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22-8-2009 - A First Birthday Worth Remembering

My mood while writing this blog: Ok

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I'm not sure if I've said it here, but a child's birthday is not merely significant for the child, it is significant for the mother. The mother carried the child for months, labored as the child made her way down and out, and gave a human life. It's so powerful, it's indescribable. Lia's birthday isn't merely a day for her to celebrate the day she was born. Her birthday is a day for me to celebrate the pwer in me, the power in my body, the amazing feat that is giving life, the ability to carry life and labor and give life. On her actual birthday, I kept recounting where I was at exactly what time in labor. It's such an indescribable memory, especially when remembering on the same day, at the same time, merely one year later.

Lia's first birthday party turned out to be a blast. Last night, I was worried about everything from the possibility of thunderstorms (I was obsessed about the percentage of probability) to uninvited guests that could possibly take the seats of invited guests if we had to have the party in the apartment. Ultimately, we did have the party in the apartment. It didn't seem to rain in our area, though it rained heavily in others as our guests made their way to our apartment. The apartment was a bit stuffy at times--resembling a sauna--but we shuffled the fan from the hallway to the living room and kept the AC on (which wasn't working as well as we intended). In the end, it was cool enough outdoors to open the window. We got more air that way. Go figure.

We danced, we ate, we talked, we laughed, the kids played Pin the Tail on the Donkey, the kids broke a pinata, we sang happy birthday, forgot to light the candle, and sang happy birthday again with the candle lit this time, but in Spanish to change it up a little. Everyone special in our lives was present. Some were missing, but it was understood. Lia got awesome, thoughtful cards and gifts. She actually napped for an hour in the middle of the commotion and humidity, which was nice.

I finally wore a spaghetti-strapped long dress and showed off my tattoos around my own family. It felt liberating, and no one judged me, which proved me wrong. I can't believe the party turned out so well and that people were actually enjoying themselves! The food was great too, even though my Cuban Ropa Vieja was horrible with the flank steak; I should have just bought the steaks I had used before. Not sure why the recipe didn't work. But there was tons of yummy food anyway!

I opened up Lia's keepsake box ... the box that I've been holding since her birth. It originally held an album, but the box is so cute that I decided to start putting little memories inside of it. Today, I added her first birthday candle. In the box, you can find her belly button, her first hospital wrist band, the shoes she wore when she was blessed at my parents' church and many other little things. It's a small box and I can't keep adding to it, so we may just call it her first year keepsake box.

Or maybe we can get a bigger box and keep adding more memories to it because today proved that memories is what life is made of.

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1 Comments on A First Birthday Worth Remembering


kickboxerbaby - Monday, 24 Aug
Sounds like an amazing day. I suggest continuing to add to the keepsake box. One thing I did with my girls was tape record them talking when they were little. They grow up so quickly you wont remember what they sounded like way back when.