Ian and I had decided to make this a smaller occasion, as we’re both working and I’m pregnant: only family this time, and do the big kids’ party with lots of friends for Jessica’s second birthday. We also asked Ian’s parents, Jessica’s farmor and farfar, if we could hold the party at their house, as we weren’t sure how far they would have come with the damp-proofing works at our place.
On the day of the party, Ian and I had planned for the three of us to go over to Albert & Diana’s for 10am and let Jessica have her morning nap there while we got everything ready for the afternoon’s festivities. As it happened, Jessica started dozing off in my lap already during her morning bottle at 9.30am, so there’s was nothing else to do but to put her in her cot at home. Ian went ahead to his parents, while I stayed with Jessica. As we had had the foresight to prepare ahead – including putting up all the decorations the previous day (we had decided to go for a very simple ‘theme’: pink and silver) – there wasn’t too much left to do but to warm the food up for the buffet and assemble the two birthday cakes. So we hoped that Jessica would have a nice long sleep, to get her in as happy and alert a mood for the party as possible. And we were lucky: she had three hours sleep, then Ian came back home to have a quick lunch with us before we all went over to Redhill.
Diana’s cousin Rita with husband Clive, daughter Alison and Alison’s boyfriend Dan had arrived only a little while before us. They were a bit early as they’d set out early from Wolverhampton but both weather and traffic had been good and they’d decided to not worry about a break. Ian changed Jessica into her party dress and shoes (something she wasn’t very happy with), while I put the cakes together: sponge with strawberry jam and whipped cream with crushed meringue in between, and cream and a layer of pink marzipan on top – a variation of a recipe of my sister’s.
As the rest of our guests arrived, Ian took charge of warming the buffet food up, while Jessica and I went to greet them. It was my aunts Anette and Monica with their husbands Yngve and Hasse respectively plus Monica and Hasse’s daughter Helena, as well as my aunts’ cousin Inger and her husband Frank. Jessica got a little bit overwhelmed as they all bundled together into the little hallway as one big, happy, chatty crowd and started to cry. She soon perked up though, as people started to spread out through the house and she got used to the amount of people, and she was happily walking all by herself between the different rooms to have a look around, sit on someone’s lap or just do her usual thing of picking all the magnets off the fridge or trying to grab the owls off the lower shelf in the dining room or a handful of the soil in the plant pot on the floor by the French windows.
After people had finished their food it was getting a bit late in the afternoon, so we decided to bring the cakes out before Jessica’s energy started to flag and she’d need her dinner. We all gathered in the dining room and lit the little silver candle on one of the cakes. (I’d decided to keep the cake decoration simple: a dusting of icing sugar and one single candle in the middle to represent Jessica’s first year – I’m not great at complicated decorations and didn’t want to do something that might end up taking a lot of time. One thing I’d felt we didn’t do right for Jessica’s naming party was to run around too much getting things ready and not paying her enough attention during the morning on what was supposed to be her big day… I didn’t want to repeat that mistake.)
Everyone sang to her, first a joint ‘Happy birthday’ and then a Swedish ‘Ja, må hon leva’ complete (after some hesitation…) with four cheers at the end. Jessica looked a bit bewildered but not at all unhappy, and took great interest when Daddy was about to cut the cake – reaching for the knife, of course, and then intently watching him cutting the first slice.
After that, Jessica’s Auntie Wendy and farmor handed slices of cake out to all guests, while Jessica retired to the high chair in the kitchen for a bit of birthday dinner – a jar (again due to time restraints, I’m afraid…) of Caribbean veg with fruity rice but followed by a bit of birthday cake as a special treat. (We’re really careful about not giving Jessica any sugary food or drink and will try to keep that going for as long as we can – which probably won’t be as long as we’d like…!) Jessica wrinkled her nose at the first little piece – she didn’t seem sure about the sponge, so I made the next 2-3 spoonfuls mainly cream and strawberry jam (the latter sweetened with fruit juice, not sugar, so not as bad as it may sound). Then we finished off with a bit of banana, something she really likes.
My family left at about 6pm, whereas Rita, Clive, Alison and Dan stayed on for a bit longer before they started their journey back up to Wolverhampton. We all sat down in the living room for a chat while Jessica played, mainly pushing a baby gym-style frame back and forth across the floor between us. She was still in a good mood and Ian and I were chuffed that she had coped so well with the party, having so many people around her and being given so much attention. She had had lots of compliments for being so cute, for her smile, her pretty dress and shoes. And my cousin Helena pointed out that she too has just the one dimple and in her left cheek, just like Jessica, so we now know where that comes from!
Although February perhaps isn’t the loveliest time of year weather-wise, we were just as lucky with the weather as for the day of Jessica’s naming party: clear blue sky and fantastic sunshine! The perfect early spring day.
And so we have almost come full circle… It is so hard to imagine that there was a time before Jessica – her first year has gone so quickly and still it feels as if she has always been here with us. Soon the daffodils will be in bloom again, like they were last year during the first week after Jessica was born. Ian and I cannot imagine life without her now – she is the loveliest, most gorgeous and fun little girl we could ever have hoped for!
Gabriella