A Trio of Birthdays

Well, after Juliette's trip to the doctor on Friday the fifteenth, we were supposed to see Auntie Jess* briefly to give her birthday presents, but Juliette just wasn't feeling up to having visitors.

Jules hanging out with Auntie Jess in September

We called Jess and let her know, and told her we'd get her presents to her at a later date. Juliette said "Happy Birthday" over the phone by crying. So, we settled in for a good sleep, I read a chapter of The Wind in the Willows and we all fell asleep for the night. Which was good, because the next day was a big day...

We woke up early to run some errands. First, we ran to Cotton Babies to pick up some diaper-related supplies. Then we went to The Book House to pick up some presents for some special birthday girls. We ended up finding a whole lot of presents...for Juliette. We then looked a second time and found more presents...for ourselves. Finally, on our third pass, we found presents for the people we were actually searching for. Just so you know, this is absolutely horrid behavior when shopping for birthday presents for somebody, unless you are in a place like The Book House. It is an amazing place (seriously, if you haven't been, you should go, and if you can't make it because of geographical location, try anyway or at least check out the website). This is a place that is literally floor-to-ceiling books on every wall. Used, new, rare, various price ranges...like the sign on the window reads, it's a browser's paradise. AND, the money goes to Second Chapter Life Center, a charity which provides community support for young adults with special needs. It's an amazing store all around.

I'm a go on a bit of a rant here: I hate spending time in stores of any kind, with the exception of book stores, record stores, bike shops and music instrument stores. Only, not chain stores; I'm talking good independent stores, with real knowledgeable staff members. Bike shops are the oddity in this bunch, because I prefer new bicycles to used, but with books and records and guitars, I'll take either. I love the smell of old books and old records and I love the feel of a guitar with a few years behind it. End rant.

Anyway, so when we got those together, we came home and wrapped the presents and headed over to my sister's house. It was her 31st birthday! But...that's not what we were celebrating. We had a different reason to celebrate this time:

Cousin Lydia gettin' her cake on for her first birthday

Lydia had a great time on her birthday, showing off her newfound walking skills and smiling and cramming cake into her mouth. Of course, cousin Madeline had a good time, too, playing with all of Lydia's new toys and likewise cramming cake into her mouth.

Juliette, on the other hand, spent most of the party looking like this:

Picking out books wore her out.

But no matter, she was held by several people who had never met her and she doesn't remember it. I think she was only awake when I changed her diaper, and I've gotta tell ya, if she gets her diaper changed over there a few more times, she's going to start complaining about how she's got it at home. It's not a super posh changing table, and they don't have an expert in the field on staff at all times; cousin Lydia's diaper wipes are stored in a container that keeps them nice and warm. As opposed to our wipes, which are nothing more than pieces of flannel sprayed with room-temperature water from a plastic bottle. You can kind of tell Jules loves the warm wipes. But that's okay, that just means she'll have strangely fond memories of her cousins' house which she won't be able to fully explain when she's older.

So, wishing Mo and Lydia a happy birthday, we went back home to rest up, because we had ANOTHER big day the next day...but that story will have to wait for another post.

*Auntie Jess, while not technically Juliette's aunt, has earned this title through a combination of friendship, love, and baking skills.