Birthday Blog

As many of you know, Phoebe and I have birthdays one week apart. This year, our birthdays fell on Saturdays, so we got to spend them together! (With Dave, too, of course.) We both had really nice days. On my birthday, we had our usual burrito from Santiago’s at Cannon Mine Coffee Shop. Then we went into town, where I had my first professional massage! Dave had bought me a gift card two years ago, and I’d never gotten around to using it. (I was waiting for the perfect occasion.) About a year ago, he started pressuring me to get the massage, and I finally went to see if the card was still valid. Sure enough, it wasn’t, but the wonderful folks at Boulder Bodywork agreed to honor it anyway…even though the price of a massage had gone up since he bought the gift! I enjoyed every minute of it and felt very happy and relaxed when I met Dave, Phoebe, and Elijah at the Dushanbe Teahouse for a cup of iced chai. Like everywhere else, we didn’t have much winter, and it’s been in the 70s for a few weeks.

After tea, we spent an hour or so people-watching on the Pearl Street Mall. Then we went home, where I cooked spaghetti with homemade sauce (Mom’s recipe) and frosted the chocolate cake I’d made the night before. Don’t feel sorry for me…I love to cook, and it was a pleasure to have time to make my favorite meal. After dinner we put Phoebe to bed and I opened a few presents. It was a lovely day.

Last Saturday was Phoebe’s birthday. She’s spent the last two weeks proving she’s ready to be 2 by throwing temper tantrums. Dave and I are slowly learning how to handle them, but we’re still treating her with caution, like a bomb that might go off at any minute. We were hoping to have a birthday weekend without too much drama.

Saturday morning we sang “Happy Birthday,” and she looked delighted. She’d taken orange dreamsicle cupcakes (Bronski recipe) to school on Friday, so she’d been muttering “happy birthday” to herself for a whole day already. When she came down the stairs, she saw the pink Strider bike from Grammie and Pappy.

Dave had put lion on the seat and her helmet on the handlebars, and she seemed intrigued, but she didn’t feel like riding right then. We got moving fairly early and headed over to Cannon Mine to get some coffee to go with our burritos.

We were due to meet the Brinkmans at the zoo at 11:00 a.m., so we figured we needed to leave the coffee shop at 9:30 so that we’d have time to run a few errands. (Yes, there was a time when we wouldn’t have arrived for coffee until after 9:30, but those days are long gone.) We left in time to stop at the grocery store for sunscreen and disposable diapers and at REI for a new pair of sunglasses for Phoebe. (She broke her cute baby ones recently.) We had plenty of time to get to the zoo, but I accidentally sent us on a wild goose chase through Denver. By the time we made it back, it was already 11:30 a.m.

Dave dropped us off at the entrance so we could find the Brinkmans, and he went to park the car in Outer A-Long-Way-Away. When he got back, he was calmer and Phoebe had sunscreen on, so we headed into the zoo. I’m pleased to report that no animals escaped during our watch. We saw a cheetah, penguins, mountain sheep, strange birds, and monkeys! (I love monkeys.)

The best part was seeing a little baby orangutan climbing around its habitat, hanging fairly close to Mom, but still exploring. Phoebe and I saw the baby give Mom a kiss and receive a little hug in response. It was adorable.

We stayed at the zoo just the right length of time to avoid major breakdowns, finishing the excursion with more cupcakes and happy birthday songs.

On the way home, we got into a terrible traffic jam. Phoebe napped, and I might have snoozed a bit too while Dave handled the traffic.

When we got home, Dave needed a break, so Phoebe and I went to the grocery store by stroller. We had time for a quick run to the playground before dinner (more burritos, but homemade this time, at Phoebe’s request).

We wanted her to ride her bike, but she refused to put on her helmet, so after much crying (her) and coaxing (us) we gave up. After dinner, she opened a glut of presents (lots of nice stuff!), and we shipped her off to bed before she could finish.

On Sunday morning we all ate raisin toast, and Phoebe finished opening her presents.

We planned to go to the late service, but we ended up skipping church altogether. We’ve been attending the Lenten suppers, so we figured we’d had at least one worship service that week. Instead, we took Phoebe swimming, which she loves. She likes to go down the dolphin slide and to jump from the side of the pool into my arms. We pretended to be alligators and floated around the lazy river. At 12:30 we got dressed and drove into town to meet the gang for a quick round of soccer. Phoebe played in the sand while we each had a turn on the field. At 2:30 we headed over to Adam and Tara’s house for little Elijah’s first birthday party. (Adam used to work with Dave at Eltron until he started his own company.) It was fun to see Dave’s work friends and their kids, and the food was delicious! Phoebe had a great time playing with Eli’s toys. She’s been talking about the party for days. Afterward, Phoebe really needed a nap, but she only slept on the couch for a little while. She tends to get crabby when she doesn’t nap enough, but we haven’t been willing to give up the things we like to do in the afternoon, so we just deal with crabby.

Monday morning Phoebe went directly to Cedars, her new classroom! She’s been transitioning for more than a week, and she’s excited about the new room, especially because her friend Lexi moved up at the same time. We think she might be a little stressed out about the change, even though she’s been looking forward to it. The new room has many similarities to Aspens, but she has new teachers and a kid-sized potty! Now she can combine her trips to the potty at home with being able to go at school too. She’s also getting some new teeth, so life has been a little rough, despite the nice birthday weekend.

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Now it’s Thursday, and Phoebe has been really sweet all week. (Thank goodness!) She had her two-year-old checkup at the doctor’s today. She’s developing normally and is 33 inches tall and 27 lbs, 14 oz. One thing I forgot to mention about her birthday is that as much as Phoebe likes presents—and she’s been playing with them all week with delight—she really likes opening cards. She rips the envelope apart, takes the card out, looks at the picture on the front, and says “OHHHH!” Sometimes the simplest gifts are the most rewarding!