Noah’s Birthday Party

On Sunday we invited several friends and family members over to celebrate Boa’s first birthday! Mark and I are not really the partying type (or maybe it’s just that I’m not the partying type?) and we’ve never truly held a party. The biggest party we’ve ever hosted before was on Mark’s birthday when we had about seven or eight guests in the apartment. For Boa’s party there were roughly 20 guests.

I didn’t start stressing out about it until Thursday or Friday when I realized how much needed to be unpacked and cleaned. Being inexperienced party throwers, I also thought ours would probably be a huge flop. I don’t have anything to compare it to since, as I mentioned, I’m not into the party scene, but I think it went well.

We got 3 dozen rolls, some brisket and a couple different kinds of cooked sausage totaling around 7lbs from Spring Creek BBQ. When Mark brought it back, I was kind of scared it wouldn’t feed everyone, but we had plenty of leftovers! We nuked some baked beans and several guests brought side dishes of broccoli rice casserole, egg salad and deviled eggs so there was plenty to eat.

Mr. Serious refused a nap so I was worried he’d be a holy terror, but he was pretty good and social! He did as good a job as can be expected of any 2.5 year old in sharing his toys with the other kids. He had to be reminded to share several times, but never pitched a fit when I asked him to relinquish the toy and return it to the child that was playing with it.

Boa was also happy as a clam through the entire party. Almost everyone commented on what a happy baby he is and of course, it’s true. If you smile at him, he will probably smile right back at you. Boa’s never been around a lot of people before and never had the exposure to crowds Mr. Serious got in daycare so we were worried he would shy away from everyone, but he didn’t at all.

After everyone ate and hung out for a little while, it was time for cake! Like we did for Mr. Serious’ first birthday, we stripped Boa down and let him have an entire cupcake for himself. He wasn’t as eager to tear into it as Mr. Serious, but he did eat as much of it as he could! There was no way to avoid getting him into a bath after his cake, but we got him washed off and dressed to open presents in record time!

Even though there were several presents for Mr. Serious (since it was his one year anniversary of being a big brother), he didn’t at all grasp the concept that Boa was the recipient of these toys, books and sippy cups. (He had no interest in the clothes!) He pretty much laid claim to the two cool trucks Boa got, but I’m not really sure anything can be done about it. We do remind him that they’re Boa’s toys and he’s allowed to share them, but “mine” is a word heard far too frequently since the party!

After the guests dispersed, we gave Mr. Serious one of the helium balloons since we promised he could have one if he left them alone during the party. If you’re at your wits end with your toddler and want a good way for them to keep themselves entertained for up to an hour at a time, I highly recommend going out and buying them a foil helium balloon! Shortly before bed, we let Mr. Serious take his balloon outside as it was secured around his wrist. He wanted to let it go and told me he wanted it to, “fly up there in the sky” but we didn’t allow him to let go of it. Even though he very clearly wanted to see the balloon floating up and up into the sky, I don’t think he realized he wouldn’t be able to get it back. I have no idea what kind of hazard releasing a foil helium balloon would be on the environment, not to mention that we paid good money for the balloon and I didn’t want to throw it away!

It was a great, fun day. I’m so appreciative to all the friends and family who joined us and brought food and/or presents. The boys had an absolute blast!

All Photos Taken by Lynda Today

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All Photos Taken by Mark Today

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