Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Celebrate!

Two days before Dylan's actual birthday, we had a big party for him, complete with animal themed decorations and favors, a cake with his picture on it, and 37 people all staring at the birthday boy! As I looked around at all the people, I thought, "How great that Dylan has so many people in his life already who love him!" Despite being warned that a big party would overwhelm him, I'm glad we did what we did. It was fun, and a great memory.



On his actual birthday, just Dylan and I spent the day together. How appropriate, really, since that is how his life began. I took him to the mall, so we could go to his favorite place - the Mr. Rogers Playspace. Dylan LOVES that place. I put him down and whooooosh, he's off, like a rocket, crawling through tunnels, climbing the slide, toddling into the middle of the chaos that is a crowd of running, squealing older kids, and loving every minute of it. By the time we leave, I am a sweaty mess, and my back aches, and I have decided that if one more kid asks me why he wears a helmet, I'm saying "He's an alien. He is from Mars, and if you don't walk away, he will eat you!" (I make friends wherever I go).

While we were at the mall, I figured we might as well do some shopping. For Dylan, of course. I might hate shopping for clothes for myself, but I love shopping for clothes for Dylan. There are some women who are still dressing their 3 year old boys in cutesy wutesy teddy bear overalls that say "Too cute". Not me. I am not a girly girl - never was, never will be. I wanted a boy, a full throttle, rough and tough, down and dirty boy, and that is what I got. He's not a baby anymore, so for his birthday, he got some big boy clothes.



The skull hat might be a bit drastic, but my husband loves it! After the mall, we went to a consignment store. We walked in and I saw it (musical notes, harps playing, and angels singing). I moved closer cautiously, so as to not attract attention. I looked to my left, looked to my right, looked at Dylan, shrugged, and quickly pulled it into our cart. Then, I checked the price tag. Two dollars and fifty cents!! I looked around again expecting Ashton to jump out from somewhere, yelling "PUNKED!" I hightailed it to the checkout counter before he got the chance, while inside doing a victory dance and squealing like a little girl. This is what Dylan got for his birthday, for $2.50...



He is excited too...



Later that evening, Jim drove home like a maniac breaking possibly every law regarding operating a motor vehicle, for one thing. To sing Happy Birthday to Dylan at precisely the time he was born. What a sweet daddy! Me, I let him eat cake BEFORE dinner, so I'm pretty cool, too. What a great day.

12 comments:

Pam said...

What a great day is right! You are a cool mommy! I love your $2.50 find! I wish I could find one of those for my little man with such a great bargain. That rocks! I love the cake- very cute! And the jean jacket and skull hat- too cool! Your little man kicks some serious baby butt!

Amy said...

such cute pics. does it seem like the year flew by? i so wish i could put the brakes on for us a bit. love the outfit and the cap. my boys would love that skull cap as they are so into pirates. take care.

Kelly said...

Great deal on the shirt, and I must say I love that cap too! The cake was adorable!

Karen said...

Great find! Micah had one of those last year and it was his favorite shirt of all. Looks like your little man is proud of his as well.

Kellan said...

What a great day for your precious Dylan!! He is too cute and that was sweet what your husband did. Have a good Thanksgiving.

Burgh Baby said...

I LOVE the skull cap. Alexis might just need one, too. I'm putting the Mr. Rogers mall on my list for a trip in a few weeks just so we can try to hunt one down.

Well done on the Ben jersey! I kind of think he's worth more than $2.50, but if the consignment store wants to let you off easy, so be it.

Happy birthday, Mr. Dylan!

LunaNik said...

I love, love, love the little skull hat!!! If I had a little boy that would definately be how I would dress him! I'm not much of a girly-girl either and so, my two girls don't get dressed up in tights and frilly dresses that they will just trash within minutes. Believe it or not, I catch alot of heat for this, but really, why spend an absurd amount of money for a frilly dress, tights, and patent shoes that they will just hate and try to rip off throughout the day!

Shellie said...

So cool! Love the clothes you found and what a great first birthday. he is a doll!

Kristi @ Mi Vida Ocupada said...

How did you get the picture on the cake? I need to find some place that does that within the next month! Please e-mail me back :)

Kellan said...

Happy Thanksgiving, Jen - have a really good day with your beautiful family. Kellan

Jen said...

Pam, "Kicks some serious baby butt"! I like that! He is pretty cool if I do say so. Hopefully, he'll continue to think I'm cool, even into the teenage years.

Amy, Yes, and no. Those first four months of colic- sometimes time stood still and I envisioned the note I would leave for Jim saying "Good luck". But after that, yes, time flew. I sure have enjoyed it.

Thanks, Kelly! It only took, about, oh, 300 shots for me to get that picture.

Karen, Yep, I think he picked up on my enthusiasm!

Kellan, I don't know how you keep up with so many blogs, but I'm thankful mine is one of them!

BBM, No need to search for it. It's at the Monroeville mall, and we'll gladly come play with you guys.

Lunanik, So true! Dresses are fine for special occasions and school pictures, but how are they supposed to play in them?

Thanks, Shellie. Happy Thanksgiving.

Kristi, I left a comment on your blog, but just in case, we got it at Sams Club.

Aunt Becky said...

I totally want that skull hat for my son (really, now, I want it for me.). It's rad.