Fourth Birthday!

Up until now, Cailan hasn't been that excited by birthdays and holidays. Sure, he's been eager to tear into a big pile of presents in front of him, and he's always happy to see cakes or other treats, but what's missing has been the anticipation, the looking forward to the occasion before it gets here.

That changed with his birthday this year. I think his excitement actually ignited in October, when he went to a birthday party for one of his classmates at Kidzplex, a facility here that has gymnastics, a daycare, a climbing wall and an indoor playground called The Fun Factory. Cailan loved The Fun Factory, especially the ball pit, and the whole event - the playground, the party room decorated with balloons, the snacks and cake, the presents, the party favors - left a big impression on him. A few weeks later, when we started talking about Cailan's birthday, he said he wanted to have his party at Kidzplex, "just like Robert's."

Soon after that, he got the idea that when he turned four, he would grow sticky pads on his feet and be able to walk on walls like a gecko. I knew that his chances of gecko-morphosis were pretty small (though I tried not to squash his fantasy) but I figured that arranging the kind of party he wanted was well within my power.


First, we made some invitations and passed him out to (gulp!) all 20 kids in his preschool class. Fortunately, between finals week on campus and holiday events, only 6 kids were able to make it.


We started Cailan's birthday celebration off with blueberry waffles - that seemed to take the sting out of the disappointment of waking up a human boy rather than a gecko.


After that, Cailan and I made his birthday cake and cupcakes. He's been a great help with baking lately - we made two pies together for Thanksgiving.




We made one big cake and 12 cupcakes and decorated them with toy dinosaurs. I couldn't believe my luck, that the package of dinos we got at the party store actually included a dilophosaurus. Cailan claimed the dilophosaurus cupcake (in the center of the picture) for his own.


Grandma Bobbie came to Kidzplex with us and helped us decorate our party room with a dinosaur banner and balloons while I set up some snacks and the cakes. All the kids who RSVP'd showed up and soon they were all running rampant through The Fun Factory. Here's Cailan, feeling a bit trepidatious, crossing the narrow bridge above the ball pit with some help from his fearless friend Tyanna.



After all that running around, it was time for some snacks: we had brought cheese and crackers, grapes, and apples. Most of the kids eschewed the Swiss cheese in favor of the cheddar, but Cailan likes the white cheese with the holes in it. "Does Swiss mean it has holes?"


We lit the candles on the big cake and sang a proper Happy Birthday. The we passed around the cupcakes, and each kid got a little dinosaur to take home.

Snow Day

It started snowing Monday night. This is what it looked like Tuesday morning:


I was out the door at 6 a.m. as usual, taking Utah for his morning constitutional. At first I didn't think too much of it, but as we walked I realized the snow was up over my ankles with every step and it was continuing to fall pretty heavily. Apparently, none of the other dogs had convinced their people to take them out: none of the regulars were in the park so we had it all to ourselves. I let Utah off his leash and he raced away to scamper and wallow in the snow while I trudged around the perimeter of the park. My legs grew tired before I finished one lap, and I wished I was wearing my snowshoes.

When I got back to the house, I turned on the computer to check the forecast and look for school closings. I was as delighted as a second-grader to see that our campus was closed. Yippee! A snow day!

Much of the morning was spent shoveling the driveway and unearthing the cars.


Cailan bundled up in his new mittens, bibs and snow boots and brought his dinosaurs outside to make tracks in the snow. Unfortunately, the dinosaurs kept disappearing in the powder, but we managed to keep track of the boy!