Lazy Song: I'm 2!!!

Actually, W is now 3 years old. Sigh. So soon. Too soon. We have been prepping for his party for a while now. It's great because I didn't have to come up with a theme myself. He's his own person now, with likes and dislikes. Sometimes they are one and the same. Don't ask. But he LOVES Thomas the Tank Engine. So naturally, we were going to have a train party. I wasn't going to do anything fancy. I don't have time for that, right? But if you've ever gone on Pinterest, you'd know that there are just too many cute ideas out there that you cannot deny your little boy. Even if he can't acknowledge or appreciate it now (which he totally doesn't) I hope that one day he'll look at pictures and know that all this effort made out of sheer celebration. There are are people out there (who's names I won't say) make their birthdays out be be some sort of week long mardi gras fest. I never understood that because that's a little more attention than I prefer. And you'd think someone with a birthday 10 days from Christmas would like a little celebratory recognition. But again, too much focus in the wrong direction. It's embarrassing. So birthdays were never a big deal to me. Not something to ignore, but not exactly blimp-worthy either, you get what I'm saying?

Well, I feel completely different about birthdays now. Because the day my first son was born will always be a reason for me to celebrate my ass off. I was soooo excited. I could barely sleep the night before. I kept thinking..."I hope he likes it. I hope he likes it." And, thank God, he did.

That isn't to say it went off without a hitch. It started off bumpy. Grandpa ruined the cake. Not completely, but it was right in the middle and in the front. Not the side that you can hide or the back. But the front. I was upset because it was a Thomas the Train cake I had special ordered. It was the first cake other than our wedding cake that I had special ordered. I didn't even do that for his first birthday. You couldn't be more MOM than ordering a train cake. So I was quite bummed it got smushed. And I got blisters on my feet before the party even started because I had to make a lot of trips to the car to get everything. I had lots of help... but time was not on my side. You see, they don't give you much time to prepare. We rented out a train for 3 hours. And you get to designate your prep time out of those 3 hours. That's like...nothing. Three hours will zip by at a party! (which it did.) So I only gave myself 30 mins to set up the party, which is like a blink of an eye. We got it done. Barely. And all I remember was eating for a few minutes, saying hi to a few friends, and then it was time to clean up!!! Of course, most of the parents had taken the kids to ride the train so there were only a few of us left to clean up. We were like a tornado ripping through a town, leaving nothing but debris. I was actually quite proud of us. But I was also sad because I didn't even get to see my son hang out at the train station. I was too busy. I felt like Steve Martin at the end of Father of the Bride, when he doesn't even get to dance with his daughter on her wedding day. But everyone finally came back in time to get their favors and strollers and I DID get to ride the train with my beautiful son! I got to just enjoy his birthday for a few minutes on the train while holding him. And I started to cry. And I was so glad I was sitting in the front row so no one could see. He was a just a baby a moment ago. And I realized that all of his birthdays will be bittersweet because it will always mark how quickly time passes.

I find myself looking at his face, searching for those round chubby cheeks he once had. His hair is thicker and no longer whispy. He's got all his teeth now. His feet look huge!! It's getting harder and harder to see the "baby" in my baby. Don't grow too fast, sweetie. Mommy is having a hard time with it already.