A birthday party for mommy is an occasion to find out exactly how much Jonathan’s has learned about this cause for celebration in Kindergarten. At the beginning of the year, when he was 2 years old he still did not quite get it, but 6 months later, approaching my own birthday and understanding how important this theme has become to him, I invite the family to celebrate my birthday over coffee and cake, with candles of course…
When Jonathan sings a happy birthday” song, he usually sings it for himself. “Happy birthday to Jonathan, happy birthday to you!”. There is no reasoning with him. It can only be his birthday! He is the center of his little world. The fact that it is my birthday that triggers the party is irrelevant. No matter! He sings for himself. And if I am honest, I am celebrating with family guests for Jonathan rather than for myself. It might as well be indeed his birthday.
I put the candles in the cake and he is disappointed when I do not allow him to take them out. Then I light them and he is exited, forgetting his disappointment in the expectation of blowing them out. We all sing aloud and then count to three for blowing up the candles – the ladies among us pretending, rather than blowing air. My brother in law however thinks Jonathan needs help blowing out the candles and so he blows hard and blows them out. Poor Jonathan was so disappointed! He starts to cry! And all the mothers in the room (grandmothers included) turn to scold my poor brother in law for his lack of under standing. So we light the candles again and this time Jonathan gets to first enjoy the flames (interesting stuff! But he knows he may not get too close) and then he blows them out all by himself!
After the candles have been blown out, Jonathan proves that he understands good manners and hospitality. He goes around serving people cake like a proud peacock showing his tail. He receives the pieces of cake form me served in plastic plates and he offers them to the guests, distributing cake until all have gotten a piece and only then does he take a piece for himself.
For a whole week afterwords, he wants to put candles on the remains of the cake himself, and then light them and blow them out each morning. He knows where to find birthday candles in the cupboard in the kitchen and eventually does mind lighting them even without the cake (it is eaten after a few days). After about a week, he looses interest in the candle lighting ceremony – but the birthday songs keep coming up. If he is singing one of them, I know that yet another child has had his birthday celebrated in kindergarten. If Jonathan also turns up with a small gift, I can be 100% sure that this is the case. I am only left to hope, that now that he grasps the concept of the party and what fun a birthday party can be that he will enjoy his 3rd birthday celebration (in kindergarten and at home) much more than last year.
Showing posts with label first birthday party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label first birthday party. Show all posts
Monday, June 14, 2010
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Jonathan's first year growth chart
If there was one good thing I got off the breast feeding instructor in the hospital in which Jonathan was born, its the idea to compile a growth chart for Jonathan in his first year, using a water bottle!
The idea is to take an object and compare your baby to it once a month - and see how the baby grows. The object I chose was a 1.5 liter water bottle, standard and handy. The result is above - 12 images - 12 growth moments in Jonathan's first year! The first picture was taken on Dec. 4, 2007 when Jonathan was but a week old and the last one was taken on Nov. 29, 2008 a day after Jonathan's first birthday!
Back to the breast feeding instructor, I went to hear a lecture about breast feeding because I wanted to learn how to do it right with my first new born baby - What I got was unfortunately an hour of opinionated content about how formula is bad for you, the baby should sleep with the parents in the same room - starting with the hospital bed and so on...
At the end of the lecture I felt bad because I wanted to rest after my cesarean surgery and left Jonathan in the nursery with the nurses for the night, rather than have him by me...but I also got the great idea of the first year growth chart!
The story goes that 20 years ago when the instructor has her children, and she was breast feeding her baby, she has no reference to a good growth rate. The charts provided then (and probably also now) are based on babies that eat formula (or mixed - mother milk and formula). According to the instructor, babies who breast feed grow in a different rate, basically much slower than formula babies - So as she did not have a good reference chart and she wanted to make sure her baby was growing nicely, she decided to compare the baby to an object (she too chose a bottle) and thus she could see that it was indeed growing - gaining weight and becoming taller.
By the way, the instructor assured us that breast feeding babies eventually they catch up, and according to her breast feeding is not only the best food for your baby but the only option! So no worries.
As Jonathan's first year is now over I felt it was appropriate to show my faithful readers the picture of the bottle chart, I am sure you will excuse a proud mother for showing off!The only two question that remain are: if I will continue this, and if so, at what frequency. (Maybe once a year until the age of 20? then his hand will be almost as large as the bottle...ha ha).
The idea is to take an object and compare your baby to it once a month - and see how the baby grows. The object I chose was a 1.5 liter water bottle, standard and handy. The result is above - 12 images - 12 growth moments in Jonathan's first year! The first picture was taken on Dec. 4, 2007 when Jonathan was but a week old and the last one was taken on Nov. 29, 2008 a day after Jonathan's first birthday!
Back to the breast feeding instructor, I went to hear a lecture about breast feeding because I wanted to learn how to do it right with my first new born baby - What I got was unfortunately an hour of opinionated content about how formula is bad for you, the baby should sleep with the parents in the same room - starting with the hospital bed and so on...
At the end of the lecture I felt bad because I wanted to rest after my cesarean surgery and left Jonathan in the nursery with the nurses for the night, rather than have him by me...but I also got the great idea of the first year growth chart!
The story goes that 20 years ago when the instructor has her children, and she was breast feeding her baby, she has no reference to a good growth rate. The charts provided then (and probably also now) are based on babies that eat formula (or mixed - mother milk and formula). According to the instructor, babies who breast feed grow in a different rate, basically much slower than formula babies - So as she did not have a good reference chart and she wanted to make sure her baby was growing nicely, she decided to compare the baby to an object (she too chose a bottle) and thus she could see that it was indeed growing - gaining weight and becoming taller.
By the way, the instructor assured us that breast feeding babies eventually they catch up, and according to her breast feeding is not only the best food for your baby but the only option! So no worries.
As Jonathan's first year is now over I felt it was appropriate to show my faithful readers the picture of the bottle chart, I am sure you will excuse a proud mother for showing off!The only two question that remain are: if I will continue this, and if so, at what frequency. (Maybe once a year until the age of 20? then his hand will be almost as large as the bottle...ha ha).
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Jonathan's Birthday Party
Everything that could go wrong did go wrong! Murphy was working extra hours on the day we decided to celebrate the first year of our first born! Even so, in the end it was a nice party after all...
Yesterday, November 28th, Jonathan was one year old! And today, Saturday November 29th we decided to celebrate by inviting the extended family to a tea party. The day started badly because it turned out that the birthday boy is sick. One of those nasty viruses that simply makes you fall flat on your face! This meant that Jonathan was stuck to me all morning and when not, he was sprawled on the floor, powerless! Not the unusual happy picture of the active little boy! The illness showed its signs yesterday, when he threw up at lunch, but as he was happy and playful after that event, we were hopeful. Saturday, showed us that indeed he did not feel well and our hopes were not answered. The fact that Jonathan required extra mommy love meant I started my preparations for the party late, another thing gone wrong, and yet there was a positive light, as the boy was mostly inactive, I could leave him be, to fall asleep in the living room, and go about my business baking his birthday cake in relative quiet and peace.
The next thing that went wrong was the cake! I wanted to try a baby healthy carrot cake recipe, and ended up with a mushy mixture that refused to bake itself into a cake despite 2.5 hours in the oven! 20 minutes before the guests were supposed to arrive I mixed a new cake and 10 minutes before the official invitation time I pushed it into the oven, relying on the bad habits of my extended family, and their usual lateness...
The second cake seams to bake well and fast, and it was ready in 30 minutes. In an hour I has it covered and decorated, and so only a small portion of my guests knew about the mishap, and they were my close family, so to quote them, they “do not really count” when it comes to etiquette, lucky for me...
The next thing to go wrong was that in my haste to change Jonathan diaper before the party, I undressed him in the living room, without having the required equipment (I.e. a new diaper and some tissues to clean him up...) of course the old diaper was full! Of everything that a diaper can be full of. My husband was called in to help save the day by bringing the required tissues and I held the unsatisfied Jon than with feet in the air until his bottom was finally clean. Then having also discovered that I did not bring diaper, my husband went to fetch it, and until that transpired Jonathan managed to pee on the carpet! Really Murphy was sitting up in heaven and having a laugh at my expense.
I finally got Jonathan diapered and the carpet clean and the new cake prepared and the party went well and people enjoyed themselves! We even managed to light the candles and sing Jonathan happy birthday song without any catastrophes! The boy even seems to feel better, and played about with his two cousins (two baby boys about his age...a few weeks older). Things were finally going my way, so I thought...until I wanted to out Jonathan to sleep and he started screaming! Not just crying! He would not take any medicine to lower his fever, showing me that anything oral was a bad idea... and then he threw up in bed! I should have listened to the boy! I should have followed his advise as he showed me with shaking his head that swallowing anything was not a good thing to do...
Lucky that my husband decided to stay home and not go out for a bear with friends. (He said he felt that is the right thing to do with the boy is sick, and this despite the fact that I urged him to go out and enjoy himself!) And so again, our cooperation was the demonstrated again, with my husband preparing a bath (yes with the kettle, as out hot water also did not function the whole day...did I mention Murphy was doing extra hours today?) and I stripped the boy and comforted him. Once Jonathan was in the bath, my husband was in charge of cleaning him up and I was in charge of making up his bad anew (a bit of improvising was required with blankets covering the walls, because his regular bed wall cover was full of puke and thrown in the washing machine!). Nice and clean he drank a bit of fennel tea and finally went to bed! The great day seamed finally over, but no! Murphy is still having fun with me. I am suffering a nasty nausea as I sit and blog the adventures of the day! Jonathan now just work up again, but its looks like a bot more tea and some farting and coughing will eventually bring him to sleep again...He now provides some background noise, whining in bed as I type.
I will probably have to stay home tomorrow, to my boss's chagrin, and a visit to the doctor is on the “menu” for Jonathan after his performance this weekend! Not the best way to start hos second year and still the party went well, the boy is developing nicely and seams to be happy! We have much to be thankful for, and Murphy...he can go make mischief somewhere else!
Yesterday, November 28th, Jonathan was one year old! And today, Saturday November 29th we decided to celebrate by inviting the extended family to a tea party. The day started badly because it turned out that the birthday boy is sick. One of those nasty viruses that simply makes you fall flat on your face! This meant that Jonathan was stuck to me all morning and when not, he was sprawled on the floor, powerless! Not the unusual happy picture of the active little boy! The illness showed its signs yesterday, when he threw up at lunch, but as he was happy and playful after that event, we were hopeful. Saturday, showed us that indeed he did not feel well and our hopes were not answered. The fact that Jonathan required extra mommy love meant I started my preparations for the party late, another thing gone wrong, and yet there was a positive light, as the boy was mostly inactive, I could leave him be, to fall asleep in the living room, and go about my business baking his birthday cake in relative quiet and peace.
The next thing that went wrong was the cake! I wanted to try a baby healthy carrot cake recipe, and ended up with a mushy mixture that refused to bake itself into a cake despite 2.5 hours in the oven! 20 minutes before the guests were supposed to arrive I mixed a new cake and 10 minutes before the official invitation time I pushed it into the oven, relying on the bad habits of my extended family, and their usual lateness...
The second cake seams to bake well and fast, and it was ready in 30 minutes. In an hour I has it covered and decorated, and so only a small portion of my guests knew about the mishap, and they were my close family, so to quote them, they “do not really count” when it comes to etiquette, lucky for me...
The next thing to go wrong was that in my haste to change Jonathan diaper before the party, I undressed him in the living room, without having the required equipment (I.e. a new diaper and some tissues to clean him up...) of course the old diaper was full! Of everything that a diaper can be full of. My husband was called in to help save the day by bringing the required tissues and I held the unsatisfied Jon than with feet in the air until his bottom was finally clean. Then having also discovered that I did not bring diaper, my husband went to fetch it, and until that transpired Jonathan managed to pee on the carpet! Really Murphy was sitting up in heaven and having a laugh at my expense.
I finally got Jonathan diapered and the carpet clean and the new cake prepared and the party went well and people enjoyed themselves! We even managed to light the candles and sing Jonathan happy birthday song without any catastrophes! The boy even seems to feel better, and played about with his two cousins (two baby boys about his age...a few weeks older). Things were finally going my way, so I thought...until I wanted to out Jonathan to sleep and he started screaming! Not just crying! He would not take any medicine to lower his fever, showing me that anything oral was a bad idea... and then he threw up in bed! I should have listened to the boy! I should have followed his advise as he showed me with shaking his head that swallowing anything was not a good thing to do...
Lucky that my husband decided to stay home and not go out for a bear with friends. (He said he felt that is the right thing to do with the boy is sick, and this despite the fact that I urged him to go out and enjoy himself!) And so again, our cooperation was the demonstrated again, with my husband preparing a bath (yes with the kettle, as out hot water also did not function the whole day...did I mention Murphy was doing extra hours today?) and I stripped the boy and comforted him. Once Jonathan was in the bath, my husband was in charge of cleaning him up and I was in charge of making up his bad anew (a bit of improvising was required with blankets covering the walls, because his regular bed wall cover was full of puke and thrown in the washing machine!). Nice and clean he drank a bit of fennel tea and finally went to bed! The great day seamed finally over, but no! Murphy is still having fun with me. I am suffering a nasty nausea as I sit and blog the adventures of the day! Jonathan now just work up again, but its looks like a bot more tea and some farting and coughing will eventually bring him to sleep again...He now provides some background noise, whining in bed as I type.
I will probably have to stay home tomorrow, to my boss's chagrin, and a visit to the doctor is on the “menu” for Jonathan after his performance this weekend! Not the best way to start hos second year and still the party went well, the boy is developing nicely and seams to be happy! We have much to be thankful for, and Murphy...he can go make mischief somewhere else!
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