Liam's Birthday Party

Photos courtesy of Jenna Gernon

Liam’s birthday is on September 6^th, but we chose to celebrate early this year, given his little brother’s imminent arrival. We threw a party on Saturday, September 1^st, attended by grandparents, great-grandparents, aunt, uncles, cousins, godparents, old friends and new friends. The party was our first opportunity to host such a large group in our new home (about 25 people), and both Brendan and I considered it to be a great success. It was fun to have a house full of people – to look around at various moments throughout the afternoon and see one smiling face after another. Liam seemed to enjoy himself too. He was revved up by the company of other kids, but not to the point of acting crazy or having a fit. A few times I noticed him pull away from all the activity to push his little cars along the edge of the sofa, as he does when he’s home alone with me. I took this to be an indication that although he enjoys being sociable, he needs a few moments of quiet every once in a while to regroup.

My favourite moment of the party was watching my boy beam as we sang Happy Birthday and brought him cupcakes. I didn’t expect him to realize we were singing to him, but he did. He stood on a chair at the table, smiling broadly, eyes alight with anticipation of dessert. I also enjoyed opening gifts with him and seeing the other kids swarm the tissue filled bags, eager to show Liam the things they were giving him. Once the gifts were open upstairs, we brought everyone down to the basement, where our gift to Liam – a train table – was set up. Brendan had covered the table with a sheet and once Liam came down, we unveiled it in front of him. He immediately knew what to do – the idea of the gift came from our many trips to Mrs. Tiggy Winkle’s to play with the train table there. The other kids didn’t skip a beat – within seconds they were all crowded around the table playing with the trains and trucks.    

The house was quiet again before 9pm, and with Liam sound asleep and Brendan out to see a friend’s band, I had some time to myself before going to bed. I took the opportunity to jot down a few notes about Liam in his notebook and start a new one for James. These two years have gone by so quickly, and now my baby is about to become a big brother… I can’t wait to see him begin this new chapter of his life!