Happy birthday, Morgan

He has been 1 forever. Much as it seems he was around 10 kg forever (he now weighs in at 12.3 kg), it seems he has been close to 2 years old for a very long time, maybe because he was already walking and talking slightly before his 1st birthday. But he finally reached the actual day. The first such milestone he will remember, possibly. And how's this for a present -- he is finally getting some more hair on his head. About time.

As far as the actual party was concerned, he had fun. The other kids had fun. But there is still somewhat of a cui bono aspect to the 2nd birthday, too, isn't there? In Estonia, the conventional wisdom is that the 1st birthday is for the parents, but It also still seems a bit silly to foist all the rituals like gift-opening on someone as young as 2. Though you have to start somewhere, I guess, and it all makes for cute, cute pics.

We made homemade pizza and bought desserts from a good bakery. I recommend this in hindsight to any parent. Instead of spending $$$ on bread and grease from Pizza Hut and dealing with heartburn all night, you do the easy part yourself for far less, and it is fairly easy for pizza -- two cast iron pans, an hour of prep, let the kids knead the dough, fairly easy cleanup -- and farm the hard part out to a patissier. The two (2) cakes, the Queen of Sheba Truffle (TTT's pick) and a Ghetto (gateau) Cake topped with blackberries, blueberries and grapes, Morgan's favourites -- had even us men in the household saying things like "heavenly". No lisping, though, thankfully.
Indeed the chocolate cake was more of an adult self-indulgence. As Riima, 4, announced: "smells so good, tastes so bad".

I was famous at Christmas for opening one gift a day, becoming engrossed in each one. Morgan has a similar attention span, but I wonder how this was even possible in my case. After all, adult egos require that the child be quickly shuttled on to the next gift, because everyone wants to see their particular gift opened. The giving is more important than the receiving. Kids will find something to do, but no adult can be left out. Morgan wanted to read Richard Scarry but it was the adults who exhorted, on, on, on to the next one. There are photos that must be taken, the child must smile. If the child wants to go to the kitchen to throw away the wrapping paper (like a very well raised child, I should add, with more self-congratulation in my voice) on this day even this is an unwelcome intrusion into the flow of the spectacle. :)

(To Jehovah's Witnesses: I understand you.)

His first birthday marked his first acquaintance with electronics. All of a sudden he was surrounded by winking blinking quacking gifts. It was a bit too much. This time around sparklers (my brilliant idea) made him freak out. Luckily he recovered quickly and true candles were lit. Then Sammy, 3, insisted on blowing them out and it was his turn to freak out when denied this privilege. Controlled chaos was the order of the day. Of every day.

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Both wines are now below 1.000 specific gravity and ready to be racked for the first time. They taste a little like dry prosecco and look like rosé, one around 9%, the other 12% alcohol. Too bad they are short-lived fruit wines (though one has enough added tannin that it could use some mellowing) or we could do a special bottling in honour of Morgan.