It was a Sunday morning. We were rushed to the hospital after The Boss woke up at 2:00am bleeding. We were scared to death! After all, our little one wasn’t due for another several days. We had a c-section planned as The Boss was forced to have one with O after being diagnosed with Placenta Previa.
I was certain we were going to have a girl. The idea that we already had O and that I wanted a boy meant for certain it’d be a girl again. We were toying with about six different girl names at the time. We didn’t know if the baby was a boy or a girl as The Boss wanted a surprise again. We had already picked out a boy name but were struggling with girl names.
It wouldn’t matter as the Dr. told us that Sunday morning would be the day we’d find out. Jake Henry was born at 12:41pm on that sunny Sunday afternoon and we couldn’t have been happier!
Fast forward 12 months later and we’re at my in-laws house celebrating his 1st Birthday!
The Boss wanted a “themed” party but for some reason I just wasn’t as enthusiastic about it. It’s not that I thought it was a bad idea. It just didn’t come off to me as something that had to be done. Is this a guy reaction? Probably! I mean, I was completely excited about celebrating his birthday. I was really looking forward to watching him eat cake for the first time and celebrating with family! But she pulled it off for the most part even with my minimal lackluster help! Of course, Jake doesn’t know what we did but we have pictures now to show him and I’m glad she decided to spice up the party with the decorations! I’m so lucky to have her! I’d be all lame and what not with my party throwing capabilities or there lack of.
My in-laws live nearly four hundred miles south of us in Los Angeles County. The drive with all of us (did I mention our Golden, Cody, was with us too?) takes a good six to seven hours depending on traffic and stops. We left Friday night and made it down there just after 1:00am. The kids do a great job in the car as we frequently drive down there to visit with family. Leaving at night is really great for them since they’re able to sleep most of the way.
Jake’s party was great! My parents weren’t able to make it since my Mom just started her second cycle of chemo and can’t travel from the east coast. That’s okay though! Right before we started singing happy birthday we started up the laptop and used iChat (Skype’s Apple cousin) so they could watch him and sing right along. It wasn’t the same of course but it was second best.
Just after the singing was over Jake dove in to his vegan cupcake! No, he’s not vegetarian he’s allergic to milk apparently! What the what? Yeah, it stinks but we got these great dairy free cupcakes for him and he really enjoyed them. The Boss tried it and said they actually tasted pretty good! He wasn’t sure what to make of it at first but after he dug in he nearly finished the whole thing! I can see him now picking away at that little cupcake with his fingers. He doesn’t actually “grab” things so he picks away with his forefinger and thumb! It’s so cute!! I love that little boy!
Unfortunately, the weekend didn’t go exactly as planned though. Jake came down with a pretty high fever ramping up to nearly 104! After Tylenol and rest it eventually came down but that wasn’t until we left for home. We missed our planned trip to Disneyland so the poor little guy wound up sick on his birthday! Well, we’re going to have to make that up to him now aren’t we? We’re planning a trip back down there soon so we can all go when nobody is sick. I love Disneyland!!! I mean, the babies love Disneyland! Ummm….Okay fine! It’s for me! I mean, the ice cream, and Mickey, and Minnie, and the rides, and Main Street…! Whoa!!! I need to settle down here.
Besides Jake’s Birthday it was a weekend of many firsts, some good and some not so good. He got his first high fever, he ate his first cake, he took his first big boy bath in a tub, he went on his first slide, and he went on his first major trip in a forward facing car seat!
All these “firsts” in his life are so exciting! I don’t want to miss a minute of this little guys life. I certainly don’t want to miss these firsts. They only come once and they come quickly. O is already twenty eight months old now and is doing so many different things. I recognize all the little things she does even if they’re her hundredth time doing them. For Jake? There’s something about the firsts though. He might not be my first born child but he’s tied for first in consuming all of my love and passion. Here’s to experiencing all of the firsts with your children over and over again!
