Birthday Part II

Luthien,

Why must there be a "part II," you might ask? Well, you see mom went a little crazy for your first birthday party, as evidenced by your invitation (note: I promised dad it would never happen again!):

It all started with the fancy invitations, made by our good friend Angela, a talented graphic designer. Of course, only mom could have come up with what it actually says on the invitation, and she started to regret it once it was already in print.

A "healthful" lunch will be served...? Did she remember how many people she invited, and that she could not take off any days from work to prepare since she's saving her time up to go to Portland 2 1/2 weeks after the party? (yes, you heard me right- we can't wait)!

Okay, I have to switch tenses again which I'm totally against, but the 3rd person is getting tiring...anyway, I had to remind myself why I wrote that, and actually planned to serve 40 people a healthful, made from scratch meal. You see baby girl, I have always been into nutrition and eaten healthfully. However, since your birth, and especially since you started eating, I have been on a quest to further my knowledge on this topic. I can say that I have actually been surprised- no, shocked- about the things that I've learned, and grateful for the changes we are making in our diets as a result. I won't say anymore on this but just know that we have (and are still in the process) of changing our diets radically, and we couldn't feel more right about it. And I have you to thank for pushing me to do this! So, back to the invitations- the lunch was supposed to be a reflection of the things I have learned, and who better to share your knowledge with than 40 of your closest friends and family? Now, on to the rest of the party...

We had to do something with water since you love it so much. For the longest time I did not want to have it at your Nana/Grandad's house only because you spend so much time there, and I wanted to do something different (not to mention they don't have a pool). Then I started thinking about how any water-related place we would go to, there would be no refuge from the 110+ degree heat. So I came up with the idea to do your party "kiddie pool style" as it says in the invitations. We set up 3 different pools, 1 being a splash pad, and I also got a misting system for Nana/Grandad's patio to keep the adults cool. So, here are the pools, pre-kids:

I think the kiddie pools were a hit with the kids- your favorite was the splash pad:

Next, the food. What you are seeing mostly is garnishings for the gazpacho:

The menu consisted of the following. Flax crackers with homemade hummus or dilly cream dip for an appetizer. Second course (although everything was served buffet style): gazpacho, a cold soup (which I should have written on the menu). Optional garnishes included cilantro, pine nuts, avocado, feta, and chopped tomato. Main dish: curried chicken salad with fresh spinach and wrapped in whole wheat lavosh (okay the lavosh bread was not homemade). Side dish was farro with fresh figs. Okay, okay, I had also planned on making this dish but ran out of time, and at the last minute called True Food Kitchen and ordered a batch. The wraps were the crowd pleaser, followed closely by the two dips. The healthiest dishes- farro and the gazpacho- well, lets just say we had leftovers :) For a "drink" we made a watermelon strawberry slush that was also a real hit (thanks Kara)!

Let me just take a moment to tell you how wonderful your dad is. He had a Crohn's attack the week of the party, which thankfully turned out not to be as bad as some of the past episodes. He worked all day Friday prepping and making ALL the food for the party. Yes, the meals/recipes were my idea, and yes I stayed up until midnight two nights before doing all the shopping, but as it turned out I felt embarrassed at the lack of work I actually did. I'm so grateful to have an excellent cook for a husband, who takes my ideas and executes them perfectly every (okay most) times.

Now, on to dessert. I'll try to make this quick since as usual I end up writing too much. Friday night was rough. You were teething and having a difficult time sleeping, and I had planned on making the cupcakes at this time. I had practiced the recipe the week before and they were great. After making 4 dozen cupcakes that night I finally had the sense to actually taste what I was making. They were inedible. These cupcakes were already pretty muffin-like, so the added density in my final product that night was just plain bad. So, with the help of a morning Trader Joe's run, Nana and Aunt Stefanie, we whipped up some cupcakes in the final hour before your party. Not from scratch and not very healthy (although much better than Betty Crocker), but by that time I didn't really care. I think the final product turned out quite nice, but again I felt a bit sad that I did not contribute more to the actual making of the food at the party. At least I made the frosting...

You were still teething the day of the party and were not very well rested by the time the guests arrived. You did well in the pools, but once it was time to come in, eat, and do the rest of the festivities you were a little over the whole thing. We scurried to sing and have you eat your cupcake, which meant I was holding you during the singing and you ate the cupcake on a blanket on the floor. I don't think you would have wanted to sit in your high chair anyway, so it worked out well, just didn't make for the greatest pictures:

Of course we did not get the traditional cupcake eating picture because you were totally uninterested in it. Your cousin Amelie had no problem eating yours. It was good proof for all that it's not the taste of the healthy food I feed you that's the problem.

Present opening was a blast, but definitely overwhelming. You were more interested in the actual presents than the paper, which was fun for a change. You especially loved the button ribbon on your present from Clint and Angela, and mom appreciated the wrapping of course:

Needless to say you passed out shortly after the party was over. Mom forgot to hand out the party favors, so we've been eating a lot of fruit leather since and plan to plant a lot of seeds. It was a fun day Miss Luthien, enjoyed by all (I think). Like dad said, we won't be doing this type of extravaganza again. It was good while it lasted.

LOTS of developmental notes to follow. I can't believe how you're growing! (Cognitively speaking, not quite physically :)

Love,

Mom