Now, It's a Tradition

I was totally mortified when Tyler burned his hand on the candle at his first birthday party. I could have just died right there. There were what seemed like about a million witnesses to my poor parenting skills, and I just knew the authorities would be called to whisk my baby away to somewhere safer any minute.

It was one of those moments you immediately wish you could erase, but, since you can't, it forever inhabits your memory, torturing you over and over every time you recall the scene.

So, understandably, we tried to be extra careful with Lydie's hands, the birthday candle, and the hot flame. We didn't want a repeat performance of the birthday cake tears flooding the smash cake at the worst possible moment.

But, we got 'em anyway. That's right. Lydie is victim number two of the first birthday candle injury, and her wails of terror and the crocodile tears that poured down her cheeks were enough to make me want to fill out my retirement papers and quit this parenting job for good.

At least we kept the tradition alive. I think that's a positive way to look at it.

And, another good thing is that the flame never touched Lydie's fingers. She grabbed the wick of the candle right after Tyler blew it out for her. It hadn't quite cooled off in the nanoseconds she waited before trying to pinch that wick right off.

Except for the candle incident, Lydie had a wonderful first birthday. She went to her physical therapy appointment in the morning, had french fries for lunch, took about a four hour nap, and gobbled up taco meat and rice for dinner. After dinner was over, we broke out the big cake, the smash cake, and the ice cream. Then, we opened presents and didn't get either of the children in bed until after 10 p.m.

It was a really good day.

We couldn't be an ounce prouder of Lydie. She has been such a blessing to our lives, and it's amazing how much she's changed and grown in the past twelve months. It was a sweet, sweet experience to celebrate her precious life with her yesterday. We pray we can celebrate many, many, many more birthdays with her in the years to come.

P.S. In case you're wondering, Ty wasn't too thrilled with all of the attention being given to Lydie yesterday. It took him until lunchtime to decide to wish her a happy birthday. And, even with three gifts of his own, he still wanted to steal all her new toys. Silly big brother. I wonder if it will ever be any different??