So to make up for it, I'll dedicate this entire entry to Cayden's 2nd birthday, and I'll save the other news and updates for another entry.
Cayden's birthday was on a Monday this year, during the week of Thanksgiving. With each year that passes, I find myself more and more grateful and thankful on his birthday and during Thanksgiving. We have basically come through our ordeal unscathed, beating impossible odds, ending up with a perfect, healthy toddler.
Nonna Lena came to visit us for Thanksgiving, and arrived early enough so that she was with us for Cayden's birthday too. I wasn't sure I could pull off a full-on party without Jason's help, so I was just planning on making a cake then inviting over a few of our adult friends to help devour it. Since Nonna Lena was in town, she offered to up the celebration by making homemade lasagna to go along with the cake.
In the morning, we had breakfast-by-Skype with Daddy (who was still in Egypt), then opened presents and cards. Cayden got a fun dump truck from Gruncle Don and Graunt Kay, some cool plush cars from Grammy and Poppa, a plastic bear filled with animal crackers from our nanny, Adela, a new toy drum to destroy and a toy vacuum to clean up all the mess from Mommy and Daddy, and assorted cash and gift cards from Grandpa Ray, PauPau Xian, Aunt Vickie, Nonna Lena, Aunt Karin, Uncle Jeff, and cousins Tera and Ryan. He also got a hand-written, heartfelt letter from GG Bea, which in my opinion, was the best gift of all.
After lunch and a nap, during which Nonna cranked out homemade noodles and assembled the lasagna while I baked and frosted the cake, we set the table and waited for our guests to arrive.
We were joined by my best friend, Laura, (aka Aunt Bee) and my old college friends, Matt and Andie Roth and their 2-year-old son, Evan. The lasagna was to die for, as always!
Something about a moist, dense, buttermilk cake sounded so good, so I made a white buttermilk cake with dark chocolate frosting. Unfortunately, baking in Denver with our high altitude has its challenges, and though the cake tasted o.k., it wasn't what I was hoping for. I'm pretty sure it could have been made out of sawdust, glue, and sugar, and Cayden still would have eaten it!
As expected, Cayden downed a good bit of lasagna but still had plenty of room for cake. We sang Happy Birthday to him and he smiled through the song, but when it came time to blow out the candles, he couldn't quite finish the job. Big Brother Jamison helped, then we all enjoyed a piece of cake and some ice cream.
After dessert, Cayden and Jamison both ran around like sugar-fueled, drunken hyenas, laughing and just enjoying the sugar high. Aunt Bee laughed out loud when Cayden ran into the kitchen while we were cleaning up, stopped suddenly, giggled hysterically at seemingly nothing, eyes rolling around, head swerving like Stevie Wonder, then tore on out of the room again. She commented, "Everything that goes up, must come down!", and it made me laugh! It took the boys a good while to wind down, but I was finally able to get them into bed.
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