Your First Birthday: A Recollection

*Disclaimer: None of these images are of the actual event being described.*

Dear Carmen,

It was your first birthday yesterday. Here is an image recollection of how the evening went. Some of the faces, locations, and truths have been changed because, well, in the heat of the moment, no one thought to take pictures. I give you: Your Birthday Celebration!

Once your Mom's show choir got done singing their Christmas program for a nursing home:

Your mother decided to turn down a "road" behind the home that kind of looked like this:

Soon, the car and the truck were stuck in mud:

I looked something like this:

Mommy looked something like this:

 

I really tried to be like this though: 

 Soon, Papa, Uncle D, and Pastor Mike arrived to help get us unstuck: 

After much hard work (and Uncle D getting his truck stuck and unstuck as well), I looked like this: 

In the end, I gave your mom a kiss because I love her in spite of, and sometimes because of, her desire to cause me adventure: 

Happy birthday, kid. What will we do next year?

Dad

Rolling Down the Street

Dear Carmen,

Firstly, yes, we did take you out in public in pajamas and a winter coat. You just have to do these things sometimes.

Secondly, yes, your mother is in a wheel chair. As noted by the smile on her face, it was nothing serious. The pain was serious to her though. She wanted, however, to go out to the mall to soak up some holiday cheer. So, we got a wheel chair from guest services, and we wheeled you around the joint.

You were so excited riding on that chair. You wore your smile like a badge shouting, "I'm king of the world!" This was one of those little adventures we have come to love in our family. By the time you are reading this, hopefully, you will have experienced many others to add to this one. 

Just a boy and his mom riding around the mall in a wheel chair. To us, though, it was spontaneous enjoyment of our family. 

Your Dad

Lesson the First

Dear Carmen,

You are at a point where you are starting to figure out how things around you work. The image to the left shows a position you find yourself in at least 5 times a day now. Usually, you let me know you are stuck with a low, moaning-type cry. This time, however, I caught you with a smile. You were happily playing with your phone while half under the flooring of the pack-n-play. 

Lesson learned: Just because things aren't the way you planned them doesn't mean you can't have a little fun.

Thanks for the little tip!

Your Dad