After she claimed she was done with all her work, we had a clean house and 3 decorated rooms. The living room, the kitchen and the family room were all full of streamers and balloons and happy birthday signs. It’s so colorful, I like it.
See all the Balloons. So colorful, na. Me like it !!!!
There is no room for doubt. I checked it all myself. It is indeed MY first Happy B'day.
Our next stop was the Hospital where I was born, Kaiser Santa Clara. Mom and Dad had ordered birthday cakes (big white cakes with balloons and a little boy on a skateboard) which we personally delivered to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) and the Pediatrics floor. I have spent some considerable time in these places in the last one year and this was a way to say thanks to all the people who have helped to get me home and get to my 1st birthday. I got lots of wishes from the doctors, nurses and the other people we met that day. One of the social workers said that this was a very special way to celebrate my birthday, with so many people. Thank you, Mom and Dad for thinking about this.
Our next stop was to pick up my Birthday cake. Yeaaahhh. I was so excited but mom went alone to pick it up. She was more exited than any of us. For a moment I thought it was her birthday cake ;). The cake looked fantastic – round and coated in white and bluish cream with Pooh Bear and Tiger toys on the top. Yummy!!
See my name on the cake. Nice, na.
Did I mention that we had decided on a Pooh Bear theme for my party? No wonder, we have Pooh everywhere. I have him on my cake, on my birthday dress and sprinkled here and there in the decorations.
Once we got home it was another round of fast paced activities (getting ready, picking up the food, putting in all the final touches before the guests started arriving).
7:00 pm : The Grand Evening is finally here.
Ding- dong (my version of the doorbell):
WOOOOOOOW !!! The party is officially ON.
The first sets of guests are here. Its Abhishek Uncle and Neha Aunty. I like them a lot. We see them often and of course today I am thrilled to see them. Very quickly we are joined by Dhawal Uncle, Tulika Aunty, Mugdh Bhaiya and Amarnagna. They live very close to our house and we see them often too. I totally enjoy being with Mugdh and Amarangna. It is so much fun to watch them playing and just running around. It’s so exciting. But today everyone’s attention is focused on me and I like it.
I'm just showing Neha Aunty, Tulika Aunty and Amarangna how my toy works.
While we are all just hanging out, we have a little technical problem. DIAPER LEAK!!!!!!!!!! Even before we are full swing into the party I spoilt my dress. As a result, I have no picture in my full birthday dress. No problems, dude. Mom does some quick mix-matching and I’m back in the game with a clean diaper and Denim shorts. I’m looking pretty cool again.
Vivek Uncle and Christine Aunty join us next and we almost have a quorum. (And on a side note: Everyone is bringing gifts for me, all wrapped in gift paper and tied with pretty strings. Gosh, I am so excited to know what’s inside but somehow my baby sense tells me that may not be a cool thing to do. So I am playing it cool as if all I am interested in --- is the company. I wish I knew that we get gifts on our birthday. I would have celebrated my birthday a zillion times by now!!!! My mind is whirling and unlike my parents I am not waiting another year for the next party. Between you and me, expect my next birthday party invitation very soon.)
Just playing a good host by being a happy and calm baby.
Rohit Uncle is last to join us but not the least. And yes, the party is in full swing now. Everyone is sitting in the living room and we are chatting and having a good time. I carefully interlace my baby charms in between the adult conversations; making sure the focus does not shift from me for too long. I smile here, let out some baby words there, clap a little and wave every now and them. Everyone just seems to love my tricks.
See my little trick here. Everyone was saying " Oh how cute.....". I just smiled and carried on my baby charms.
I am oblivious to the flow of food and beverages in all this commotion. I am quite fixated on cutting the cake. It was so exiting to cut the cake last night. And this cake is bigger, so bigger is my excitement. A little later, Dad announces that it is time to cut the cake. Good job Daddy. Just what I wanted. What fun. I’m almost jumping up and down.
Wait, wait. How come the regime is different this time? The cake is brought to the living room and placed on a decorated table. There is a big knife there. Lots of Pooh bear Paper plates and napkins….. A big Pooh bear happy birthday sign. And what are those….Pooh Bear party caps. Well looks like we did just a dry run yesterday. I like this set up even better than before.
You can see I was not lying about Pooh being all over the place. See those party poppers !! They are pretty lound and fun too.As you can guess what excites me most are the Pooh bear toys on the cake. However, my attempts to grab them off the cake were thwarted and we moved on to cutting the cake. Mom and dad helped me to blow the candle and also to cut the cake. Once more, the cake was plastered on my face and I mean it, people, I mean it, I do not like this and next time this happens I will throw a huge tantrum. Mom and Dad, please consider yourself warned well in advance. Anyways, everyone sang the Happy Birthday song and I really enjoyed it.
This is just the sane part. Look at what follows after this.....
Guys, all I have to say just wait and see who has the last laugh !
Thereafter everyone quickly moved to have dinner and some dessert. That part was pretty boring. It’s no fun just sitting and watch people chew their food. So I decided to rest a little in my swing and recharge for the next round of interactions. And it did come.
Everyone settled down for some cozy after dinner conversation and I thoroughly enjoy that. I was back in full swing and in a new dress. Ok Ok I spoilt the other one too, but it’s ok. That’s what babies do.
As usual I sprinkled my charms every now and then everyone had a good laugh. I guess I rubbed on some good spirit on everyone, as everyone was telling funny stories and we were all splitting after a while. I even allowed Christine Aunty to hold me and had some cool talks with her.
You can't see my hands too well here. Thats because I am clapping so fast. I impressed everyone with my speed., and that includes me too. I din't know I could clap so fast either.
A little later I realized that Mugdh Bhaiya and Amarangna were asleep in their parents’ arms. Trust me; I would never do that, especially at my own party. I need to be a good host right up to the end of the party. And that does need practice. So I keep up till about 1:00 – 2:00 am just as a drill everyday. I have to keep my party skills sharp. Isn’t it?
See the proof here. I'm wide awake and its well past midnight right now.
We finally called it a day around 1:00 am. I could have partied some more but I had a lot of fun and a wonderful birthday. Thank you, Abhishek Uncle, Neha Aunty, Vivek Uncle, Christine Aunty, Dhawal Uncle, Tulika Aunty, and Rohit Uncle for all the gifts and for making my day so special. I will go to bed today knowing how much I am loved by everyone.
Good night and I’ll come back with juicy details of tomorrow’s party soon.
With love,
A Happy, Older and Wiser Arnav.
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