We have entered day two of Luke’s actual birthday celebrations.
Yesterday was his actual birthday, today will be his ‘birthday observed, with friends’ (friend/neighbors party), and tomorrow will be his ‘birthday, observed, with family’ (the family party).
There was such a buildup, I wasn’t sure his birthday would live up to the lofty expectations that had been established by several weeks of Charlotte referring to him as the ‘birthday boy,’ giving him ‘birthday hugs and kisses,’ and directing, “Raise your hand if you’re the birthday boy!” (Luke obliged each time, lifting his hand in the air while saying “meeeeee” gleefully.)
Surprisingly, she also deferred to him on most decisions involving what games to play and what snacks to have, for the most part. On one occasion, she let Luke pick the teams for a game, and he chose Mom as a teammate. Charlotte clearly wanted to be on Mom’s team (that’s right, I’m usually chosen last – it’s like sixth grade gym class all over again). It seemed like Charlotte was going to go along with his decision, for a moment, until she exclaimed, “Wait!”, began gesticulating dramatically, waving her arms around in a circle as she said, “Let’s mix things up!” She then reassigned the teams.
Luke has been completely swept up by the birthday wave, sometimes too excited to sleep. Earlier this week, when we put Luke in bed for a nap, he called to us for a half an hour, pleading with us to come get him (“I’m awake, I’m upstairs, come get me, ok?”) He then began to get pretty upset, negating any chance for a nap.
When Karen brought him downstairs, he marched into my office and happily announced, “Dad, I woke up! I’m ready! I had a dream about my birthday!” (Apparently, Luke dreams during his non-naps.)
But I digress.
I’m happy to say that the birthday excitement has been sustained through his birthday. When he woke up on his birthday (following, as Charlotte is referring to it, “Luke’s last night as a two year old,”), he was quite excited to see the birthday signs up in the kitchen. He counted them repeatedly, “One… two… three… three signs! For my birthday!”
He was also thrilled to see that our life-size Albert Einstein cut-out was wearing a birthday hat and wishing him a happy birthday (via a voice/dialogue bubble, like those used in comics, taped near his mouth).
Taking it all, he turned to us, said, “It’s my birthday,” paused, and asked hopefully “Where are my friends?” We quickly explained that we weren’t having his party at that moment, at 7am on a Friday, and that his friends would be coming over the next day.
I’m glad to note that the first thing he asked about was not his presents, but his friends. It seems like he’s looking forward to celebrating with his friends more than opening his presents. I hope that lasts throughout his childhood (and adulthood).
That being said, we did get him presents. He opened his presents from Charlotte after Karen and I finished work and before we went out for Luke’s birthday dinner. He loved his ‘My Little Pony’ from Charlotte, Rainbow Dash, who came to dinner with us. He was also thrilled with his bathtub alphabet, which they used in the bath that night.
Then, after dinner and bath, we gave him his present from us, the table-top foosball table.
He was over the moon. As soon as he unwrapped it, he said, “This is awesome, Mom and Dad. This is really awesome!”
Unfortunately, we had taken the ‘limited assembly required’ note on the box at face value. Not so much. In fact, extensive assembly was required (with poorly detailed directions), which was complicated by Luke and Charlotte trying to play with it as I put it together. “I’m helping you, Dad,” responded Luke several time after being asked to take a step back. (Luke’s ‘help’ consisted of inadvertently jamming my hands with the rods, knocking pieces off, and kicking pieces and the balls around.) All the while, Charlotte happily noted numerous times, “Luke really likes his gift! Luke’s really excited!”
Eventually, we got it together (it was a pretty good gift), and Charlotte and Luke played a few rounds of foosball before bed.
As I gave Luke his gift tonight, I asked him, “So, Luke, did you have a good birthday?”
“Yeah, Dad. It was a lot of fun.”
That makes two of us, buddy. Happy birthday, big guy!
I hope you enjoyed today’s serving of ‘mac & cheese.’ (I know I did.)