Nearly One

Next week Finn turns one! I am in shock and disbelief that my baby is now going to be a little boy. My how the time flies. We are hosting a very small dinner party in his honor rather than a full blown big birthday party. Milo's first birthday was a big affair. It was a rubbery ducky themed party because Milo had an obsession at that time with his rubber ducks in his bath. I went over board of course, which is what you do for the first birthday party. This go round, I want to mark the occasion, I want that precious picture with his first birthday cake, I want him to be happy and surrounded with love. But mostly for me, I just want to celebrate the day I met the newest love in my life.

That day changed me forever both as a person but also as a mother. I felt more comfortable in my "Mom skin" and I had more confidence in my mothering techniques and mom skills than I did with Milo. Not that I am a very hesitant person by nature, I don't believe I am. However, from my first moment with Finn I was more confident that he was mine, that I was in charge and I at long last felt like I knew what I was doing. With Milo I questioned every decision, read and reread all the parenting books to make sure I wasn't profoundly messing him up if I used the lavender shampoo instead of the classic Johnson&Johnson shampoo. I remember when they let me walk out of the hospital holding Milo, I thought "those fools just let me leave with a baby and with no supervision! What were they thinking?"

As it turned out, Milo survived my first few weeks floundering around as a new Mom and is happy and healthy to this day, unless of course I try to force him to eat something fresh that isn't a strawberry or a banana (oh heaven forbid!). Also the lavender shampoo turned out to be a great decision, his hair smells lovely, and he seems none the worse for wear.

I was just thinking that one year ago today I was waddling around the house, exhausted and thinking that this baby would never get here. And today, I have this beautiful, screeching, willful, charming little boy who loves his blankets, screaming loudly just to hear himself, throwing things at high velocity, chasing Alice, crawling in the grass and patting the mirror. Of course you can see why I am totally in love!

So while I have been getting misty eyed over this landmark date, Milo has been making plans of his own regarding the party. He has decided that all this fluff and nonsense about "Finn growing up" means nothing to him, he wants to talk party here!

Milo: Mom I have a good plan, want to hear it?
Me: Sure, what is your plan?
Milo: Finn wants some puppies at his party and some people too!
Me: Well who do you think he wants at his party?
Milo: Maybe someone like you and me and Dad, and also some boys and some kids and maybe some girls. (pronounced 'grils')
Me: Excellent, what do you think about inviting over our family for dinner?
Milo: Well, only if some dogs can come.
Me: Dogs? We don't have any dogs.
Milo: I know! (thinking for a moment) We invite Angus (Carrie's dog) and Sassy (GG's dog) and also some neighbors or dogs we find at the store or in the street.

(Excellent notion Milo, yes, lets invite 2 lovely dogs we know and love and then we will just invite some randoms off the street to fill in the dog crowd portion of the party. Kind of like extras of the dog world. I wonder are they union? And do they have agents?)

Me: I don't know if we will be able to invite dogs we don't know, but we can certainly invite Angus and Sassy. What else does Finn want at his party?
Milo: Probably a cake and some shrimps.
Me: Shrimps? Like to eat?
Milo: Yup and we can put them on the cake and we can eat them.
Me: Shrimp on a cake!! That doesn't sound very good.
Milo: Or shrimps in the cake! (giggling wildly)
Me: Okay (really no, we will not be doing this) And how should we decorate the party?
Milo: Well we should take some of those red fish and stick them to the wall (Swedish fish, those tasty red morsels)
Me: I am positive we will not be sticking candy to our walls. What else can we do?
Milo: No we put the fish on the walls and people can lick them and then eat some shrimps.

(Can you imagine this? My GG arrives for dinner and I say to her, "For dinner just have a lick of this gelatin fish on the wall and then enjoy some shrimp to wash that down. Would you like a glass of wine with that?")

Me: How about we do an under the sea theme? And just color some fish with crayons instead of the candy?
Milo: (silent and not speaking to me all of a sudden)
Me: Hello?
Milo: (in barely a whisper) sometimes people like fish treats on the walls.

So this weekend, we will see who wins out...Me with an easy lasagna dinner and a cake decorated with frosting fish. Or Milo with Swedish fish on the walls you can lick and shrimp cocktail chocolate cake. Which would you prefer?