Mama, I am Free!

At roughly 5 a.m. someone was whispering in my ear. "I am free. Mama, Mama (pulling on my hair), I am Free!" My response was "Not until 9.58, Tate. Leave me sleep," but, of course, even a 3-year old knows that after that first birthday, people, except Mama and your personal astrologer, care not what time you dove into the world precisely. Und so, the long struggle for consciosness began for me. When I finally woke hours later, Tatie was lying next to me singing about her "birthday breakfask" coming soon, soon to the bed. Right on cue, Scott and Noah began singin from the hall. Most pleasantly, Octavia had requested specifically that I have my breakfask with her in bed.

Yesterday was the perfect autumn day for a birthday party in the forest. When we woke today, the rain was lashing and the wind had pulled branches off the trees in the night. We relented on the 'rain or shine' party plan and texted guests to suggest the nature walk and then buns at our house. So while Noah and I ran to the farmer's market for the buns [cupcakes] and Armagh apple juice, Scott and Octavia threw the house in order. We then squealed over to Belvoir Forest to meet the party.

Octavia had a new party outfit: dress and tights from Big Mike and Laurie and a raincoat from Dannette. It proved a perfect combo as Octavia dove head first into a mudhole 5 minutes into the Nature Walk! Though I wanted to capture the image of her tears and the mud all over the front of the plastic pastel wrapper, I overcame it and cleaned her up instead. Must be the pregnancy hormones making me maternal.
At any rate, the raincoat saved the new duds underneath so all was well.

Up the motte, and down the motte, the party was searching for acorns

before wading through the stream in Belvoir Forest.

Most of the guests appear in this photo. Noah prepared a nature walk hunt for them--acorn, leaf, snail, pine cone, and stone. I saw no snail but Pierse found on the ground a whole bird's nest filled with sheep's wool courtesy of the gale force winds while and several mushrooms and other fungi were spotted. All in all, a great way to spend a wet birthday. Especially when you are these 3 friends born in September, October and December of the same year!


Upon return to the house, the buns graced the table and playing ensued. Parents talked and ate grown-up snacks and the leftover buns. The party lasted several hours and then our little family had lentil soup (as requested by the birthday girl) and bread before the last of the presents escaped their giftwrap and bedtime came. One of the most exciting moments of the birthday: putting pyjamas on with no pull-up, just pants, because "I'm Free!"