Two

And then there were two. Years, that is.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. My baby is officially growing up. This year we decided to keep his birthday relatively "low key". What we failed to realized that birthdays, like children, tend to take on a life of their own, so the best (and laziest) parental intentions to let the event pass with minimal fuss - say, maybe a quick celebratory burp all around - gradually, and almost imperceptibly snowball into weeklong celebrations. Okay, maybe I exaggerate a little. But so did the birthday.

It all started with me deciding we wouldn't need to have a party this year, since Sebi would be just as happy with a celebration at school (daycare) and some "Happy Birthday to you" (translation: Cake) at home. Alex objected, citing some vague principle, loosely based on his memories from all his birthdays as a child, of making a birthday memorable. In vain did I point out that it was unlikely that any of those memories included his second birthday. So we compromised, and decided to have a small party for some of his closest friends.

So we did. In addition to the daycare party. And the family celebration the next day. And the spontaneous celebration at my office. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I spent the next few days wracking my brains for ideas for "easy" birthday themes, which Auntie Anna finally provided (having seen it in one of my magazines which I subscribe to just so they can provide inspiration when I most need it, but that I never have time to read because I'm so busy trying to think of birthday theme ideas.) Anywho, the theme was to be .... Bubbles!

I then set out to find every drop of liquid soap and bubble solution within a 10 mile radius and find as many bubble-related accessories I could. And then we were ready...

On Friday the 24th, I brought cupcakes and little bubble-blowing favors to school so he could celebrate with his friends. My co-workers, excited to see Sebi after a long time, persuaded me to pick him up early from school and bring him over. While I was doing that, they organized an impromptu cupcake and balloon fiesta for him, which was a big hit. He kept clutching the balloon, greeting each new person who walked up with an emphatic, "MY balloon!" and only agreed to let go of it to eat his cupcake (his second of the day.)

The next was the big party day. It turned out to be the last summer day we had this year - 84 degrees, sunny and warm - perfect for playing in water and soap!

Grandpa Shawski and Grandma Jeanine were visiting, and helped us prep for the afternoon's festivities. We had a bubble machine (ingeniously set up by Papi in a tree so it was "raining" bubbles on everyone!), bubble wands with an awesome home-made solution Grandpa made which created huge bubbles, a water table to wash up in, and giant hanging "bubble" balloons to bounce.

The kiddos (and moms and dads) had a wonderful time blowing and chasing bubbles, splashing in the water table, and taking turns to fall into the tub of soap solution. Finally, after hours of non-stop playing and eating, Sebi retired to bed exhausted but happy, and Mom and Papi felt well satisfied that they'd done their part toward creating happy birthday memories. (They also heaved a sigh of relief and thanked the weather gods that they hadn't had to contend with four two-year-olds running loose inside the house.)

The next day, we set off for a family get-together a Uncle Chix and Aunt Ita's farm. It was Sebi's chance to be made much of by family, and he got to share a(nother!) celebration with Uncle Dev.

So after this fourth celebration, we were finally able to lay the birthday to rest. Although in all honesty, his clearly immense enjoyment of each celebration went a very long way toward making it all completely worth it. He's such a happy kid that it is such a pleasure to see him excited about something. He literally sat there patiently at Chix's for 10 minutes, staring at his cake, knowing something awesome was in store. That kind of thing rekindles your joy in the celebration part of it, and the "work" part pales in comparison.

As Grandpa Shawksi put it,"At this rate he's going to grow up thinking his birthday is a national holiday."

And this was the low key one. So that means the next year, and the one after that... sigh. Bring it on.