WE LIKE TO PARTY
This weekend marked the final Buhr birthday in the past three weeks, and also resulted in the culmination of our birthday celebrations with a large party to celebrate both Landon’s third birthday, and Colt’s first year on the planet. So finally we may get a chance to catch our breath and not be inundated with thoughts of what details need to be amended for the latest party plan, but before we start looking ahead I’ll take a few minutes to recap the past weekend’s celebration.
Invitations were distributed weeks in advance to family and friends inviting them “buzz on over” to our house for a bug themed party on Saturday, March 10th. Rhiannon as always had every detail meticulously planned so that each aspect of the party would reflect the insect theme for the event. We had a bounce house in the driveway adorned with a large banner displaying the characters from Disney’s, Bug’s Life. Tablecloths were held in place with centerpieces comprised of large glass jars filled with plastic bugs, there were bug balloons, and bug filled goody bags, and even fluorescent rubber bugs scattered throughout the yard for a bug hunt. I think Rhiannon stopped just short from serving chocolate covered grasshoppers.
Start time for the party was set at 11:00am and it was scheduled to last until at least 2:00pm. Our day, of course, began much earlier. The boys seemed to sense that a celebration was in the air, because they awoke with the sun, and by 6:30 the entire family was up and moving. Rhiannon and Colt ducked out to pick up some last minute supplies, while Landon and I scurried about the yard, setting up tables and chairs and removing the uninvited dog poop. Both boys were bathed, and dressed in shirts with little bugs crawling all over their sleeves. I slipped out to pick up balloons and made a failed attempt to get the dog enrolled in a grooming appointment/babysitting situation. By 10:30 my parents had arrived with some supplies and we were off and running.
People began to trickle in shortly after eleven, and by noon most of the attendees had arrived. Their was a definite dichotomy between the arrival times of those guests that had kids, and those friends that have yet to take any steps into the world of parenthood. Once everyone showed up our final guest tally crested at 25 adults and 10 youngsters ranging in age from 4 months to 4 years, and our oldest guest was the boy’s great grandfather Alonzo who is in his early 80’s. The party was moving along smoothly, the bounce house was bouncing, conversations were flowing, appetizers and drinks were consumed, the only thing missing was the pizza…
One of the few responsibilities I had in preparation for the party as to schedule the pizza order and delivery. The night before I had ordered six large pizzas from the local pizza joint to be delivered at 11:45am the next morning. Everything seemed clear, the kid taking my order even joked about how busy the guys in the kitchen were going to be the following morning. The next morning I called to confirm the order and leave a credit card number, again all seemed well. At noon when the pizzas hadn’t arrived I called, and was told that they were in route. At 12:30pm I called again to inquire about the location of our delinquent food, by this time stomachs were audibly rumbling and I had received more than one disapproving looks from my wife. When the kid on the phone asked me to hold while he tracked down his general manager I knew things weren’t good. I was informed by the apologetic supervisor, that the clown that had taken my order the night before had scheduled it for an 11:45pm delivery. I asked the manager how often they get large orders or pizzas, the night before, to be delivered close to midnight?! He had no reply, only stammering that the pizzas would be there as quickly as possible, and discounting the order by fifty percent. Ugh. Luckily we had a large amount of appetizers on hand, or my guess is that a mutiny via toddler would have been afoot.
After appetites were finally satiated, it was time for desert and a birthday song. Rhiannon brought out the gummy worm topped cupcakes and Landon and Colt were treated to their birthday serenade. A mess ensued, as Colt enjoyed his first birthday cupcake, by appropriately smearing chocolate all over his face, hands and hair. An expected sugar rush followed and quickly spread through the entire juvenile crowd. For a short while kids were scampering around, giggling on their glucose induced high, but shortly thereafter, the impending sugar crash arrived and that combined with a day spent in the hot sun resulted in all of the younger attendees heading for a car ride home to nap. The day flew by – it was already after 2:00pm.
Some of our San Diego friends without children lingered through the afternoon and many laughs were shared. A few presents were opened much to the delight of the birthday honorees. That evening my parents generously offered to tuck Landon and Colt in bed, while Rhiannon and I joined our friends for a dinner with friends at the local Mexican eatery – without any kids – a very rare and much appreciated treat and an excellent way to end such an important day. It was an eventful dinner, and one that I’m sure will be remembered.
This weekend marked the final Buhr birthday in the past three weeks, and also resulted in the culmination of our birthday celebrations with a large party to celebrate both Landon’s third birthday, and Colt’s first year on the planet. So finally we may get a chance to catch our breath and not be inundated with thoughts of what details need to be amended for the latest party plan, but before we start looking ahead I’ll take a few minutes to recap the past weekend’s celebration.
Invitations were distributed weeks in advance to family and friends inviting them “buzz on over” to our house for a bug themed party on Saturday, March 10th. Rhiannon as always had every detail meticulously planned so that each aspect of the party would reflect the insect theme for the event. We had a bounce house in the driveway adorned with a large banner displaying the characters from Disney’s, Bug’s Life. Tablecloths were held in place with centerpieces comprised of large glass jars filled with plastic bugs, there were bug balloons, and bug filled goody bags, and even fluorescent rubber bugs scattered throughout the yard for a bug hunt. I think Rhiannon stopped just short from serving chocolate covered grasshoppers.
Start time for the party was set at 11:00am and it was scheduled to last until at least 2:00pm. Our day, of course, began much earlier. The boys seemed to sense that a celebration was in the air, because they awoke with the sun, and by 6:30 the entire family was up and moving. Rhiannon and Colt ducked out to pick up some last minute supplies, while Landon and I scurried about the yard, setting up tables and chairs and removing the uninvited dog poop. Both boys were bathed, and dressed in shirts with little bugs crawling all over their sleeves. I slipped out to pick up balloons and made a failed attempt to get the dog enrolled in a grooming appointment/babysitting situation. By 10:30 my parents had arrived with some supplies and we were off and running.
People began to trickle in shortly after eleven, and by noon most of the attendees had arrived. Their was a definite dichotomy between the arrival times of those guests that had kids, and those friends that have yet to take any steps into the world of parenthood. Once everyone showed up our final guest tally crested at 25 adults and 10 youngsters ranging in age from 4 months to 4 years, and our oldest guest was the boy’s great grandfather Alonzo who is in his early 80’s. The party was moving along smoothly, the bounce house was bouncing, conversations were flowing, appetizers and drinks were consumed, the only thing missing was the pizza…
One of the few responsibilities I had in preparation for the party as to schedule the pizza order and delivery. The night before I had ordered six large pizzas from the local pizza joint to be delivered at 11:45am the next morning. Everything seemed clear, the kid taking my order even joked about how busy the guys in the kitchen were going to be the following morning. The next morning I called to confirm the order and leave a credit card number, again all seemed well. At noon when the pizzas hadn’t arrived I called, and was told that they were in route. At 12:30pm I called again to inquire about the location of our delinquent food, by this time stomachs were audibly rumbling and I had received more than one disapproving looks from my wife. When the kid on the phone asked me to hold while he tracked down his general manager I knew things weren’t good. I was informed by the apologetic supervisor, that the clown that had taken my order the night before had scheduled it for an 11:45pm delivery. I asked the manager how often they get large orders or pizzas, the night before, to be delivered close to midnight?! He had no reply, only stammering that the pizzas would be there as quickly as possible, and discounting the order by fifty percent. Ugh. Luckily we had a large amount of appetizers on hand, or my guess is that a mutiny via toddler would have been afoot.
After appetites were finally satiated, it was time for desert and a birthday song. Rhiannon brought out the gummy worm topped cupcakes and Landon and Colt were treated to their birthday serenade. A mess ensued, as Colt enjoyed his first birthday cupcake, by appropriately smearing chocolate all over his face, hands and hair. An expected sugar rush followed and quickly spread through the entire juvenile crowd. For a short while kids were scampering around, giggling on their glucose induced high, but shortly thereafter, the impending sugar crash arrived and that combined with a day spent in the hot sun resulted in all of the younger attendees heading for a car ride home to nap. The day flew by – it was already after 2:00pm.
Some of our San Diego friends without children lingered through the afternoon and many laughs were shared. A few presents were opened much to the delight of the birthday honorees. That evening my parents generously offered to tuck Landon and Colt in bed, while Rhiannon and I joined our friends for a dinner with friends at the local Mexican eatery – without any kids – a very rare and much appreciated treat and an excellent way to end such an important day. It was an eventful dinner, and one that I’m sure will be remembered.
*************************************************************************************
Since this post is about Colt’s party, and since his actual first birthday was last Sunday, March 11th, it seems like an appropriate time to give a brief update on the little guy’s development.
Colt just had his one-year old doctor’s appointment this Tuesday, and he came away with a well deserved stamp of approval. He is still a little small for his age at just around the 25th percentile in both height and weight. I am a little concerned about his growth, traditionally Colt has existed more in the 50th percentile range, but in December he had a pretty wicked stomach flu which seemed to affect his growth a little just before his nine month check up with Dr. Mackey. At that time Dr. Mackey suggested that if Colt hadn’t reached 20 pounds in weight by January he might be concerned, and at his weigh-in this week he still is only slightly over 20 pounds in weight. We were unable to schedule an appointment with Dr. Mackey this time around, and the substitute doctor did not seem alarmed at Colt’s decreased growth rate. Colt eats more food than his older brother on most occasions, so I’m not really concerned about his intake, and his output doesn’t seem extraordinary either. The doctor also suggested that we wean Colt off the formula and bottle and transition to a sippy-cup with milk as soon as possible and also gave us some daily vitamins to supplement his diet.
Colt has become more and more active in the past weeks; he is a highly motivated crawler and pulls himself up to his feet whenever the opportunity presents itself. He has begun to climb up chairs and stairs, the only problem with this evolution of skills is that he has yet to figure out how to get down safely, assuming that gravity will gently float his chucky frame back to earth. Basically this translates into one of his parents needing to closely monitor his movements constantly. We even had to take the bumper off of the crib because Colt was trying to use this as a step to get out of his naptime confinement. The car seats in the car both face forward now, so Colt also gets a new view as his mom hurdles down the freeways with her foot firmly placed on the gas pedal.
A constant stream of babble continues to drip from Colt’s lips. Most of the language is still indiscernible, but he has started to incorporate some new words, most recently “go”. He certainly seems to understand what he is enunciating and most of the time seems a little confused that his parents don’t comprehend as well. Landon often participates in an exchange of babble with Colt, much to his giggling little brother’s approval.
The hair on Colt’s head remains a straw-colored shade of blonde, and doesn’t hold any of the curls and waves of his older brother’s quaff. He still only has four chompers in his smile, but he is still drooling profusely so the next round of teeth should be showing up any day. His eyes are a deep shade of blue and his skin is very fair and appears a little susceptible to irritation from various sources including grass and changes in laundry detergent. He’s an adorable little kid in my moderately biased opinion.
Colt still has his bedtime buddy, Raffi the giraffe, and ahs recently taken to placing Raffi on his head as he crawls around the house or sits in his seat in the car. I’m not sure if he learned this from Landon or from some of the silly games he plays with his Dad. My guess is that his continued idol worship of his older brother may have caused this behavior development.
There is a brief description of Colton Luke on the one year anniversary of his birth. He is an amazing son and a delightful friend that I am hopelessly in love with. Fatherhood to both of my boys has been an incredible experience.
Since this post is about Colt’s party, and since his actual first birthday was last Sunday, March 11th, it seems like an appropriate time to give a brief update on the little guy’s development.
Colt just had his one-year old doctor’s appointment this Tuesday, and he came away with a well deserved stamp of approval. He is still a little small for his age at just around the 25th percentile in both height and weight. I am a little concerned about his growth, traditionally Colt has existed more in the 50th percentile range, but in December he had a pretty wicked stomach flu which seemed to affect his growth a little just before his nine month check up with Dr. Mackey. At that time Dr. Mackey suggested that if Colt hadn’t reached 20 pounds in weight by January he might be concerned, and at his weigh-in this week he still is only slightly over 20 pounds in weight. We were unable to schedule an appointment with Dr. Mackey this time around, and the substitute doctor did not seem alarmed at Colt’s decreased growth rate. Colt eats more food than his older brother on most occasions, so I’m not really concerned about his intake, and his output doesn’t seem extraordinary either. The doctor also suggested that we wean Colt off the formula and bottle and transition to a sippy-cup with milk as soon as possible and also gave us some daily vitamins to supplement his diet.
Colt has become more and more active in the past weeks; he is a highly motivated crawler and pulls himself up to his feet whenever the opportunity presents itself. He has begun to climb up chairs and stairs, the only problem with this evolution of skills is that he has yet to figure out how to get down safely, assuming that gravity will gently float his chucky frame back to earth. Basically this translates into one of his parents needing to closely monitor his movements constantly. We even had to take the bumper off of the crib because Colt was trying to use this as a step to get out of his naptime confinement. The car seats in the car both face forward now, so Colt also gets a new view as his mom hurdles down the freeways with her foot firmly placed on the gas pedal.
A constant stream of babble continues to drip from Colt’s lips. Most of the language is still indiscernible, but he has started to incorporate some new words, most recently “go”. He certainly seems to understand what he is enunciating and most of the time seems a little confused that his parents don’t comprehend as well. Landon often participates in an exchange of babble with Colt, much to his giggling little brother’s approval.
The hair on Colt’s head remains a straw-colored shade of blonde, and doesn’t hold any of the curls and waves of his older brother’s quaff. He still only has four chompers in his smile, but he is still drooling profusely so the next round of teeth should be showing up any day. His eyes are a deep shade of blue and his skin is very fair and appears a little susceptible to irritation from various sources including grass and changes in laundry detergent. He’s an adorable little kid in my moderately biased opinion.
Colt still has his bedtime buddy, Raffi the giraffe, and ahs recently taken to placing Raffi on his head as he crawls around the house or sits in his seat in the car. I’m not sure if he learned this from Landon or from some of the silly games he plays with his Dad. My guess is that his continued idol worship of his older brother may have caused this behavior development.
There is a brief description of Colton Luke on the one year anniversary of his birth. He is an amazing son and a delightful friend that I am hopelessly in love with. Fatherhood to both of my boys has been an incredible experience.
1 Comments:
It is so wonderful to have you writing again for Streamside! I love all that you write from the perspective of your fatherhood about your family. Thank you. Mom
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