Monday, January 14, 2008

Sammy's (Early) First Birthday

Yesterday was Sam's (very early) first birthday party. And even though she is only 11.5 months, I think it is safe to say she partied like someone who is in the know.

Roughly 40 people and 14 babies came to the indoor playspace we rented. We had balloons, pizza and TONS of cake:



At first the party seemed a bust for our not-so-hearty hero who had her morning nap, but was still a bit tired and spent the first hour of the party yawning and sucking her thumb amidst the chaos:



She did recover, however and managed to have a pretty decent time and all bets were off once the cake came out. Little Sam dug right in and devoured her cucake like a champ:



Soon the cake was everywhere:



But the little one was very content. And mommy even managed to make it through Happy Birthday without sobbing (although she did have to leave the party to vomit once during and twice after--yay "morning sickness" that lasts all day). But then I remember a time when a good party was measured by the number of people who vomited after. And little Sam did manage to come home looking a lot like a frat boy the morning after a big blowout with unknown sticky substance mashed in her hair, a drunken grin and exhaustion bordering on delusion. And so we say: SUCCESS!

Here is Sam saying goodbye to Auntie Kenz who came in from Le Big Apple to celebrate her little niece's day. She kind of wanted to kiss her goodbye...and kind of didn't:



The party was really a smashing success and for those who complain about blowout first birthdays, I have to say, I have zero regrets about any aspect of this party. We have fantastic photos and digital recordings. We got all of the friends who have been important in Sam't life together in one place and we managed to creat many, many memories for ourselves, even if the little bean has none. So it was worth the money and effort. I would do it again--and will.

As far as the haul (see my post from a few days ago regarding giftless birthdays), everything Sam received was extremely thoughtful, mostly good books, children's CDs, adorable clothing and many useful toys. Every single thing is something she will play with and appreciate so I have no regrets there, either.

And now the countdown is on to the real first. Just 11 more days until my baby is one. I can't believe it. As she was sitting in her high chair during the party, I turned to R and said how much she looked like a one-year-old. Later when we came home, she napped and we watched DVDs of her birth and cutting the cord, followed by footage of the hack new parents spending about 20 minutes trying to figure out why our baby was sucking on so many things--"Maybe she needs her binkie," clueless mommy says. At least the second won't have to wait 20 minutes for us to realize that rooting and sucking means hungry.

My baby is all growed up. It is off to law school with her now.

2 comments:

Kristi said...

Aww... happy early birthday, baby girl. Sounds like the party was a blast. Note to self: rent large play area for daughter's 2nd birthday to minimize problems of large numbers of people in a small space.

g and c boyarko family said...

Happy early b-day to Sam from us 3 :)!