Seven!

Baby is seven! And not really a Baby anymore but still Baby. Which is kind of hard to explain to people who only know us as a family with five kiddos, because Baby is not the Baby. But she once was. And, well, Baby will always be Baby. My mom has a friend in her eighties—the youngest of four—and she has been called Babe her whole life. I imagine the same will be true for Baby. So much for all those one-syllable names to avoid having nicknames. Not that it matters but I didn’t want [insert long name, like Timothy] to be called [insert short name, like Tim]. Just a personal preference. Even though I call our dog, Melvin, Mel sometimes. Eh, I can’t keep all my things from being contradictions.

Laine made Baby breakfast! Fancy!

Like Saige, we celebrated Baby on her actual birthday. Except we didn’t do a home celebration dinner because we had her party during dinner, at Chuck E. Cheese. That’s all she wanted—a party at Chuck E. Cheese. Her birthday fell on a Friday this year, and we decided to have a small party Friday night. Small was still 16 kiddos, including our five. Baby only wanted to invite a few friends, and their siblings. Kids add up when you have a few friends with more than two kiddos. The party started at 5:30pm and it was incredibly busy. Not that I didn’t expect busy—Friday night and all—but at Chuck E. Cheese, I was surprised. It’s not much of a thing around here. Or maybe it is, outside of my bubble. There was a party going on when we arrived, and another party starting the same time as Baby’s. And even another party at 7:30pm when we were wrapping up. It’s happening at Chuck E. Cheese!

The party was perfect. Baby and her buddies got right to all the games. I bought the party package with unlimited access to all the games. Each kiddo was given a card to use over and over, and they sure went for it all. I barely saw any of the kiddos. We wrangled them up for pizza and cupcakes, and a small celebration with the mouse himself. There was a song and dance, and a group effort led by one of the party hosts. They have birthdays down, like a well-oiled machine. After all the excitment, the kiddos were back on to the games. Everyone’s card turned off at 7:30pm on the dot. The signal the party was over. And they were quick to kick us out of our reserved tables to prepare for yet another party! I never realized how popular CEC is around here. It seemed to be a hit—Baby was thrilled with her party and two of her buddies told their moms they want their parties there next year.

It was after 8pm when we made it back home. Just enough time for Baby to open her presents, from us and her buddies. We’re still occasionally hearing from Baby how we never had a birthday dinner at home. It’s one the list, perhaps for her half-birthday because that will be here soon enough.

Baby partied so hard her hair looked like it was in a hurricane, haha. She was exhausted here!

Another birthday down. Only Maive to go, and then the holidays!