Carsten's Birthday

Carsten turned 2! With a new baby in the house, it would have been far too easy to miss his special day, but I was determined that he should have a party too. His favorite stuffed animal is his Eli the Elephant, so we thought we'd do a circus type theme.


Even though I've gotten pretty proficient at the birthday party thing, for some reason, everything I did for this one was a disaster. I guess nursing every two hours just gets in the way of accomplishing anything. Anyway, after finally throwing away two cakes, I settled on cupcakes with sprinkles. And, to keep things easy, we just had hot dogs and chips. I made several salads to assuage my guilt over the unhealthy fare. Seventeen people cancelled on the day of the party (which was probably a good thing, except that once you've done the preparation, a smaller group doesn't really make a difference.) Oh, and I had to take Steffen to the doctor for a check-up in the morning, and I got a speeding ticket...

Anyway, we did have a great time, and we actually got to talk to some people since there were fewer there. Carsten, for his part, wasn't to sure about the whole thing. He's the only one of our kids who doesn't like to be in the spotlight. It was so funny! He was excruciatingly embarrassed when we sang happy birthday to him. And then, when he touched the candle instead of blowing it out, we all laughed. That completed his embarrassment. He refused to blow out the candle.

When we went to get him to unwrap his gifts, he hid in the corner of the dining room.
He did like running around outside with all of his little friends, though. That part was great. And once the gifts were unwrapped, he enjoyed playing with them.