September 22nd, 2003 - Monday

Quick re-cap

Whew. I feel like I'm living in a whirlwind. I've just been so freakin' busy these days. First there was the whole week leading up to the party, trying to get things organized and trying to cook all the food I needed. Then there was the party itself which was wonderful. Then Sunday was recuperation day, and today was Hayley's one year checkup.

Here's a quick run-down.

Saturday: On Saturday George had some errands to run for last minute things, including some helium balloons so he took Hayley and left me in peace to get some cleaning done. All the big stuff was done but I had baked a cake and a lasagna the night before and I also had a pasta salad to make, so I had some dishes to deal with.

By the time 4 pm rolled around, I was mildly frazzled and very stressed. I kept reminding myself that it was a birthday party for a one year old child and not the queen's coronation, but it really took a couple of hours and a glass of wine for me to relax a bit. Still, everyone seemed to have fun.

So many people helped out by bringing great things to add to the festivities. Nancy made a fantastic artichoke salad and chicken cacciatore. June made two different types of cake (one in particular being called "Holy Cow Cake" which is very sweet and topped with Butterfingers - oh.my.) and lent us her party pack which included tons of plastic dishes and cups. The best part of the party pack was that it included an invitation to send all the dirty dishes back home with her to be popped into her dishwasher so that I hardly had any stuff to wash up the next day. Woo! My mom brought potato salad, Sue brought spinach dip in a bread bowl, and everyone showed up with beverages so we were packed full of food and drink.

Most of our guests had babies with them so it looked mildly like a daycare in the living room except for the gift bags and balloons. People either already knew each other or introduced themselves and there was plenty of mingling going on. We rotated all the babies through the high chair or the exersaucer so that they could eat their various dinners (the birthday girl dined on chicken cacciatore and lasagna - ooh la la!) and then we set Hayley up in the living room in her high chair so we could give her a piece of birthday cake.

I had baked a cake in the shape of a butterfly and lit a few candles, and I brought it out to her so we could all sing "Happy Birthday". Then I whacked off a chunk of it and plunked it in front of her.

She didn't go completely crazy with it, rubbing it all over the place or anything. She played with the (unlit) candle, then yanked off a piece of the cake and tasted it. The expression on her face here sort of sums up what she thought of it - obviously she was a fan!

She ate for awhile and then played a bit, and then I put her to bed around 9:30. The last of our guests left at 1:15 am and Hayley had just woken up. She was wide awake (sugar rush perhaps?) so George and I sat with her in the living room and opened all her gifts with her. She got some great clothes, a very cool Fisher Price musical toy, and a stable. Finally, by about 1:45 she was ready to go back to sleep.

Sunday: Slack day. We were all pretty tired so Hayley slept in until 9:30 and I was happy to stay in bed myself. When we got up I briefly contemplated tackling the mess but chose a coffee and the living room floor instead. We put her Fisher Price toy together and she had a blast playing with it, dancing to the music and laughing. She caught on very quickly to the concept.

After cleaning the living room up a bit, we brought out the kitchen set that we had bought her as our gift. It's supposed to be for ages 2 and up, but the only reason for that which I can see is that it comes with some small plastic food. Solution? Don't give her the food! She's just as happy to pop a stacking ring or a block into the frying pan. She really enjoyed it.

Tyler and Felicia came for the afternoon but since we were all exhausted, it was a quiet day. I finally had everything pretty much straightened up by 6 that night, just in time for two people to come by to pay me for a website I did for them. Yay for money!

We had a relaxed evening, eating leftovers (woo!) and letting Hayley play with her new toys. I think I fell asleep three seconds after I hit my pillow.

Monday: Today we had an appointment for Hayley's one year check-up. It was almost funny except that I was a little frustrated, because George's dad took me and we arrived about ten minutes before our 10 am appointment. We finally got to see the doctor at almost 11:30. Gah! Apparently they had over-booked him and he was also on call last night for the maternity ward so he was really behind on everything.

It was okay though. Hayley started getting antsy and tired and had a little meltdown while waiting, but she mostly amused herself. I held her hands and walked her up and down the hall, she crawled around a bit at one end of the hall where it was quiet and traffic-free, everyone wanted to talk to her, and she had a great time laughing hysterically at the water fountain. Simple pleasures...

Once in, the doctor weighed her by first weighing me, then weighing me while holding her. She's weighing in at 22 pounds, which puts her in the 75th percentile. In some ways I was stunned that she didn't weigh more - some days she sure feels heavier than that! Her height was 30 inches, also in the 75th percentile, and she weighs exactly the perfect amount for her height. I'll be keeping that piece of information handy for any "fat baby" jokes!

The worst part of the day was her MMR shot. We could have delayed it until 18 months, but after talking to my doctor, the nurse, and doing my own research, I decided that there was no advantage in our case for delaying it and no negative aspect to doing it now. Of course, the one negative part was her reaction to it. She was decidedly not impressed with being stuck with a needle and responded with mass amounts of screaming, crying, and mild hysteria. She calmed down after a quick nursing session and a cuddle and I was impressed that she didn't seem to have any side effects. She started to feel mildly warm in the early afternoon, but I gave her a bit of Tylenol and it disappeared - it may not have even been a fever, since she was playing heartily at the time, but I figured it couldn't hurt. She was also a little sleepy when nap time rolled around, but again it may not have been related since she was up earlier than usual and wasn't in the mood to get up this morning.

This evening she was a bit cranky but more or less fine and she ate well and played with everything. She finished the night off with a boisterous bath full of splashing and demanded that I read the book that Mar sent her three times before I finally got her to lie down.

It was a great weekend but I'm so tired. Parties are exhausting, mentally and physically. I think I need some sleep now. I'm going to finish my glass of wine and hit the hay.

Hayley says thank you for all the birthday wishes.

There are many other pictures from the birthday bash up over here.

Ancient history:

2002: No entry.
2001: No entry.
2000: Vavavoom and all that sort of thing.
1999: Who knew i could be so cheerful on a drizzly, cold, gray day with a headache to boot?