Where does the time go?

It really does seem like just yesterday that we brought home this new 9 lb., 4 oz. baby boy we named Ian with no clear idea what we were supposed to do with him once out of the hospital. Yet, in the blink of an eye (plus two houses and one cross-country move later), this past Saturday, January 10, he turned three years old. All I can say is, Wow - already?

Of course one of the many things about parenting that you don't learn until you actually experience it for yourself is how celebrating your child's birthday has this whole extra meaning attached. Because really, to you, it's not just the joy of your child's birthday but it's also an anniversary of sorts. That is, an anniversary of the day that your life drastically changed forever. Of course this phenomenon is really pronounced on the first birthday since in all honesty, the kid has no idea what's going on - but for you - you remember exactly what you were doing one year ago on that day. It wasn't pretty, but it was definitely special. And three years into this whole parenthood thing now, I can definitively say that there's been no better gift than to have a front row seat in watching Ian grow and develop - learning a new word, expression or phrase one day that he didn't seem to know the day before. Each year has gotten more fun than the one before, so undoubtedly we are looking forward to what his fourth year will bring. (Of course not that I'm spending any time thinking about how I've heard from many that the "terrible twos" are more often the "terrible threes" these days...)

Just like the holidays this year, this birthday also felt very different from his first and second because it was the first one where it was very clear to him that this was his special day. And he didn't let us forget it. Last Friday I dropped him off at school with some special birthday blueberry muffins (he picked out muffins over mini cupcakes...go figure) to share with his classmates and teachers during snack. He must have asked a million times on the way there, "Mommy, today is my birthday?" I think I finally gave up on trying to explain to him that the next day was his actual birthday but today he was celebrating with his classmates. So it's very possible that he believes he has at least two birthdays in a row now. Whatever floats his boat, is what I say. By the time I picked him up at 12:30 p.m., to say he was beside himself with birthday excitement is an understatement. He ran toward me wearing a big purple crown that said "3 - Ian" in big gold glitter writing on the front. It was accompanied by a book that the class had put together for him with pictures colored by each one of his classmates. Teacher Stella and Teacher Liz said he had been beaming from ear to ear all morning long. He barely removed that crown the rest of Friday - not even while catching up with Big Bird.

Saturday morning was like another mini-Christmas. He came downstairs to a table full of presents that we opened with him after breakfast. He was in heaven with another round of fun new books and toys at his disposal. (As were his parents since he is more than occupied with all his new stuff these days!) A couple of special birthday calls topped off the afternoon and that evening, our neighbors and a couple of other friends joined us for dinner and cake to celebrate our new three-year-old. Even though there were just four children, semi-organized chaos is how the evening might best be described. Luckily there was sufficient alcohol available to the adults in attendance who desired or needed it.

Ian had requested a "train cake" for his birthday, which in marketing terms to any entity who sells children's products, of course means you get Thomas the Train. So, there you have it. We had what I would call a semi-Thomas the Train theme of which the centerpiece was an adorable and always super yummy cake from Beaverton Bakery. And for the record, I believe that we are now three for three in Ian not taking one single bite of his birthday cake or ice cream. Oh, and I learned yet another valuable lesson of parenthood - which is that even though those blow horns (with the things that unravel when you blow them) may have their place in life - New Years Eve, for example - they do not belong at a young child's birthday party. Enough said there.

And if he wasn't tired enough by Sunday morning, that afternoon I took him to a birthday party for a four-year-old that is worthy of mention here. We went to this place called Pump It Up, which is really code for "How to Make Lots of Quick and Easy Money off of Parents". Specifically designed for birthday parties, this place is a money-making machine, let me tell you. It's located in this nondescript building in an office park off the freeway. You go inside and immediately you're directed to drop the presents in a bin. One signed waiver and kids' "safety talk" later, the group is whisked through a door into this large and again - somewhat nondescript - room with huge inflatable bouncy things. One has a slide, one has basketball hoops and I'm not even sure what the third was. The point is - the kids jump and run around like mad people while the parents sit on the sidelines with a dazed look on their faces commenting to each other about how they wish they had thought of this business idea. After a half hour, the whole group is herded through a door into an adjoining room with yet another set of huge bouncy things. Rinse and repeat for another half hour. Once that fun is over, shoes go back on. Everyone gets squirts of hand sanitizer and you go through a third and final door to the all-important party room where magically the gifts, along with pizza and cake, appear. Oh, and don't think that if you look through the window of any of the doors that you previously went through - or the ones ahead of you - that there isn't another birthday party already in progress. So in other words, it would not be misleading to say that birthday parties are literally herded through this place nonstop, all day long. But back in the party room - the first five minutes, kids eat Goldfish from bowls on the table. Distribute and eat pizza - next ten minutes. Light cake, sing, blow out candles, distribute and eat cake - another ten minutes. Last five minutes - take balloon, say goodbye and you are on your way home a total of 1.5 hours later, complete with kid in the backseat begging to have their next birthday party at Pump It Up. (Well, for the record, Ian didn't ask that...but I suspect it may just be because he hasn't caught on yet.)

And so, that concluded our three-day birthday celebration. I'm already exhausted thinking about next year.

Until I write again.

My big get

As I think most of you know, I had another birthday on Sunday. It seems to keep coming back about once a year even though I ask it not to. But since it did, that officially makes me a whole 37 years old now - or as I like to think of it, one step closer to senior citizen discounts for life. It also officially puts me on the fast track to 40. But since that's too much for my little brain to comprehend right now, I won't. Instead, I have a little birthday story to tell.

Not to get back on the whole weather thing again, but to get back on the whole weather thing again - since we moved to Portland I have been extremely coat challenged. For some reason I just can't seem to find the right fit (pun intended). I've tried heavy coats. I've tried light coats. I've tried rain coats. I've tried quilted coats. I've tried vests. I've tried a coat of armor. But still I've been searching, searching, searching for the right answer. And the truth is that, of course, there is no silver bullet when it comes to the world of coats. Because in reality, one needs a rainbow of coats, if you will, to truly be outfitted properly: A casual heavy raincoat for the winter. A casual light raincoat for the spring. A nicer heavy raincoat for the winter. A nicer light raincoat for the spring. A vest (because you aren't officially a Northwesterner if you don't own a vest). A ski jacket (you know, for when I start hitting those black diamonds on Mt. Hood). I could go on, but you get the picture.

So my latest quest - being that my life is full time casual right now - is a casual type coat that's not too light nor too heavy, but is just right. (Goldilocks, if you're out there, I know you're with me on this one.) And it is this coat that I requested for my birthday this year - though at the time I had not exactly located it yet. But since my apparent idea of fun on my birthday is to torture my husband, I decided that part of how I wanted to spend the day was out shopping with him for this yet-to-be-located coat. As we got closer and closer to last weekend, the stage was set: Jeff had enlisted our babysitter for late Sunday morning at which point we'd go out shopping downtown and in the Pearl District, and then we'd wrap up the afternoon with high tea at the Heathman Hotel. It was set to be a perfect day, until we hit a major snag.

You see, I just happened to find myself in Nordstrom one day and there it was, right there in women's activewear. Staring me right in the face. A North Face Redpoint coat. I immediately tried it on. Not too heavy. Not too light. It was just right. And I know that because the nice saleslady even told me so. She said that she had never seen anyone look so good in a coat before and it clearly was made just for me. So helpful those salespeople are! But unfortunately, along with it came the "because I have the North Face logo plastered all over me, I can way overcharge you" price tag to go with it, which totaled 150 smackers. Hmmm. I was not deterred.

I immediately left the store and skipped (okay, I drove) home and logged onto eBay. And there it was. Exactly just one New With Tags Small North Face Redpoint coat in Brownie Brown - just the color I was eyeing. Starting bid: $49.99. But the auction had just started at that point and still had a few days to go - ending at 10:45 a.m. Pacific on - yep, you got it - Sunday, November 16. Could this be a sign? I wasn't sure, but I watched over that auction like a mama polar bear watches over her cubs in the coming days. Also, here is a good time for me to mention that while I've talked big about purchasing on eBay before, I have never actually placed a bid on one item in my life. I'm always afraid that something will go wrong so I chicken out. Okay, moving along now.

So that morning started off like any other Sunday morning. Except, well not really because Ian decided that instead of waking up around 7 a.m. that he would wake up at 6:15 a.m. This was made even less great by the fact that Jeff and I had been out at a dinner party the evening before and had gotten home late. But hey! It was now officially my birthday, which means that in our house there's an unwritten rule that on your birthday you are granted a free pass to relinquish all your parental duties for exactly one day. So Jeff got up, got Ian ready and fed him breakfast #1 while I showered. When I came downstairs I was greeted with a very enthusiastic, "Happy Birthday Mommy!" which apparently had been practiced multiple times that morning and I have to say, he performed perfectly on cue. Then we departed to try out a new breakfast place (well, new to us) called Biscuits Cafe which was quite enjoyable and yummy. Once we got home, we had a short amount of time until the babysitter arrived so Jeff and Ian went out on a quick "errand". (Read: They picked up the surprise cake from Beaverton Bakery.)

Meanwhile, the clock was ticking. By now it was 10:40 a.m. In the last day or so the coat had jumped from $49.99 to $70 even. With $10 shipping. Still well under the $150 it would cost in the store. As soon as I logged on, I knew things were happening. Suddenly, with five minutes to go, there were three new bids and it was up to $75. I knew I had to act fast! Tick, tick, tick. So I logged into my account and placed a bid. Submit. Whamo! A button appears that says, "I'm sorry but you've already been outbid. Do you want to try again?" Ummm, yes!!! Quick, another bid. Submit. Whamo! Yet again: "I'm sorry but you've already been outbid." What???? All I'm thinking at this point is, "Who are you and where do you live because if you take my coat, I'm coming after you so you'd better watch your back!" This happened like three times and then....nothing. Except a screen saying, "The current bid is $81. You are the highest bidder." Less than a minute to go. Hit refresh! Hit refresh! Hit refresh! Then - it happened. "Mburpo - you have won this item! Please arrange to pay the seller ASAP." Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But wait! There's more. Completely coincidentally, right after I started tracking the auction, those nice people at eBay sent me a 10% off coupon. So after about another half hour of trying to figure out how to apply the coupon, my mission was officially accomplished. Grand total paid for the jacket and shipping: $81.90! I don't think I would have felt as triumphant as I did in that particular moment if I had just won the lottery. Well okay, maybe if it was more than a million dollars I might have been pretty happy, but you know what I mean.

By now Jeff, Ian and babysitter Linda were all there ready and waiting. And Jeff said, "So, um, does that mean we don't need to go shopping after all?" I thought about it for a second and then came to my senses. Silly. We all know the answer to that! So off we ventured for a nice afternoon of strolling and tea. (No more purchases though, for the record.) We topped the day off with a yummy steak/baked potato/wine dinner at home and of course, some cake - which Ian was very excited about and then took one bite and said, "I don't like it!" What a shock. He'll come around some day.

I'm still awaiting the arrival of my new North Face Redpoint coat but I may just have to post a picture when it gets here.

Until I write again.

PS - Don't ask me why the cake picture is sideways. I couldn't get it to download right so I opted to go with this instead. If you tip your head sharply to the right, it will look like it's supposed to.