Snapshots from Birthday Party

Last night we had a riotous time celebrating our son's 4th birthday. Even though he doesn't turn 4 until later this week, we decided yesterday afternoon (after his chicken pox diagnosis and subsequent cancellation of his scheduled class party tomorrow) to have a party last night. As I think about the festival, the following mental snapshot memories come to mind.

One mental snapshot is of him singing with great gusto "Happy Birthday" as we were singing it. Since last week, he has been talking about celebrating his birthday. It seems that this is the first birthday that he has really cared about. Since my wife will probably be in the maternity ward for 4 days later this week, it was good to have this time especially consacrated to his birthday. He had a huge smile on his face while singing with us. When he smiles, he really can light up a room. He seems to be smiling more this last week.

A 2nd mental snapshot is of him showing off the set of dinosaurs that we gave him, as well as for the letter/puzzle set from Pappy Alain and the balloons from Aunt Marion. We were pleased that they were able to come with very little notice. We'll be spreading out his gifts over the next few days, since he's confined home from school.

A humorous snapshot took place as he was decorating the chocolate cupcakes (his birthday cake for this party) in front of all of us with powdered sugar and colored sprinkles. Suddenly he let out a loud sneeze as he was facing the cupcakes. While nothing came out of his nose, one could imagine what the top of the cupcakes would have looked like had something come out. We all got a huge laugh out of this.

Another one was at the beginning of the meal. (This is being written train of thought, rather than chronologically). As I saw Grandpa David (the physical, maternal grandfather who has come from South Dakota for this week) and "Pappy" ("grandpa, in French) Alain (our children's honorary, French grandfather) sitting side by side, I was torn about who to ask to pray for the meal. Rather than having to choose between the two, I had both of them pray. It was meaningful to have blessings prayed over our son from both of these godly men who care for him greatly. Alain doesn't have any physical grandchildren, so our kids are the closest thing to grandkids that he has. On a humorous note, both men forgot to pray for the food, so my wife added a one line prayer for that afterwards.

It has been good to have Grandpa David, whom his grandkids refer to as "Bop," with us for the past few days. I tend to retreat to my office at the end of the day to "reenergize." (I'm an "I" on the Meijers-Briggs). But I can hear what is being said and done in our living room/dining room, since only bookshelves separate the two. For the last couple of nights, I have heard my wife and her father talking. I think that this is the most time that they've been able to have together alone (after the kids go to bed) in a number of years. They know I'm in the office and that I selectively hear what I want to, so it's not seen as eavesdropping. But it's good that they can have this father-daughter time together, especially at this significant transition time in our lives.

One of my hobbies is reading about college football recruiting. Tomorrow is national signing day for high school seniors. One of the top players, Louisiana cornerback/receiver Jai Eugene, had committed verbally a couple of weeks ago to my favorite team, the University of Michigan Wolverines. Although he's only in high school, he already has a young son. This morning, I read that he decommitted to Michigan and committed verbally to Louisiana State University. The primary reason appears that, at a birthday party for his son on Sunday, he realized how much he would miss his son due to the great distance between Michigan and Louisiana. While I'm a huge Michigan fan, I agree with his decision. Especially during his son's early years, he will need his father's influence, approval, and presence at birthday parties.