lots of celebrating lately!

we’ve been busy celebrating a few birthdays over here the past few weeks. josh’s was at the end of january, and eleanor’s was at the beginning of february! whenever i think of their birthdays these days, i’m hit with a flood of memories from the past few years of celebrating together. i don’t think josh minds, but their birthdays kind of mesh together as one in my head sometimes now…maybe because we went into the hospital on josh’s birthday 3 years ago to try and get this show on the road with my baby bump that was already 2 weeks past due. it’s the best day for a birthday! josh kept saying. so of course she didn’t arrive for 2 more days. ;) regardless, i still kind of feel like they share a birthday in this weird way, and it’s fun to celebrate them together.

i remember celebrating josh’s birthday when we were dating as just the two of us in his kitchen at his tiny 108th street apartment. it was dark out and the space was quiet and we had made a confetti cake mix together from a box. i remember singing “happy birthday to you” in the tiniest whisper voice (how annoying, i’m sure) because i was too embarrassed to sing it by myself for him! but i also remember being so coy and telling him i was going to be around for all the rest of his birthdays in this life and would get better at singing it to him over the years. (and for the record, i’ll sing it loud and terrible to him now. ugly crying, child birth, peeing in front of each other… i don’t know, we’re past trying to be cute for each other now.)

i also remember celebrating eleanor’s first birthday by bringing her this little cupcake in her high chair and watching both of her hands move towards her mouth to cover the sweetest little smile and giggle at the same time. i remember thinking, “she knows! she gets it!” and freaking out as a mama might on her first child’s first birthday.

i love birthdays. i love my family. and i’m just really thankful to be a part of their lives. here are a few photos from the birthday week. most are iPhone pictures. i kind of regret not pulling out the real camera more on their birthdays this year because i see such a difference between the iPhone and real camera pictures, but these are the next best thing and i’m just glad we have something to remember the days by…

^^^we started papa’s birthday off right with the best kind of ice cream cake… a 5 pints of ice cream kind! josh realized last year he was eating way too much of the stuff, and it was difficult for him to eat it in moderation because he loves ice cream so much. so, he did what any absolutely crazy person would do, and went on an ice cream fast…for an entire year! not one bite, not one! not a milkshake, not a scoop of gelato, notta. i don’t really know how he did it, but he did it. and i remain impressed. (he’s debating doing it again this year, and i’m debating joining him. i know, i know. someone talk me out of it before i commit.)^^^

^^^i met up with josh on his birthday for lunch. we split a pretty delicious chicken parmesan sandwich and i am converted. we also caught a late night movie together that night in a movie theater that has lazy boy seats that RECLINE! i hadn’t ever experienced that sort of movie-going before, and it was pretty awesome. we saw a jack ryan something or other movie (it was the birthday boy’s pick) and it was alright. suspenseful, for sure. ^^^

^^^eleanor had a little birthday party on her birthday (we didn’t have one last year. i think we’re going with the idea of a party every other year? what do you do?) i would have forgone the party entirely but she doesn’t ask for much. all she really wanted was for all her friends to sing to her with her “dark blue happy cake.” so we figured we could do a low-key playdate/breakfast type party.

it’s rough having a birthday during the coldest month of the year where you can’t do something outdoors, and then when you have an itty bitty nyc apartment, it gets complicated. but we still managed to invite 18 of her tiniest friends over for the morning to play! we figured most parents would drop off, but we still had a little breakfast spread of bagels (from absolute! they are the best in the world!), fruit, yogurt and sausages for anyone who wanted to grab a plate and go, or stay! (most stayed, which was extra fun for us!)

after this birthday party morning, i’m feeling like our space can hold a big crowd pretty well, so long as you’re ok with people hanging out in every room, including your bedroom. it’s a cozy atmosphere but i think everyone had a good time. i know eleanor loved every minute of having so many of her friends over to play. that made me happy.^^^

^^^the birthday breakfast spread!^^^

^^^after we sang happy birthday to E, she sat down and ate that entire piece of cake at the table without ever looking up or saying a word. you could see heaven on her face and it was adorable. also, here’s a picture of the birthday card eleanor made for papa. she is getting so good at her drawings and drew a picture of papa and her, all by herself!^^^

^^^happy birthday eleanor and papa! can’t tell you how much i love you both!^^^