Trifecta!

You would’nt think being a toddler would involve a lot of parties but I’m here to tell you that it does. The past two weekends have seen three birthday parties, two for friends of Donovan and one for the Prince of Polish Hill himself.

The other two parties were at the Pittsburgh Toy Lending Library which, I must say, is a fantastic place, especially for a birthday party. All those big toys you don’t want to buy but you know your kid would love? All in the same huge room: big plastic rocking horses, huge plastic castles with slides, trampolines, balls of all sorts, playclothes—everything all in one place. I took Donny to his friend, Brendan’s party there and Mike did the honors yesterday for Leo’s party. I stayed home to get ready for our event.

I have to say that I was not too sure about how Donny’s party was going to go. I mean, I’ve thrown some good parties in my day but not for the younger set. Because I’m fond of feeling superior to folks I’ve never met, I’ve read lots of articles about how ridiculous some parents get with their kid’s parties (tho if anyone wants to rent a real live tiger cub for my birthday: May 24). I did’nt want to go that way but what to do? Its not like we have a usable yard or anything. I asked Mike’s mom if she would do bubbles for the kids as she has an arsenal of wands and a secret bubble formula. She was kind enough to agree but it rained all day. I ended up clearing the kitchen to be a playroom of sorts and making a fort out of the kitchen table and a bedsheet.

I need’nt have worried. Get a bunch of kids in a house with toys that are new to them and everything is copacetic. There were a couple times that Donny got a little overwhelmed—one time Mike had to take him to the dining room to read Uncle Andy’s Cats to him and another time he and Grandpop sat at the piano together for awhile. Still, he did really well. He played the piano with Brendan and Leo (LOUD, lord so loud!), ran back and forth from the kitchen to the living room with some of the kids and, this was too damn cute, sat down with all the kids in the kitchen for a Cake Picnic.

Here are some photos of his party—enjoy!

Phone Photos: Apres Waldorf

Thaw

Yesterday was the first day since—well, probably since last year—that I was able to take Donny to the Montessori playground to run around while we waited for Mike to get off of work. It was bright and sunny and there were a lot of kids there already, none of whom were wearing their coats. I could’nt convince my Waldorfized child to shed any layers but that did’nt seem to slow him down. He was all over the place—climbing up the faux rockwall, across the gangplank walk, down all the different slides so many times that I’m glad I did’nt try to keep count. It was so fun to run around with him and see how happy he could be climbing, running, jumping and sliding. I know its not actually spring but it was spring enough. Can’t wait for more!