March 29, 2009: Three
Last Sunday, Ivan turned three years old. We celebrated it with a baseball themed party, including baseball cake, baseball pinata, baseball games, baseball hats, baseball napkins... There was really no other way to do this. Ivan is nuts about baseball. The sight of a baseball alone will raise his adrenalin. I'm his mother, I know. At this age birthdays are the best opportunity to make your child smile for hours on end and I will take advantage of it to the fullest.
We decorated the living room with balloons and streamers in Mets colors, which completely amazed both kids. We attached a baseball tossing game to the wall and presented him with a baseball pinata... the more excited Ivan got, the more serious and focused he became. It was so funny to watch... as if he just couldn't deal with the nuisance of emotions, there was work to be done! Whacking the pinata! Throwing the baseball! Admiring the napkins! You could tell he was in a different world, there was no time for laughing and silliness.
We had invited only adults (Tim & Katie, James & Jill), because they had known Ivan for a while (and he them) and all the little boys his age Ivan had met so far he usually didn't enjoy playing with. (Growing up with a reasonable big sister will make you wise beyond your age.) We just didn't want to overwhelm him with rowdy kids on a day that was supposed to be just about him. I'm really glad we stuck to that especially after seeing how completely emotionally absorbed he was.
Click here for the whole birthday photo set
I had made him a baseball cake, which turned out pretty good despite my complete lack of confidence while making it. Fortunately there is always Wilton with its cake toppers... It worked out perfectly, since green is currently Ivan's favorite color.
The second theme of the day was "Cars" and Lightning Mcqueen. I've lost count of the number of Cars-themed presents. He was tearing through the first few, but we left a bunch of them for until after the party. It took him all day. You can tell when he is about to open the present he is absolutely in that moment. After Christmas and now after his birthday he keeps talking about "opening more presents". I know that as much as he loves the gifts, it's the moment of opening them - the combination of savoring feeling special and anticipating the surprise - he really lives for.
We decided to get him a (Cars) bike, so that he could start keeping up with Noni this summer. He was excited to see the bike, but quickly abandoned it after a 2-minute-test-ride. It's tough to go from a trike to a bike. I have no doubt he will take to it eventually.
Every birthday I come to realize (again) how lucky I am. I am overcome by such a feeling of gratitude and amazement that these kids are here and I get to know them from scratch. There is nothing sappy or contrived about it... on his birthday, it's me who gets to keep the biggest gift.
Posted by mama at 01:36 PM