(This post is coming late after a whirlwind of work and sudden zap from my normal energy levels.)
Dexter's birthday was on a Friday this year. We celebrated by opening the gifts we got him which was primarily clothes. He also opened the present he has been talking about all summer, since our visit to Kansas, which was a tiny 3-wheeled blue scooter. He loved it and rode around forever. He even wanted to take a nap with it. We spent most of the day and half the night working on an elaborate robot cake and robot cookies for the party on Saturday. We combined a housewarming with Dexter's birthday party since having two separate parties would be twice the work and would likely never happen.
We invited a lot of people since we haven't been out to socialize much. A lot of people came, and it was a lot of fun to see everyone. Our new place seemed to work well for the 30 or so that came. The kids all loved Dexter's train table. There were only a few spats, though I distinctly remember Dexter growling "I want the big green train. He's mine!"
When it came time for Dexter to blow out his candles, everyone sang "Happy Birthday". It was the loudest birthday song I have heard in recent memory. Dexter had the biggest grin because people were singing to him. He tried blowing out the candles, but he didn't have enough wind-power. I blew them out just as he reached out to grab the candles (just like last year). I'm hoping next year he'll figure it out.
I didn't think he'd really appreciate a party this year or remember it, but he still talks about it. He tells me how he blew the candles out, ate cake, and people sang "Happy Birthday" to him. He talks about "opening the yellow present that had a blue scooter in it that's not Cassie's scooter" (the owner of the Kansas scooter).
He received way too many gifts. I really didn't expect people to bring gifts, but many people did. It is fun to buy gifts for little kids though. I just wasn't expecting the quantity. Dexter was a madman jumping from toy to toy. He has a few new favorites including Superman taped to a skateboard and a book that I even liked reading when I was a kid.
Eventually, he did get overwhelmed and spent some time in our bedroom to get away from everybody and everything. He told Mike at one point "No birthday party!" HE screamed and cried as 2 year olds do, but he came out after a bit and was much happier and calmer. He did great considering how many people there were and the party being 4.5 hours long.
After everyone left we had pizza on the couch and Dexter said "I like pizza" like it had never occurred to him before. He's a cutie-pie. It's weird to think that he's now 2 years old. He can walk, run, talk, jump, climb ladders, and mimc every bad behavior he shouldn't. He's a little boy now. Trouble and all, but so much fun!
