The Birthday

 (Enzo playing in Santa Cruz.)

It's fascinating that Enzo is two years old now.  How did that happen?  It's amazing to me that I have two children.  Nicole spent New Year's Eve with us.  She was telling me something interesting some time after midnight.  She said something like "People say you should enjoy the time you have with your kids because it will just go... but I have enjoyed all of the time with Shea and still here I am and the time has gone and she is growing up."  Oh, time.  Enzo and Ana are such an important part of my happiness and the source of so much that makes me grateful, as are my family, friends, and opportunities.  It was a good end to a year.  And a good start to 2012.

(Ready to go to breakfast on his birthday.)

And Enzo is two.  It really is amazing to me.  I love him.  I like so many things about him.  I like how he asks for a mandarino and how he peels it himself, takes each part of the little orange apart and eats each piece.  Simple, I know, but I love the fact that he does this.  My little baby has grown so much.  I love how thoughtful he can be.  When his Mama has been hurt in some way, he has gone up to her and touched her and said "sana sana."  Why?  Because he cares about his Mama and when Enzo gets hurt she will rub circles around the elbow, or leg, or what ever was hurt and say "Sana, sana, colita de rana, si no sanas hoy, sanaras manana."  Heal, heal, little frog tail, if you don't heal today, you will heal tomorrow.

The day before his birthday I took him to Santa Cruz and we ordered breakfast for lunch at Aldo's and sat outside to watch the goings on of the harbor.  Then we went and played on the beach.  He was so happy and completely absorbed in playing.  It wasn't on purpose but after the fact I realized I may have been subconsciously showing him how to celebrate a birthday the way I like to.  And my philosophy on celebrating birthdays continued as he celebrated in a way for four days.  Our Santa Cruz day first.  Then, on his actual birthday, the four of us went out for a breakfast so he could get restaurant pancakes, which he loves, and then had dinner at our house with some of our family.  The next day, we had a birthday party for The Kid.  That was New Year's Eve.  The fourth day was Sunday which means Sunday breakfast day at our house and so it was a fourth special event day and another day to see friends and family and play.  Not bad for making the most of a birthday, especially for a two year old.

(The paper airplane distance contest.)

His birthday party theme was things that fly.  Tami made a cake from scratch and I was going to decorate it as we did for his first birthday.  Monte, however, ate half the cake while I was in the shower and Tami was putting the kids to sleep.  Enzo got a store bought cake this time.  It's kind of funny.  Our guests seemed to enjoy themselves.  We had airplane crafts to paint and we even had a paper airplane distance contest which I believe was a huge success.  The winner got to have their picture taken with the winning plane and the Birthday Boy to be recognized here on my blog.  And the winner was...... my dad, Grandpa Tom!

 (The winner! Grandpa Tom!)

 (Enzo playing with his friend.)

And then there was the pinata.  My dad bought the pinata again.  Last year he got the kind that you pull strings on so that the kids don't have to use a bat.  It makes sense for little kids.  The idea is that eventually someone pulls the right string that causes the pinata to open up and spill its goods.  The funny thing about last year's pinata is the maker forgot to make any of the stings the effective string that opened up the pinata.  That was funny.  I ended up ripping it open.  This year, dad bought a regular pinata and my mom and I rigged it to pull open with a string.  We gave it a whole bunch of false strings, too.  To my amazement, the real string made it until almost the end, there were perhaps three strings left, perfect for suspense.  Last year the suspense went all the way to the last string because nothing happened.  But finally, this year, the rigged string was selected!  Pull, pull, pull....SNAP!  The string broke!  Ohhhh, pinata.... you win again.  I see I will have to be extra vigilant next year. I ripped open the pinata again.

(The moment the realization hit....)

Funny, eventful, creative, family and friends... I do believe Enzo had a great birthday.

 (The beautiful birthday boy.)