Piya's Perspective

When asked, Simeon will actually respond “twooo” correctly…it’s so cute!  Well, at least once he’s gotten past being shy with you.

To go along with the age, we had two parties for Simeon’s birthday.  One with Ari’s mom in town, and one with my parents and brother in town. We did this last year as well, but last year the entire concept of a party was for the adults – I’m pretty sure Simeon was completely unaware of the significance. 

This time around, I think it’s still mostly for the parents, but a 2 year-old at least understands what’s going on to some degree.  They’re starting to venture beyond parallel play and get delighted when they’re the center of attention.  While Simeon knows the right response to “how old are you,” I’m pretty sure he doesn’t understand why it’s the right response.  We just react with such excitement when he gets it right that he gets a big grin and wants to do it again. And he does seem to understand a birthday party means playtime, sweets, and new toys.

So this year, we had a few of our friends over to celebrate his birthday when Ari’s mom was in town, and we had a few of his friends over to celebrate when my family was in.  It worked out quite well.

Party 1:  The adult party was mostly for us.  I’m sure our friends enjoyed seeing Simeon.  And, I’m pretty sure Simeon enjoyed all the attention he received from our friends.  Although I was next to him to help blow out the candle, he actually blew it out by himself.  He has already gotten a lot of playtime out of all his new toys.  The Pound-a-Ball and pinball games have been hit a number of times.  He is constantly giving his teddy bear a ride in his new big truck (which apparently only runs backwards).  At bedtime, he loves pointing out all the clues in his new Blue’s Clues story book.1  And, we’re waiting for the first snowstorm when it’s cold enough to put on the gorgeous blue sweater that Bubbe made for him.  Oh – and mommy and daddy’s Bubble Blaster is pretty cool too.

Party 2:  This one was definitely about the kids.  We had a small Blue’s Clue’s themed party with 3 of Simeon’s friends.  (Small was just fine by me. I had been worried about what a bunch of toddlers could do to my house).  Everybody helped get ready.  Streamers up, balloons blown, goody-bags decorated and loaded, and the room rearranged and vacuumed.  I didn’t realize just how many toys Simeon had collected until the kids took them all out.  They had a blast!  After playing inside awhile, the weather was even nice enough to go outside and Ari and S set up the tunnel set.  The kids had so much fun, that they stayed a lot longer than I anticipated they would – though part of it was probably because we waited for D&J to arrive for cake and presents.  Unfortunately, D&J got caught in Seahawk traffic.  

When we came back in, we sat down for the cake.  This time Ari ‘helped’ Simeon blow out the candle.  I think L was wondering why it was so hard for Ari and Simeon to blow out the candle when he managed to do it quite easily the first time we lit the candle.  Right before presents, I had Simeon hand out the goody-bags to his friends – Blue’s Clues notebooks and some extra crayons.  This time around Simeon got a helicopter and book from L, a couple puzzles from J, a medical kit from C, a little music player and dance pad from Bubbe and Grandpa and a Chief’s sweatshirt from Uncle Neil. Plus a wooden food set with wooden knife and cutting board (the food pieces are velcroed together so he can cut them apart – it’s very cute to watch him pretend eat the food).  Everything has been played with and we’re waiting for the weather to cool off to show off our KC Chief’s pride.

And today, he’s officially twooo.  Happy Birthday Simeon!  I can’t believe it’s already been 2 years.

[1]When he first opened the book to a page with a clue, he just said ‘A clue!’  When I asked where, he replied in Blue’s Clues style “there!” without actually pointing.