The big birthday extravaganza

9 kids. 14 grownups. 2 baby siblings. A little over 2 hours of well-supervised mayhem. Yep, today was Henry's 3rd birthday party, and it was great. The guest list was a mix of kids from the preschool and the neighborhood, plus the preschool-age children of Tom's colleagues. Everyone had a lot of fun, including the parents. Even the cake decorating project I planned went off without a hitch. The kids did a great job sticking Smarties and marshmallows on their trains, and weren't really messy at all. Things got a bit loud at times, but nothing unbearable. In summary, the adults weren't bored, there were no major fights, tantrums or injuries on the part of the kids, and we don't have to powerwash the inside of the house. As third birthday parties go, you can't ask for much better.

It's interesting to mark Henry's development by the way his birthday parties have gone off. His first birthday party was pretty much for the grownups, with booze and a full spread of food. Henry was just the overstimulated center of attention. His second birthday party was much more kid-centric, but I remember it being a lot of shy toddlers sticking close to their moms while we coaxed them to have fun. Today, the kids played really well together with almost no intervention from their parents. Especially the kids who go to preschool together. When I watch them interact, it's clear that they have genuine relationships with each other as little individuals. They have conversations, pull each other into activities, and find ways to have fun. They're no longer just kids thrown together in a room because they're around the same age and their parents know each other. I guess next year's party, and every party after that, will show the continuation of this trend.

On Henry's actual birthday, Tom and I brought cupcakes to school for all the kids. The cupcakes were a real Working Mom Wonder Woman moment for me, as I had come home at lunch the day before to bake them from scratch. Eat your heart out, June Cleaver!

I'll post photos to my Flickr account ASAP. Between the new camera, all the software drivers for the new camera, and some new photo editing software I got, I've managed to really screw up my PC when it comes to photo management. I've got quite a backlog of images to work through. . .