My youngest son turned a year old last June 18. He has 8
teeth, he can say a couple of words, he can take small independent steps, he
can last 10 hours without me, and each day that passes, he shows more and more
of his personality. I gave him the moniker “gentle happy knight” because
when I gave my second son the “feisty dragon” moniker I didn’t expect him to be
literally feisty (and yes, turns out he has a thing for dragons). I don’t know
if it was pure coincidence or just Law of Attraction at work but I didn’t want
to risk it hence “gentle and happy knight”! Haha!
The birthday boy. He was a bit unplanned. My husband and I were planning to have him around 2014 and even then it was still a decision we had to carefully make. Alas, he was conceived October of 2013 while I was currently trying to get the hang of handling several jobs but I went through the pregnancy with so much happiness so much so that I didn’t stop happy donuts in my diet.
He was weird when he came out. We couldn’t place who he looked like and he had us guessing even weeks after his birth. The realization came late: he looked like the boys of my mother’s nuclear family, the Spanish blood evident. From the very beginning he’s a smiley happy baby. I believe the moniker worked. Although we have yet to see if he is indeed a gentle being because so far this is what we gather: he is very demanding and impatient. He will scream and get really frustrated when he doesn’t get what he wants right away. He is also ma-bibbo, likes to show off his new skills. He can open and close his fists at will only a few months old, he can wave “buh-bye” at 10 months, he can dance and “sing” if you ask him to. I know these are basic “baby tricks” but understand I didn’t experience that with my feisty dragon. He was too feisty to perform “baby tricks” for us.
Until now I don’t know what I have gotten myself into. I added another human in this world, so much responsibility to bake this dough-boy into perfection. There are hundreds of moments when I just stare at him and think: You are the third person I have to take care of. It’s no joke to be responsible for a life of ONE human, what more THREE. It’s an overwhelming thought. It’s more scary than exciting. At the same time it is an overwhelming joy. The Love and Peace I feel every time I caress his sleeping face is just priceless. I would just stare at his tiny hands, tiny feet and the awe is powerful. I have done it to 3 babies, it never gets old.
Twelve months on Earth and I am still getting to know him. Still adjusting with this life of being a mother of three children. Still overwhelmed.
The birthday boy. He was a bit unplanned. My husband and I were planning to have him around 2014 and even then it was still a decision we had to carefully make. Alas, he was conceived October of 2013 while I was currently trying to get the hang of handling several jobs but I went through the pregnancy with so much happiness so much so that I didn’t stop happy donuts in my diet.
He was weird when he came out. We couldn’t place who he looked like and he had us guessing even weeks after his birth. The realization came late: he looked like the boys of my mother’s nuclear family, the Spanish blood evident. From the very beginning he’s a smiley happy baby. I believe the moniker worked. Although we have yet to see if he is indeed a gentle being because so far this is what we gather: he is very demanding and impatient. He will scream and get really frustrated when he doesn’t get what he wants right away. He is also ma-bibbo, likes to show off his new skills. He can open and close his fists at will only a few months old, he can wave “buh-bye” at 10 months, he can dance and “sing” if you ask him to. I know these are basic “baby tricks” but understand I didn’t experience that with my feisty dragon. He was too feisty to perform “baby tricks” for us.
Until now I don’t know what I have gotten myself into. I added another human in this world, so much responsibility to bake this dough-boy into perfection. There are hundreds of moments when I just stare at him and think: You are the third person I have to take care of. It’s no joke to be responsible for a life of ONE human, what more THREE. It’s an overwhelming thought. It’s more scary than exciting. At the same time it is an overwhelming joy. The Love and Peace I feel every time I caress his sleeping face is just priceless. I would just stare at his tiny hands, tiny feet and the awe is powerful. I have done it to 3 babies, it never gets old.
Twelve months on Earth and I am still getting to know him. Still adjusting with this life of being a mother of three children. Still overwhelmed.
The Birthday
Celebration
The Concept and Venue
We wanted to celebrate at the Fun Farm again, just like the dragon’s 1st birthday but since we knew there’s a huge chance of rain, we opted for The Purple Owl (which is basically our home anyway). We knew we wanted it to be down-to-earth and simple but fun (not really a fan of loud and noisy, commercial character-ridden birthday parties, especially for first birthdays) so we came up with “gardening” party. At first the concept was to push living a healthy lifestyle and the party food was supposed to be all-organic and all-natural but I procrastinated too much with the preparation and just went and ditched the whole organic thing. I was also supposed to put several “bars” (popcorn bar, juice bar, and apple pops bar) but I knew we would run out of space since we decided two days before the party to hold it indoors. The kids activity was supposed to be out in the garden, I asked our gardener to prepare plots so kids can plant. It was ready a week before the party but we had to opt for indoor activity instead and came up with “paint your plant’s pot”. That’s really the whole idea of holding it in our place so we can choose indoors even if it’s a last minute decision.
When he was only a few months old, just by chance, we kept getting stuff that were dominantly orange and teal so it was a no-brainer that his color-scheme would be those colors. I wanted to veer away from Hoot Design’s usual bare wood look so I painted the wood white and added denim for a twist. The carrot just happened. I guess it's the ultimate orange representation of a garden? Hahaha!
The Twist
I didn’t want it to be just a gardening party so I added a bit of twist to it. I came up with the copy “Plant Positivity” and “Sowing the Seeds of Happiness” so it has a relation to who my son is (a happy baby). If there’s one thing I regret not doing it is not doing the word balloon props for the studio I made for the photo booth area. It could have been cooler had I provided word balloons with those lines. The photo booth area was where people sat and relaxed and had their photos taken ala-photo studio. The photos were one of our give-aways. We also had mini clay pots the children took home after they painted it. For the older guests, we had fruit-bearing plants like calamansi, passion fruit, papaya, and guyabano.
The Blessing
Just like with my second son, we blessed the happy knight
with our very own loving energy. No priest, no pastor. Just us. We asked them
to channel all their good intentions and well wishes to him and we asked them
to envelope him with their Love. We also
carefully selected special few to be his beacons. It was simple, meaningful,
heartfelt, and not tied to any religion but open and accepting.
Click HERE for more photos! :)
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