Part 3, aka Braeden's Birthday Bash (photos to come)

The observant will notice that The Very Important Baby Person is now two years old. Two years, one month and six days, actually, but who’s counting.

Despite two assessments due and a mountain of revision, we managed to get Braeden two birthday parties. We didn’t plan on two separate events, but Brae’s Nana needed to go into hospital on his birthday, so some creative planning was in order.

For his actual birthday, Braeden had a little party at Kindy with his friends. I made him a banana cake, and iced it with lots of multicoloured sparklies, and popped a big “2” candle on top. The other children helped show him how to blow out the candle, and sang an enthusiastic “Happy Birthday” to him. He seemed to enjoy the event, despite looking somewhat puzzled throughout. He turned his nose up at eating any of the cake, which was disappointing but not entirely surprising, as he has yet to develop a sweet tooth.

Serves me right for my policy of “no lollies until you’ve learned to clean your own teeth”. He won’t even let me get near his mouth with a toothbrush, so the “no lollies” rule seems like it’s not going away any time soon. But the downside of course is that he’s a total fizzer at lolly scrambles at other children’s birthday parties. He stands there bemused at the reactions of the other kids, wondering what they are doing chasing after small bits of paper when there are so many more fun things to do instead.

Anyhoo, back to his birthday.

The rest of us ate his cake, and there was even enough for all the teachers to have seconds. Then the kids grabbed the balloons Braeden brought to share, and we tied string to them (the balloons, NOT the kids!) and they had great fun racing about in the spring sunshine.

Two days later (Sunday) we went to the Model Engineers railway at Halswell Domain, on the advice of one of the teachers who highly recommended it. I wasn’t expecting much.. I mean, we’re talking little trains & $2 a ride doesn’t get you much these days.

Boy, was I wrong.

They’ve laid tracks throughout a significant part of the reserve, winding through groves of trees, skimming over lawns & a marsh, and skirting a lovely pond with ducks and model boats. There’s even a bridge to go over and under.

We planned to have a picnic lunch & ride the trains occasionally, but it worked out quite differently. Once Braeden discovered what it felt like to ride the trains, there was no way on this green earth he wanted to stop. So it was up to Mum & Dad to take turns sitting behind him, enjoying the brisk breeze as we zoomed around time and time again. Those little engines can hurtle! It doesn’t look fast when you’re watching, but it took me nearly an entire circuit to relax & learn to enjoy the sensation of speeding along so close to the ground.

Braeden’s balance is amazing, and he was easily the youngest who didn’t need to be cocooned in a parent’s protective arms, but we held on to him anyway. I found that fat thighs are quite handy, because you can create the safety-seat effect without any embarrassing clutching hands.

But what an idiot I was for wearing a skirt. I had to firmly tuck it in & around to stop it blowing over my head, and the result wasn’t exactly flattering to the figure.

On the way home, The Bubbly decided he was ravenous (I wasn’t surprised! He’d refused lunch because it got in the way of the train rides), so I handed him a pot of mash & a spoon. He’s normally a very tidy eater, but he ignored the spoon & used his fingers, managing to get some of the food in his mouth but also covered himself and his car seat in a thick layer of goo.

The caption for this has to be “Go ahead, make my lunch!!