Birthday Party

We celebrated Jada's 2nd birthday this weekend. A picture tells a thousand words, so I'll post some of those shortly, but let me add some words to help describe the festivities.

* First, Amy gets a billion gold stars. While I was nursing a cold, Amy did all the cleaning, cooking, and scheming. Our menu included vegetarian and non-vegetarian items, a cornucopia of healthy desserts, and not a few ethnic flavors. Special thanks are also due to Amy's mom and sister-law for contributing to the spread.

* Speaking of doling out thanks, my sister and brother-in-law came down from New York to see us, and were instrumental in making this event possible. They're moving to Southern California later this year, which is completely unacceptable, since we seem to rely on them so heavily whenever we throw a party for Jada. We'll just have to fly them in for birthdays and Gotcha Days.

* We invited three sets of people we've met at the local park, three sets from church, three sets from our college days, and three sets from family. All told, there were about twenty adults and eight kids on the guest list, and about three-quarters of the bodies actually came.

* Jada caught my cold just before the weekend, so she was already not feeling well. And she's used to being able to steal away from alone time when she's had her fill of socializing. Plus she hasn't yet learned what sharing means. So while she enjoyed having all her friends over at first and then at the end, in the middle she had a bit of a meltdown - kids running roughshod over her space and with her toys, people everywhere, even Mama and Dada holding other peoples' kids. So we excused the star of the party to a quiet place to give her a little one-on-one attention and a break from the hubbub, and after that she was fine.

* Speaking of which, we got a glimpse of the rough transition Jada will have when Aaron arrives and she has to share our attention with another kid. I think she'll eventually be a good big sis - if only because she'll figure out Aaron is someone who will willingly want to be bossed around - but we'll need to make sure we give her some extra TLC even as we're trying to accommodate Aaron's needs.

* Right on cue, a package arrived the morning of the party. It was a birthday gift from Jada's godparents in Los Angeles, who seem to have completely and utterly mastered the US postal system - to date, we haven't celebrated any of Jada's milestones without getting something from them on the day of. (Me, I'm lucky if I can get a package across the country within five days of a target date.)

So there you have it. Jada's 2nd birthday party in a nutshell. To those who came, thanks for helping make it such a special gathering. To those who couldn't, enjoy the pics - and stop by for a nibble of our leftovers; we'll be eating them for quite a few days!