The Heidt Family: The Missouri Birthday

After our 1st birthday party in Minnesota, I was tired. We came home and had a lot of running around to do. Originally, I promised some friends that we would have 2 parties:1 in Minnesota and 1 in Missouri. That way everyone would be happy. However, after the first party, I just got tired thinking about a second party. It would require I clean our house and figure out invitations, etc. So, I kept hoping it would go away. There was a little bit of nagging guilt, but all in all, I was happy to forget my promises. Last weekend, we spent a lot of time with my coworkers. They reminded me about that party and I agreed that we could celebrate the following Sunday. That would be today. After a week of running around and furiously trying to clean our house and dealing with a kid with literally the runs, I am above exhausted. But, we had a great time.

First up: The Health.
-William's personality slowly returned at the end of the week. Thursday I kept getting glimpses of a happy boy before the crab would return. By Saturday the flow of poop had slowed and the flow of smiles was back on track. He has returned to his regularly scheduled naps and the TV is off again during the day as we don't need it to distract him. He developed a little runny nose this morning that I am hoping goes away quickly and quietly.

Second Item: The House
- It is possible the house has not ever been so clean. With a few exceptions, all areas were cleaned, dusted, vacuumed, etc. Including a large part of the basement. Amazing. I almost wanted to take pictures because it looks great. But, it still isn't perfect and I'm sure among you all out there is a better housekeeper than I. You'll just have to use your imagination.

Third Item: The party
-We got a cake, a candle and some refreshments. We sang, ate and had cake. William was on his cell phone for the entire party. Everyone was very understanding about his poor manners. An interesting side note: For the past few weeks, William has been saying the word "ahhh" and "Uummm" very distinctly. I keep waiting to figure out what he is talking about, but it can be like deciphering an unknown language: Swedish? German, perhaps? Today we were all sitting around and visiting when William said it again and some brilliant party guest (no idea who, if you were there, go ahead and take credit) said "That sounds like the end of his name "will-iUM". It sounds like he is saying his name." My goodness other people are brilliant as is my child. Over the next few days we'll be doing some investigating the possibilities. Very exciting stuff over here.

Before guests arrive: wearing the It's Fun to Be One! crown. And he actually left it on! For a long time!

It's Fun to be One....and have a cell phone! Thank goodness we don't have to pay for his minutes!

Unwrapping presents! This BIG one is from Liz, Laura and Jeff. When they brought this gift in and set it down, William walked up to it and touched the picture of the balloon and said "balloon!" I was so impressed! It is kind of a developmental leap to see something real and translate it into a picture (By the way, it does NOT sound like balloon, more like "bah-lo". I just know if means balloon because we've had a balloon around the house for a week and this is what he calls it).