Gabriel's 3rd Birthday Party

Our Gaby-Baby is three!!

Admittedly, we have been rounding up for a while. It is easier, and despite his delays he seems much older than just three. For one thing, he's huge--about 32-34 lbs, though you couldn't tell by looking at him as he is thin and surprisingly muscular (surprising if you don't know about his activity level, lol).

Last year for his second birthday, we went with a Toy Story theme (his first birthday was baby Sesame Street) with all lime greens and blue. This year I was having difficulty because it is hard to know what Gabe likes and doesn't like, but one thing has been a constant--Veggie Tales.

Of course, Veggie Tales is harder to pull off than you would think. They have tons of party supplies, ranging from party favors to scented stickers to colorful Bob and Larry lights, but the stores in town have limited supplies. We could order them online, but I don't trust quality unless I can hold it and check it out myself.

As it turns out, Beth was amazingly helpful--she located all the best party supplies in town, took me to get them one morning, and even then handmade all the decorations for the cake! If it hadn't been for her, Gabe wouldn't have had much of a birthday, as I was so preoccupied with enrolling Gabe in the Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities (PPCD) all last week.

Speaking of: Gabriel is now enrolled, despite my great apprehension, and starts Wednesday. That is why I have been so lax with keeping up with the blog of late; I do a ridiculous amount of paperwork.

Anyways, that is me getting off topic.

I wanted to do something nice for Gabriel's class at church because he is really bonding with everyone there, starting to make friends which I want to encourage. You would not believe the stress that caused! You would think it would be pretty straight forward and simple: I have sent treats to Emerald's school for her birthday before; usually cupcakes and Capri Sun pouches and leave it at that.

Well, last week we met with the nutritionist to discuss Gabriel before he graduated ECI, and she explained why Gabe's diet is so restricted--he likes dry foods usually high in sodium because they are more exciting to his under-stimulated taste reflexes, and in the colors white, brown, or beige. It was something that I had not considered before: that colors on food can be overstimulating to kids on the spectrum.

So! With all that in mind (knowing makes everything more complicated), I go to the store and pick out chocolate doughnut holes with rainbow sprinkles, Toy Story fruit snacks, and Capri Suns. Awesome.

Only, it's not. I remember: all of these kids are going to be in their nice church clothes, so their parents probably won't be thrilled if I give them something super messy, and these look sticky and are colorful all over...no one will touch them!

We leave for church early so I can go back by the store and deliberate, calling my mom and wandering around stressed as all get out. Pressed for time, I grab a pack of chocolate thumbprint cookies, dissatisfied. I personally dislike thumbprint cookies, and I worry I'll look lazy. Of course, I didn't need to worry as the whole little "party" was a big hit with everyone; I didn't even end up taking cookies home.

Between church and the party, Miss Kristin comes over for a visit before she heads back out of town, and we try to lay down and nap. Everyone is exhausted, particularly Gabriel who had to be woken up that morning for church, much to his displeasure. But no one but Benjamin got sleep, a cause of great concern for me. I feared significant behavioral problems at the party.

As it turns out, I needn't have worried--we kept it short and sweet for Gabe's benefit, and with only one sensory break he did really well. Emerald had a little accident unfortunately, but she didn't mind as she got to then wear her dress-up clothes and be Snow White.

We had a pretty good turn out: Sarah and Grannymom were unable to attend because they were both under the weather, but we still had a good crowd.

Beth and David Peacock came bearing the little decorative Bob and Larry's, as well as a gift certificate to the Jump N Jungle, scented Veggie Tales stickers, and "Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" finger puppets.

Glo and Pawpaw and Uncle Patrick of course were there, as it was at their house. They got Gabe some new clothes and the heavy-duty hiking sandals that Gabriel is so fond of (he hates having hot feet or enclosed shoes, and these are the perfect compromise). They also got Emerald a Kindergarten workbook, which she is currently obsessed with.

Uncle Steve, Aunt Melisa, and cousins Sydney and Macy were able to come which was cool--they are so often busy that we don't get to see them much. They gave Gabriel a shape sorter and a neat gyroball that you fill with liquid it never spills (it looks really cool; Mike and I are dying to try it out).

Michael, Emerald, Benjamin and I got him a new pack of megablocks as he had defecated on his original set to the extent we deemed them more suited for the dumpster than cleaning, and several "Cars" cardboard books. He has never been great about sitting down and listening to stories with other people, but he loves looking at books by himself.

Also in attendance were DadDad and Michaela; Gigi and Papa were not able to come as they live six hours away, but they sent him a new puppy backpack and an adorable red tricycle with a trunk...Gabe loves it.

After presents, we took a short break and then moved straight into cake. Rhonda and I had discussed it and came to the conclusion that the less we did, the better. While Emerald is getting to the point where she wants her birthday party to last for hours, Gabe has a short attention span and dislikes crowds of people, loud noises, bright colors, or people paying too much attention to him. He is learning how to cope, but in manageable doses.

Keeping that in mind, I opted out of snacks or an actual meal, deciding to keep it to cake and drinks. Even still, I wanted a good variety, so I got a medium-sized carrot cake (it is Veggie Tales themed, after all) as well as four red velvet cupcakes and four chocolate curl cupcakes; we still had the rainbow sprinkled chocolate doughnut holes that we did not use for his Bible school class so we put those out, and Rhonda set up a bowl full of mixed nuts which are Gabriel's current favorite food. Rhonda also brewed sweet and unsweet tea, and I brought root beer, sprite, and orange soda.

Everyone seemed to have a good time, even rushed as the party was. When we got home, everyone was exhausted from such a busy day.

All in all, I am quite pleased with how well everything went, and Gabe seemed to enjoy it :) I am counting it as a win. Now I don't have to plan another kid's birthday party until Benjamin's first in September!

--Andie--