Monday, April 30, 2007

Melina's second birthday

Little Miss M turned two last week. Amazing! Amazing that two years has already passed; amazing that we all survived. To celebrate, we had a barbeque with lots of friends and neighbors. Earlier that day, workers had come to frame the garage (photos soon), so we even more reason to celebrate.

There were 23 people there - 13 adults and 10 kids ranging from 14 months to 10 years. I made three huge salads (mostly at night while Melina was sleeping), and everyone brought something to grill. (Somehow I ended up with about 30 extra hamburger buns...) We all squeezed onto our small back deck, so really, it was bedlam. The whole thing is kind of a blur. I don't remember much except trying to manage a small, impatient crowd swinging at a very stubborn pinata, trying to figure out who won the Pin the Tail on the Donkey game (note to self: *everyone* gets a prize next time), shooing little boys away from the chicken coop, and bringing out two beautiful cakes from the German Bakery.

Melina had a great time. One of the first gifts she got was a little plastic shopping cart, and she pushed it and pulled it very purposefully everywhere she went. She seemed like she was in her own little world of purposefulness. She got into the groove of opening presents ("Presents! Yay! More presents?") and eating cake ("Cake? More cake? Eat cake?") Jeff said later that he hadn't gotten to hang out with her much, and I realized that I hadn't either. I don't really know what she was up to most of the time, other than eating olives, "tomato chips," and cake. There were plenty of adults around to keep an eye on her and all of the other rambling toddlers, and I'm happy to report that there were no meltdowns, fights, or injuries sustained.

I'll post pictures when I get a moment to sort through them.

No comments: