A birthday has been had and a boy is now five.
The event was a huge success. Sam was thrilled to bits about everything from the way his planned menu turned out … roast chicken, grilled red snapper, coconut crab curry, rice, eggplant chutney, pumpkin salad, roast potatoes … to the musical candle and sparkler in the shape of a 5, to the wonderful company, to the raft of gifts.
Mark’s family considered me cruel to the extreme for not letting Sam open any gifts until after dinner. The giddy charm of anticipation eludes them completely, so they consider placing wrapped presents in plain view to be slavered over for days in an ever-increasing frenzy of expectation and suspense little more than torture.
How many times over the course of the evening I heard, usually from my husband’s mother, some oblique reference to Sam’s fortitude and my cruelty over the apparently arbitrary wait to satisfy curiosity with some furious wrapping paper demolishing.
My mother, on the other hand, sent an email in total support of the enforcement of a period of anticipatory agony.
“It’s the best part,” she reminded.
Even Sam admitted as much under the influence of afterglow this morning, acknowledging that long longing made the revealing more fun and stretched out the excitement over a longer period than simple gift opening frenzy would allow.
Keeping in mind that many things kids in the real world take for granted and have seen time after time are completely unknown on this island, you will see in the photos that a Spiderman suit complete with built-in muscles was the cat’s pajamas … so to speak … although much too hot in a non-breathing polyester sort of way to be Sam’s pajamas no matter how dear his wish was never to remove this perfect fit of an alter ego.
(Sent from Utah by my friend Holly along with a bounty of Americana, she provided this piece de resistance … triceps de isometrics?)
A tiny china tea set from my mom was a big hit with Cj, who spent the rest of the evening pouring.
With my boy well sated, I’m figuring I now have a couple of weeks before the pre-Christmas mania begins to build.
Enjoy the photos.
Sam and Cj before the party.
Casual Spidey
Spidey pose, Spidey pose, doing the thing only a spider does
Such a happy Birthday Boy!
Happy Cj, too, with her very first tea set
A collection of my short stories:
I'm in this one, too ...
And I'm in here, as well ...
Paradise Preoccupied 
I just skimmed some of your blog and look forward to checking it out further. Your children are gorgeous!
Thank you for the kind comments- and yes, i figured you meant ‘life’ lol.
Much appreciated 🙂
Thanks, Kerry. One of the many great things about being an adoptive mom is not having to go all humble about how beautiful our kids are. I can just agree whole heartedly and pass the credit for their amazingly good look on to their birth parents.
I’m taking partial credit for the big smiles, though! We get a lot of those.
What a great slide show and photos. Happy Birthday Sam!
Lisa & Ella
Happy birthday Sam! Thanks for sharing the beautiful pics.
Happy Birthday, big boy!! I remember once asking my mom if she was sad that I wasn’t a “yida derl” anymore(that’s little girl for anyone who doesn’t speak baby talk). What she said surprised me: She said that each birthday she thought “This is it; the last fun year, the last cute year gone. And then after a few weeks, I’d realize that this year was going to be even better than last year”. Of course, I was about nine or ten when she said that and she never repeated it so who knows? Still, I’ve found it to be ever so true with my own kiddos.
May it hold true for you and Sam and CJ forever, my friend 🙂
That’s lovely, Tisha. I’ll keep it in mind.
What fabulous pictures. I can so see Sam as Spiderman. I don’t think his smile could have gotten any bigger without splitting his face in two! I was also thrilled to see CJ in the little summer dress we brought her. You sure do have a little manley boy and a girly girl!
I totally agree on the anticipation issue. It is half the fun. What would have been cruel is to let the little guy think he had no presents and then bring them out at the last minute.
You know those British though…outward excitement is frowned upon.
I think we should get Teddy and CJ together for a tea party. 🙂 Teddy’s Godmother was adamant that he should know the customs and courtesies involved in a proper tea with a lady. He’s been crazy about tea ever since!
HAPPY (BELATED) BIRTHDAY SAM!
These are great pictures. Thank you for sharing.
Sas