Jonah Turns One!

Birthweeks.  It’s a tradition in our family that started back when Jenn and I found ourselves as DINKs (Dual Income No Kids).  Fresh out of college, with more money in one paycheck than we’d had in four years of college combined, we decided to celebrate Jenn’s birthday for a full week, starting Saturday, through her actual birthday on Thursday and finishing on the following Saturday.  The eight-day celebration left us with a lot of memories and restaurant doggie bags.

Fast forward eight years.  After buying a home, everything that comes with a home, and saving up for two adoptions, birthweeks have been trimmed down to measly birthdays.  So it was nice that when Jonah’s first birthday came around that we could go a little nuts.  Jonah’s birthmother (Stephanie) and her daughter (Olivia) came from Colorado to celebrate this very special day with us.  We love them both and couldn't imagine spending the weekend without them, celebrating the amazing gift Stephanie gave us a year ago.  Of course it would never be a party without Steph and Peter, who drove up on Saturday to celebrate with their nephew as well.  With Steph, I get someone who shares my sense of humor and genuinely laughs at my jokes.  With Peter I get someone who loves giving Steph crap as much as I do.

Day 1 (Friday): Our honored guests, Stephanie and Olivia flew into town around noon.  After a great afternoon catching up, we went to a fun Mexican place around the corner that Steph had given us a Groupon for.  This opened us up to one of Jonah’s hidden passions: mariachi music!  For over an hour Jonah threw down the wiggle, the electric slide, and something that vaguely resembled the chicken dance in an effort to fully express his love of the upbeat tunes cranking through the restaurant’s sound system.  If only we had known, we have hired a band for this party.  Next year buddy, next year.

Day 2 (Saturday): What a day!  We hung out in the morning as Stephanie and Olivia shook off their mini-jetlag and Steph and Peter drove up from Charlottesville.  Around 10:30, we headed out to the metro station.  This in itself has had us nervous for days.  After much deliberation, we decided that the double stroller would fit on the metro and thus, should be the main mode of kid transportation for the day.  They did great!! (Editors note:  While the stroller may have fit on the metro, we did not account for escalators--both functioning and non-functioning.  Thanks to Peter for a lot of heavy lifting.)  Once we were on the metro, Brynn looked out the window and Jonah photo-bombed a couple of pictures and before we knew it, we were on the Smithsonian Mall.  We hit the Museum of Natural History first.  Jonah spent most of his time looking straight up at the huge blue whale hanging from the ceiling.  I could barely keep up with Brynn as she ran from exhibit to exhibit.  (“Look at that dead fish! Look at that big elephant!” and “Look at that dinosaur--ROAR!!!”)

We stopped for lunch in the surprisingly nice restaurant in the Museum, then decided to head over to the Air and Space Museum while we still had some time.  Brynn and Jonah found this museum a little less interesting, which was sad given my career, but I’m not giving up hope.  At one point I did have a fun conversation with Brynn about the fire that came out of the big thruster.  The kids did so well, we didn’t get back home until 3:00 and they went without a nap the whole day.  Steph, Peter, Stephanie and Olivia were a huge help to us and we were so grateful.

And then it was time to decorate birthday cupcakes!  Jenn had a brilliant idea to make owl cupcakes and they turned out great.  (Editors note:  Pinterest had the brilliant idea how to make owl cupcakes--they were just so easy it seemed impressive.)  Peter and I hung out downstairs with the kids, while the ladies decorated cupcakes.  For about a week, Brynn had been practicing her birthday song to Jonah and the moment did not disappoint.  With Brynn diva-ing it up in the background, we sung “Happy Birthday” to Jonah and he tore into his cupcake.  He made an awesomely huge mess as he got his first taste of sugar since arriving on earth.  It was a little weird when he started rubbing it all over his body, but hey, if you can’t rub chocolate cupcake all over yourself when you turn one, when can you?  Happy Birthday Jonah Jack Berkeley Walker--go nuts.