Peter's First Birthday

I'm a little late getting this up here, but last Tuesday, January 19th, Peter turned one year old (at 12:35 a.m., if you want to be exact).

We had two mini birthday celebrations for him--nothing too big or fancy. We celebrated with my Mom and family on Sunday and celebrated with Jeremiah's parents and brother on Tuesday.

I learned that we had not sufficiently prepped Peter on birthday traditions. He was NOT prepared. :)



A picture of the cupcakes--Teddy Grahams having a day at the beach. Oh, and fruit by the foot on a cupcake--dee-licious!

On Sunday, we went straight from church (we now have 1 p.m. church and we're all still trying to adjust to it) to my Mom's house for dinner. Because of church, Peter didn't get a full afternoon nap. He also overslept during his morning nap, so we didn't have time to give him his usual sit-down lunch. As a result, by the time we got to my Mom's house, Peter was both tired and hungry. My Mom's kitchen is a little small, so she moved the table into the front room so that there would be enough space for everyone. As soon as we walked in the door, Peter freaked out because the dining room was completely empty and he wasn't expecting it. It scared him. So, he started crying. :)

We hurried as quickly as we could to get dinner started and he calmed down somewhat once he got a full belly (mashed potatoes are one of his particular favorites). My sister was planning on joining us, but she had some last minute things to take care of down at BYU before coming up. She begged us to save the birthday cake and singing to Peter until she got there. I was, of course, happy to wait for her, but in hindsight, it really would have been better to just sing to Peter and give him his cupcake while we were all sitting down to dinner.

Anyway, we finished dinner and got Peter cleaned up. He was still visibly exhausted, but we took him downstairs to give him his presents. I would have thought that Christmas was enough of a rehearsal for him, but I guess he forgot about unwrapping presents in the past month. While we helped him unwrap his gift, he got freaked out by the noise that the wrapping paper made (Peter is a little guy who does NOT like surprises). So, he started crying. :)



Above: Peter with the offending wrapping paper and his cool new dumptruck riding toy.



Above: Peter finally calm enough to appreciate his presents.

We got him calmed down enough to somewhat enjoy his presents (though it wasn't until the next day when we were playing with them at home that he fully appreciated them). At that point, Emily arrived, so we prepared for birthday cake and singing.

We put Peter back in his booster seat (which did not make him happy). He doesn't like his booster seat, for one, and he was also still full from dinner and didn't want any food at that point in time. We turned out the lights and lit a candle shaped like the number one (we didn't put it on the cupcakes since they were too small to hold the candle). Then we blew out the candle and turned the lights back on. The mistake we made was that we gave him the cupcake to eat while everyone else just watched him and waited for his reaction. He got freaked out that none of the rest of us were eating and because everyone else was standing and he was the only one sitting. So, he started crying. :) Then, he chucked his cupcake on the ground.



Above: Peter NOT enjoying the tradition of birthday cake.



Above: Peter enjoying the tradition of birthday cake even less than in the other picture.

Poor guy.

So, we rushed him home and speedily got him ready for bed (I think we put him down at 7 p.m. when usually he goes to bed at 8 or 8:30 p.m.).

On Tuesday, for his actual birthday, we covered the floor with 15 colored balloons that were nearly as big as he is. When we got him out of bed that morning, we let him take a little time to take it all in. He had the sweetest look of wonder on his face as he looked at those balloons. Then he got comfortable and started playing with them and had sooo much fun. Jeremiah then headed off to work (we decided to save birthday gifts for the evening so his family could join in).



Above: The pictures didn't capture this the way the video did (or would have).

After Peter's first nap, Peter and I went to Costa Vida where we met my Mom for lunch. Peter has been out to eat a few times before, but I realized that the other times were at places and times that weren't nearly as busy. We got to Costa Vida during the bustle of the lunch hour. Peter LOVED it. He kept looking back and forth. You could see him trying to "work it out" (as my brother puts it). You could see him looking at the new place and the new people. He had such a good time. Then of course, with grandma there, it put the icing on the cake for him.

Jeremiah had to go to a networking event for his MBA program at Westminster in the evening, so I was on my own to get dinner ready (I cook for my in-laws). Peter HATES it when I cook. He wants to see what I'm doing. The only way that can happen is if I put him the baby carrier, but that has its challenges because Peter is 24 lbs now and he has a long reach. So, it makes me tired and I have to be careful because he likes to grab things. So, I went upstairs to finish dinner up (it was a crock pot meal. I love slow cookers. Bless the person who invented them. That person had young mothers in mind). Peter was playing in the kitchen, but that's hard because it isn't baby proofed, so cooking takes three times as long when I do it with him because I have to keep him away from all the cupboards (for instance, he loves to open the cupboard under the sink and we all know what a danger zone THAT is for kids, and he was trying to open another cupboard and throw glass baking dishes on the ground).

I finally had to put him back downstairs in his play pen and put Sesame Street on to keep him entertained. I know you shouldn't let kids watch too much TV, but it is absolutely necessary at times--especially when you have a son who is as energetic and busy as mine is.

My sweet sister, Emily, called and decided to come up from BYU to visit me and Peter for his birthday. I was so glad. I was actually feeling a little lonely. I wanted to spend Peter's birthday with family. Jeremiah's mom usually has clients on Tuesdays (she's a therapist), but this Tuesday, she was sick and in bed. Jeremiah's dad got home really late. And, as I mentioned before, Jeremiah was at the networking event until 7 p.m.

Emily arrived shortly after I finished preparing dinner. She went and got some food to eat while I finished feeding Peter and then she watched Peter for me while I ate. Then Jeremiah showed up and got dinner for himself.

After Sunday's experience, I had hoped to find another alternative to doing cake and presents long after dinner had finished. I suggested doing cake and presents at breakfast time instead, but Jeremiah said his family couldn't do it at that time. So, we ended up doing cake and presents at 8 p.m. As I already learned from Sunday's experiences, the combination of a tired Peter, presents, and cake was not a good thing. But it was the only option, so what can you do?



Above: Peter's Birthday Cake "Teddy Graham Picnic at the Beach"

We started singing Happy Birthday to Peter and before the first line of the song was finished, Peter burst into tears. I think it scared him (plus, it was basically his bedtime). He isn't used to a whole group of people singing to him (plus, I think Jeremiah's family sings less than mine does). He also got scared by some of his presents (just as he had on Sunday). He did calm down enough to somewhat appreciate his gifts. But again, it wasn't until the next day that he was able to fully appreciate his gifts. :) Sadly, we didn't get any pictures of this because we were focused on getting a video of it.



Above: Peter somewhat appreciating his gifts from Mimi and Papa.



Above: Peter calmed down and enjoying time with his family.

Poor little guy! I'll do a better job of preparing him for birthday traditions next year! And next year, the timing will be ALL about him! If cake works better during dinner, that's what we'll do!

Oh, and on a sidenote, I taped his little adventure with the balloons in the morning and his crying over his birthday cake that night (it was sad, but sooo adorable) and for some reason, my video camera decided not to tape those two events. It almost broke my heart! I was so sad that the camera didn't capture those two events. He was so sweet! I'll just have to keep those memories in my heart and mind instead.

So, there you have it. Peter's first birthday!