyn’s horizon. She tried a chocolate chip cookie that week and rejected that too, but apple pie on the 4th was a smashing success! I’m glad you stopped by. Come back any time!
Thanks, Allie! Those big brown eyes tug her mommy’s heart for sure.
And thank you too, Chelsea! You bet I’ll do your party! All you have to do is come to Texas, and we can have a double bash. In fact, if we celebrate early, we can use Caelyn’s decor, since it’s still scattered about the apartment. :) Hey, I even made a big, decopodged “C” for the coffee table. Your name starts with “C”! It’s totally meant to be. (Do you have any buddies near your new digs to help you ring in another year of Chelsea?)
There’s no doubt that this kid’s well-documented. Everyone’s always saying how we won’t be able to give the same coverage to the next one. But I’m sure Chris will think a new baby will call for a new camera and that will result in many hours of excited photo-taking.
Thank you, Jan, although I obviously can’t take credit for the photos that I’m in. Some of your son’s techno-geekiness had to rub off on me eventually!
Ha, Walt. Thanks! My talents belong mainly to the Nikon. Most of those were taken with a special lens that does something to the light, causing the focal point to be sharp and the background to be a little blurry. I don’t know what that’s called, and to be honest, I don’t even know how to change the lenses in the first place, but I think it’s pretty cool. I have noticed a problem with some of your photos, though. I don’t know if it’s blurriness or what, but in some shots, it looks like there are two babies instead of one. You might want to contact Nikon about that problem. Seriously, your shots are great! The girls look like they’ve already grown a lot. I can see the family resemblance more now, and not just in the red hair. And they’re already makin’ the scene at Rosa’s! Have you taught them about Taco Tuesday? I especially like that pic with Lily smiling at Maggie. (What do Maggie and Chloe think about Lily and Gracie?)
I love your first birthday story! Oh, Walt’s mom. You’re even the eldest, right? Way to keep the flames of guilt burning. I think you should’ve let her think that you actually could remember. Then she really would’ve been in a tizzy, worrying about all the things she thought would just slide under the “no long-term memory” rug!
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