It was a great family weekend. William's cake took me all afternoon which is definitely more than I bargained for. I didn't realize making everything from scratch plus adding a second layer would take up so much time. Much of it was spent waiting for everything to cool before I could frost and decorate. But there's just something about a homemade cake that makes for good memories.
It was bitter cold the day of William's birthday which made me appreciate the coziness of a simple family birthday party all the more. We took our time with dinner, cleanup and presents. I even indulged a week early in a little Christmas music.
I think I'm always going to look back on William's 2nd birthday and cherish how innocent he is in all of it. He isn't self-absorbed in that it's his day yet. After singing Happy Birthday to him, he then wanted to sing to mommy and then to daddy. He had no idea why seven people called that day just to talk to him but he sure was loving it. And he didn't care how extravagant or expensive his gifts were. He was so excited to open up something unexpected for which he had no idea why he'd earned it.
I wish all birthdays could be like this but kids grow up, or so I've heard.
On Saturday we took William to his first movie at a theater. He did excellent. He got a little antsy in the middle when the storyline was a bit slower but he soon found my soda cup and started sucking that straw like it was pure heaven. He's never had soda before so you can imagine his surprise when all that sugar hit his lips. I'd say his favorite parts of the whole experience, in order, would be:
2. Sprite
3. The Marley & Me preview
4. The actual movie
I think that's pretty good for a just-turned-two-year-old.
In the evening on that same day we took William to a Christmas event at our local shopping center. Santa was there to greet all the kids and they even had live reindeer on display. But William's favorite part was Santa's ride. A sleigh? No no! Santa cruised in on a mighty fire truck. William thought he died and went to heaven. You couldn't force that kid to stop smiling. Here's a couple of photos I captured.
After the fire trucks had to depart we decided to scope out Santa. The line was much too long for William's patience and because Santa was outside, it was a little too cold to be standing that still so long anyway. So we compromised on standing just outside the rope so William could at least see Santa in the flesh.
For the past week we've been talking about Santa and who he is and what he's all about so William has some idea of what's behind this jolly old fellow. But for a two-year-old, you never know what information is going to stick. Apparently this Santa info stuck pretty well.
Brian was holding William and the two of them were looking on while the other children, who had more patience than the Nashes to stand in that line, slowly took their turns to have a seat on Santa's lap.
Brian called over to me, laughing, "Come here! You've got to hear this!"
William was waving his arm in Santa's direction and in the most confident voice he could muster was saying, "Um, Santa, please trucks?"
Translation: "I don't really want to stand in this ridiculously long line but I just wanted to get in my small request of a few trucks for Christmas please."
Brian and I were laughing so hard we had tears rolling down our cheeks. It was a wonderful moment to cap off the weekend.
Later, in December, we will be making our annual trip to Macy's Downtown to visit Santa. It appears that once again we will be dealing with a child who is the furthest thing from being scared of the man in the red suit.
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