Though we began our celebrations on the actual day of Peanut's birth, there was too much goodness (and too many presents) to be contained in one mere day.
We only opened two presents on the day, so the 23rd and 24th were spent mostly doling out the birthday love from abuelos, tías, tíos, amigos, and more. We basically opened two presents in the morning and two in the afternoon because more than that and Peanut started getting a little wacky. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the biggest hit was still the bag and tissue paper. Luckily one-year-olds don't know or don't care that you are using the same two bags for every single present...
Before this grand occasion, Peanut had a number of books a few stuffed animals, and a little cube of toys. We felt like she had enough to do a toy change up, but not so much that we would be overwhelmed. Still, she was privileged. Blessed to have books; they are very expensive here. Blessed to have new things. Blessed to be the sole owner of all these things. While we have tried to give things away as she gets older, inevitably the amount of "stuff" she has is increasing. Some of it is hand-me-downs (Thank you McCavits!), but a lot isn't. We want to make sure Peanut has everything she needs to learn and grow, but we also want to remember not to get sucked in to the hype. It helps to realize that the Nutter is getting as excited about the wrapping as the present, and to realize that she can make fun and learning out of even the strangest things.
With blocks, books, and a band (oh my!), we should be all set through Christmas and beyond on gifts, but what we could not have done without was family. It would have been awesome to have everyone together, but we were thrilled to have Abuelita, Grandad, and Nanny in our midst. Peanut was so excited she even started walking for everybody...my girl's got nothing if not good timing.
The night of the 24th we made sure to get Peanut home and in bed early, but the abuelas had other plans. Jacky and Fanny invited them to go get their hair and nails done at a place nearby. I was tired (and I needed to put together the sugar high gift boxes we were giving out the next afternoon), so I chose not to go with them. Luckily, I did not miss out on the action. Why you ask? Because due to the high number of hair dryer, straightener, curler thingies that were being wielded in the beauty shop, the power blew in mid-style. Not to be daunted, our neighbors just piled everyone into their (teeny-tiny) car and brought them back to our home to finish up the job. I may get in trouble for this, but it might be worth it...
What was worth it was the effort - on everyone's part - because the next day was big.
I mean, big.
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