The Daughter Chronicles: Party time for Mia!

This past Saturday we had a birthday party for Mia. We decided to have it after her birthday this year, because we thought it might be a bit cooler than having it before, which we usually do. Well, it was marginally cooler, but not much. Still, it was a nice party. It's always odd having a party for Mia, because she really doesn't have any friends that we can invite. She likes her classmates, but it's not like she was asking for any of them to be invited. So it turns into a party for people we like and haven't seen for a while. Luckily, a lot of them have kids, so Mia has a grand old time hanging out with people her own age. Of course, Mia often has a grand old time no matter what, so there's that. Norah also gets to interact with kids her own age, which she only does at Little Gym. We have been considering putting her pre-school, but haven't because it's pretty expensive, but maybe she needs to be around more kids. I don't know; it's a pickle!

So we had a good time. Two of my ex-colleagues in the teaching industry came with four kids between them. An ex-student of mine showed up with her daughter. Mia's lawyer also came, which was cool of her, with her two daughters. Mia's OT, who is quite awesome, also showed up. We have a small house, so we couldn't have handled too many more. All the kids went in the pool when they arrived, Norah included. One of the girls was not much older than she was, so she followed her lead. She hung onto the edge and moved from the shallow end to the deep end. It was pretty keen. She's still kind of a wuss about the pool - she really doesn't like it when she gets water in her ear, something I'll expound upon when I write about her swimming lessons - but she's really digging the deep end of the pool, which is odd. The other kids had a lot of fun, too. I guess. I didn't ask, but they were shrieking happily.

We cut the cake, and that's where some of the fun began. As I mentioned, Norah seems to be kind of a wuss recently, and this extends to fire. A few months ago, she was outside with me while I was grilling, and a flame spurted up. I didn't freak out or anything, because I didn't want to freak her out, and she was standing five feet away at least, so it's not like she even felt the heat. She didn't go nuts or anything, so I thought nothing of it. But then, in June, at her birthday party, she cried when the cake came out with the candles burning. She still talks about the "fire" and how it won't hurt her, but that doesn't stop her. The same thing happened on Saturday when Mia's cake came out. She simply freaked out. I had to take her back in her bedroom and try to calm her down, but she wanted to stay in there for a while. After a few minutes, the candles were out (Mia blew out one of them, which was fairly impressive), so she came out. Then all was well!

Mia had a fun time opening her presents, although Norah, of course, wanted to "help" her. A few of the other kids helped, too, but they actually, you know, helped. Mia's lawyer's kids, who are nine and five, had heard about Mia, and they were excited to meet her. They sat by her and helped her open stuff. My ex-student's kid handed her presents, which was nice of her. Mia got some nice stuff - mostly clothing and DVDs, because it's tough to buy toys for her, and she has so many already. She seemed to enjoy what she got, so that was nice. Then, to wrap up the day, Krys put in The Lady and the Tramp, one of her new DVDs. The kids were winding down a bit, so they just chilled and watched the movie. Then everyone went home.

It was a nice day, because I always like to catch up with people I haven't seen in a while. I always like hearing the latest war stories from the teaching trenches, so the fact that my two ex-colleagues are still teachers is always fun. And I hadn't seen my ex-student in at least two years (maybe three - jeez, the West Valley is far away from Mesa!), and I was jazzed to see her. I have only kept in touch with a few of my students, and she's one of them, so I was glad to actually see her. And it's always fun to talk to Mia's lawyer! She's quite awesome, actually. I have known only a few lawyers, and they have always been very cool. Mia's lawyer has always done an excellent job with her case, and she's a nice person as well. So I was very happy to catch up with them. E-mail just isn't the same, man!

So that was Mia's birthday party. It was a fun day, and Krys, as always, planned it perfectly. Mia had fun, Norah had fun (mostly), and I got to see some friends that I hardly ever get to see. Enjoy the pictures!
CAKE!