So how do you celebrate three? He actually gets that it's his birthday this time, so there's no let's-take-a-trip-with-our-friends-and-call-it-a-birthday-weekend to be had. Rats! Nope, this time around there was a homemade birthday garland, a surprise breakfast of buttermilk waffles and blueberry sauce (which was totally worth using our dwindling supply of freezer blueberries), presents, and chocolate cupcakes (from the back of the baking cocoa box- nothing fancy) with some of the grandparents. It was a very big day.
Oh, and I should mention that the First Annual Official Ross Brothers Birthday Bash is actually going to happen at a later date (Sawyer's birthday is in three weeks and I think they are young enough not to mind if we combine festivities). So I guess this day was just the prefunk.
Books and Candyland! We set the bar pretty low around here as far as presents go. That way when they get something spectacular it is indeed SPECTACULAR! I do think it is important to focus on the birthday experience rather than the gifts. Jack really appreciates the things that are given to him and I think it's because we've made the decision not to bombard him with toys. Before I had kids I really didn't understand how people could spoil their kids the way they do, but now I totally get it. It's so incredibly fun to give your child something that he or she truly desires- to see that little face light up and the joy that comes from getting what they want. But it is such a fine line, where do you stop? How do you say yes one day and then no the next? We know that the payoff will come later if we teach Jack to really appreciate the things he has, rather than always wanting more.
He sang along as we all wished him a happy birthday. I'm not a big fan of the video camera, but this would have been nice to have recorded. Oh well.
The grandparent gang arrived with a few well-received gifts and enjoyed some silly time with the boys. The chocolate cupcakes were a hit, as well.
Sawyer laughed and laughed about a toy school bus that Jack and his Great-Grandma were racing across the table. His laugh is infectious. He is our little comedian, for sure.
Wednesday was a beautiful, sunny and unseasonably warm day. It reminded me of the day that Jack was born and the memories of that day came flooding back as we celebrated his presence in our lives. I feel like Jack's birthday was, in a way, like a birthday for me as well, since I became a mama on that day. I remember holding him right after he was born and laughing because he was such a strange little creature- this tiny, funny-looking person, who had been living inside me for nine long months. And now today, three years later, this strange little creature has taken his place as the center of our world. What an amazing thing to celebrate.
Happy Birthday Jack, we love you so!
Posts
Soo nice, Cassadie. Happy Birthday to Jack!
ReplyDelete