Happy (?) 1st Birthday Sabrina

As a parent, you want to make your child's first birthday a memorable event.  I've heard of some over the top Happy One Year Birthday Events, complete with circus animals, magicians, and the cast of American Idol on hand to entertain the guest of honor.  This wasn't the party we planned. 

We decided to spend Saturday, the day before her birthday, at the Phoenix Zoo.  It was a little warm but still enjoyable, and she had a good time.  She was a little quieter then normal, but had fun and was her normal playful self when we got home.  We should have suspected something...

Calm before the storm

Birthday Sunday started off a little strange.  She woke up around 8 AM.  Strange, she never gets up until 9 on weekends... Well she must know today's the big day...turning one!  Downstairs to open presents.

Hmm, she seemed more into opening gifts on Christmas...  She had two big boxes to open, and with some help from the Daddies, got her gifts.  We let her play with them for a bit while we set about the final preparations for the party.  Since she got up early, we thought maybe an early nap was in order.  Perfect, since the party starts at 2 PM.  It took a little longer then normal to get her to go down but she finally drifted off to sleep.  Is it hot in here, or does she seem a little warm?  Well she's acting happy.

So here's the plan.  We reserved a ramada at Red Moutain Park.  I was going to go over around 1:15 and set up and decorate, Gregg would show up with Sabrina and most of the food at 2 when our guests started arriving.  While setting up, my phone rang.  It was Gregg.  "She's screaming uncontrollably, and she's got a fever of 102.5.  I don't think we're coming.  You'll have to come get the food". 

"Well it's nice and cool over here, we can put her in her play pen, I'm sure she'll be fine once her cousins and friends get here."

"No, I can't even dress her.  She's crying so bad.  Something's wrong."

I wasn't getting it.  By this point the guests started arriving, some from the north valley, some from as far as Tucson.  OK, deep breath.  I told everyone I was leaving to go get the food and the guest of honor isn't coming.  Now I know alot of you don't know each other.  Mingle.  Luckily, the park is just down the street from our house.

When I walked in, I got it.  I have not heard her scream like that since she was a newborn.  Usually picking her up will console her, but not today.  Teeth or earache, or both, she wasn't going to the party.  OK, we can make this work...  Since Gregg's car was already loaded up, I took that one back to the park and unloaded the food.  All the guests were very understanding, but I was completely stressed out.  I knew I was when I squirted ketchup on my burger and missed, spraying it all over my white shorts instead.  Great.  Where are the napkins?  Right in my truck...the one that's back home.  Ugh.  Enter my sister.  "Bobby, we need some napkins for the kids.  Where did you put them?".  Uggnnhhh...

Somehow we got through it.  Gregg and Sabrina did show up for the last 15 minutes.  Sabrina wore a sad sack look, cried some, but her fever was gone at least.  We took her home to open her gifts, which she half heartedly played with.  She would laugh and play, then start a crying binge.  Poor girl.

I kept her home this morning, and we're headed to the doctor later.  I gave her a morning bath, and she played in the tub for a bit, but went right back to sleep after, and she never does that.

This was the first party I ever planned that did not include alcohol.  I'll never do that again!

Getting Close to One

Well the little stinker is closing in on one year old.  Her birthday is on Sunday the 18th.  She's toddling all over the place now.  She's decided it's fun to feed puffs and goldfish to The Boys, who take them ever so slowly and gently from her outstretched arm.  Sometimes they get one or two quick licks in before she gets tired of waiting and just eats it herself.  Meh, dogs and baby have all had their shots.  I could jump up off the couch and race over there to snatch it out of her hand before she pops it in her mouth.  I could...

Anyway, I've forgotten what it's like to not have her around.  So I jumped back in time to visit the blog in April of 2009 to see what I was feeling.  Apparently I moped around whining about how long this is taking a lot.  An incredible amount of time was wasted.  I could have been at Happy Hours and fabulous nightclubs.  Instead, I sat around waiting!  Uh, past self I just want to slap you (me?)!  Weekend trips to romantic places?  None!  I could have even taken Gregg with me.  I could have had a party and danced around the living room without shoes on and not broken my foot by stepping on one of the Fisher Price Little People who I swear can appear around the house with Twilight Zone creepiness.  I could have done wacky stuff like ate dinner before 9 PM or watched a newscast from start to finish without pausing the DVR. 

The point is, your life changes incredibly when you become a parent.  And the change is for the better.  Sure there are lots of things we no longer do, and you could never have convinced me that reading Ten Friendly Fish four or five times in a row at one sitting or playing endless games of peek-a-boo were great ways to spend a Saturday night.  But I'm fascinated with the way an almost one year old changes and learns day by day.  And she does it all with her daddies wrapped around her finger laughing along with her.  So if you're waiting for your baby via adoption, or any other way, my advice is to go live it up.  It will help ease the wait and speed things along.  It's not like you'll never do it again (I have a Happy Hour coming up on Friday--yippie!) but those days will be few and far between.  You'll have a good time...but the best is yet to come!