You say it’s his birthday?

Well, happy birthday to him! It was Max’s third birthday yesterday. I am a little surprised at how big a milestone this one felt like. Birthdays 1 and 2 were steps along the path to maturity, but both were still clearly within the baby/toddler era. This birthday really feels like the entrance into the next phase of his life, the phase that contains going to school, learning to read and write, and other mind-blowing achievements.

It’s funny that this birthday is triggering two opposite reactions  the wife and I. I am entirely consumed with thoughts of the future and the amazing things he’s moving towards, while she is (understandably) remembering the lead-up to his birth and his arrival in this world. I tend to avoid thinking about that time. I’m trying to encourage old man time to blur my memories into a hazy, stress-free and vague recollection of the hospital, the waiting, the chaos of the first few weeks.

I am so jazzed by the little dude’s continually improving communication skills that I can’t wait for each new breakthrough to happen. It is only 19 months until my little guy heads off into the big new world of junior kindergarten. Sniff.

Particulars of the party yesterday?  A small family affair of the people who have lived with Max during his three years: me, the wife, my best chum Ryan and my sister-in-law (who brought the extra gift of possible illness contagion with her. Thanks!). I made a chocolate cake with peanut buttercream icing, with gummi worms and crumbled cake on top to make it a dirt and worm cake. The taste was good, but I didn’t mix well enough again, and the cake was rather dense. I swear that I will someday produce a fluffy cake. IT WILL HAPPEN. There is a second party today, the big kids to-do. It turns out this is another event type that I had no idea how to plan, so things are a little rough, but enough pizza and swimming should cover up any social gaffes.