Party Part I

The last few days were chock full of bloggable moments, so I'm breaking it down into manageable bits for your digestive enjoyment. This post will cover Friday evening through the devouring of my birthday cake, mid-party, Sunday afternoon; in subsequent posts I'll reflect on the rest of my party and then the quick trip I took to London Sunday evening through Tuesday.

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Friday evening I helped Nonna weed our thyme bed, which I love doing because it makes me belly laugh every time Nonna yanks another weed out by its roots. No one else knows why exactly this activity is always so amusing to me, and I'm not telling. Then while we were in the yard, Uncle Jon arrived from Florida; he drove all the way here to celebrate my birthday with me, and I was ecstatic to see him. We all sat down in the living room to visit, and I sat on the loveseat with Uncle and climbed all over him. I noticed something different about him and wanted to make sure Mommy and Nonna noticed, too, so I pointed to Uncle's chin and said, "Beer!" You see, Uncle had grown a little bit of a goatee while he was gone, and I recognized it as a form of beard. Mommy wanted to make sure I knew what I was talking about, so she asked me where Uncle's beard was; I pointed to Uncle's chin and looked back at her and said, "Beer!" Everyone was surprised that "beard" would be one of my first words; my parents guess that my Daddy's beard must have made a big impression on me.

Saturday I got to spend the day with Mommy and Nonna, picking up my birthday cakes and balloons and putting away my toys that were taking over the living room. Saturday evening, Grandpa arrived from Tennessee, and I had a great time reading books with him. Uncle John and Aunt Barb came over for a visit, and then Uncle Sean and Aunt Jillian and Bailey came over, and I gave Bailey a tour of how to get around the living room. Later, I went to Sokolowski's University Inn with Grandpa and my parents and ate potato pierogies, broccoli, green beans, rolls, and applesauce - my idea of a perfect meal!

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Sunday morning, Daddy had to go into work for a little while, but Mommy picked up breakfast and brought it home, and I ate my egg mcmuffin (minus egg and bacon) with Grandpa. I wasn't sure he knew what breakfast was all about, so I pointed to mine and said, "Bagel!" It sounded like "bay-duhl" coming from me, but I knew what I was saying, and fortunately for me, so did Mommy; each time I was ready for more, I asked her, "bay-duhl?" and she gave me some. I love it when this talking thing works for me.

Mommy kept talking about my morning nap and how important it was, but something was up, and I knew it, and I did not want to miss whatever it was that was going on, so I resisted as long as I could, but I finally drifted off. The next thing I knew, Daddy was waking me up, which was really strange, but I was glad to see him. He gave me a bath upstairs in my parents' bathroom, where I used to take my baby baths, and then dressed me in a new onesie with white lines and dots on the front. He took me down to Mommy, who combed my hair, then Mommy took me out to the living room, and there was Nonna, Grandpa, and Oma and Ono!

In the living room was a cool vehicle that was just my size that my Grandpa gave me. Daddy put me in it and showed me how to rock back and forth, and I had so much fun pushing the buttons on it. As great as it was, it was only the beginning; soon, our house was full of my family, and they had all come to see ME! How great is that???

We all ate broccoli lasagna and eggplant parmesan and salad and garlic bread. I loved all the food, but what I really loved was the red balloon tied to the back of my chair. I could not get over how fun it was to yank on the ribbon over and over again and bounce the balloon off my forehead. I could have played that game all day, but it was time for the cake.

My parents brought me a little white cake with a red balloon and my name and a "1" on it, and it had a 1 candle that was burning! They helped me blow it out, thank goodness, and then everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to me and clapped for me, and then I got to eat that cake all by myself. Man, was it good. I looooooooove me some frosting, people. Everyone else had a piece of the big cake, which was chocolate and vanilla marble with chocolate mousse; they all said it was yummy, but I can't imagine it was as cool as having your own cake and getting to eat it with your hands. Someone took a picture with my parents' camera of what was left of the big cake after it had been eaten, but my mommy is disappointed that she forgot to take a picture of the cake as a whole, so if any of my fam out there got a picture, Mommy would appreciate it if you'd forward it to her.

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Signing off now to go have breakfast with Uncle Jon before he heads back to Jacksonville. I'll be back later with all the details about opening my fabulous presents.