First Birthdays.

My niece Adeline turned one yesterday. She is the thirteenth child born to my siblings and me. You would think we'd get tired of it, but we just eat them up each and everyone.

Adeline is particularly delectable as she is a red headed fair skinned butterball, and the first child of the youngest of the siblings who happens to be the only boy in the family. We've never been slackers when it comes to taking care of the babies in our family, but this girl has us all wrapped around her little finger. The fact that we are all done having our own children I'm sure contributes to our complete devotion. So what to get for the girl who has everything, and more than she needs coming her way on her first birthday? It was an interesting question I posed to myself walking through hopscotch on Saturday. Whenever a customer needs a first birthday gift I commiserate with the importance of choosing the right item for this very important day. Something that will stay around, make a lasting impact on the childhood it is meant to facilitate. I always gravitate to wood toys, push toys for the soon to be walker, things that will be around for the next generation, first building blocks, cobblers benches, classics, staples. How surprised I was to find that that was not at all what I wanted for my little Adeline. I wanted to give her something that would give her enjoyment NOW, not be a keepsake for later on. I wanted to shape her day to day one year old existence. I was particularly interested in shaping the experience that her parents have. I haven't shopped for a one year old for almost six years. I was so surprised at what I chose. I know it sounds a little silly, but I wanted to choose gifts that would stack into a tidy pyramid. I love the look of a big box stacked up to a small box. Being a toy store owner I could hardly get away with just one gift, and a pyramid allowed many to be presented as one. The day before my children and I had been tooling around downtown McMinnville popping into our favorite shops, one of which is Third Street Books. My daughter found this groovy pop up cat book. It was a board book, very durable, lots of activities, squeakers, sliders, fuzzy patches to pet, etc. Adeline is obsessed with cats. It was perfect. The next day I pulled a Twilight Turtle off the shelf. It is a light up toy that casts the constellations on the ceiling of your room. It is beautifully designed, the turtle is plush, the shell is acrylic, and the colors are muted neutral greens. My brother and his wife Jessica (like all new parents) need anything that will help Adeline sleep on her own, particularly during the first few hours of the night time which they could actually use to catch up with each other. The package was bigger than the book, so it would stack perfectly. Next, I had heard Jessica say that Adeline needed a new pair of Robeez shoes. What better for a new walker than a hip adorable version of the tried and true moccasin? They can feel the floor through the thin leather sole, but their feet are protected and comfortable. I chose a chocolate brown pair with pink flowers. To go with the little shoes, I selected a Boo-boo bunny which is a plastic ice cube that goes in the freezer until the melon takes a hit, then you pull it out and put it in this little stuffed rabbit that can be placed on the ouchie spot without drips, towels, frost bite, etc. That first year, the melon takes a lot of hits. I thought I was done with my selections when a customer brought a darling puppet to the counter. Puppets! They love puppets at that age. But I needed to choose one that was between the size of the Robeez and the Boo-boo bunny so my pyramid would stack nicely. I chose an Elephant hand puppet from Manhattan based on that criteria. The result is the mountain in the first photo.
I went to a St. Patrick's day party after the one year old party. I was talking to a guy who expressed condolences that I had had to attend a one year party. He then ran through the entire itinerary of the party I had just attended. Baby gets dressed up to look cute, baby gets passed around as guests arrive, most guests more interested in beer or wine than in baby, some guests won't leave baby alone for a second, baby gets plopped in high chair with cake, baby fails to understand that baby needs to REALLY get messy with cake, some assistance, some demonstration, baby gets the idea, and gets thoroughly covered in frosting, flashes go off, presents are opened, and everyone clears out at warp speed to try to salvage some of their Saturday. Baby has a complete overstimulated, sugar let down crash and burn.
My brother and his wife were not going to have a party, but the protest from friends was so great that they felt that they probably should. In spite of the contrived aspects, all set up for photo ops, I really feel good about celebrating the first year of a child's life. Three lives are created anew with the first child. Nothing is the same for anyone, and that bears formal acknowledgment, mourning, and celebration. We could probably ditch the messy cake era. I wonder what new ritual could take the place of the messy first birthday cake?