angel baby

well, what a big day; even for royalty! Princess Poppy was the epitome of charm and good grace today, generous with her smiles and kisses and cuddles and playing beautifully with her friends. too busy playing in fact, to be stopping and posing for photos so we will have to do a new shoot to capture the one-year-old smile, which we need to send to her agent (for those of you who think I'm joking, think again! Poppy is on bambini's books). friends came from as far away as Dayboro and Nanango to help celebrate Poppy's first birthday. the day actually started at 8:30am (a sleep in with us, after milky in bed at 6, after crying since 5am. poor Poppy. that's the last time we try that method; it's back to the 3 minute settling routine tonight ie, re-settling every 3 mins until sleep comes again. not as tough as it sounds. it's harder to listen to the cying because I know I can do something about it and have supposedly-strategically chosen not to. I'm sure the best sleep schools do the 3 minute thing). we didn't linger over brekky and we dressed piratically and prettily (pretty) quickly, to claim the ideal space, next to the pirate ship playground at the spit.

within 10 minutes we had made the small party nearby look pretty silly, they having obviously arrived even earlier, in order to set up a few balloons and streamers for their whatever special occasion. well, we don't do things by halves. our set up included "baby's first birthday" banners, giant blue and red helium balloons (the red balloons burst immediately, though luckily for us, not in the car on the way), a special pirate head helium balloon, which Poppy waved "hi" to periodically throughout the day, over 60 pink and sea green frosted cupcakes (sea green due to the amount of butter used rather than the amount of blue food colouring used, although of course it was the combination. thanks for that, early childhood teacher friends.) and an enormous pirate flag; the jolly roger, wearing a red bandana. Sam has a great new pirate book (not unlike Pirateology, lv), so I will be able to find out which particular pirate made this particular flag famous. suffice to say, it was an impressive scene!

the 'other bubbas' (who need to be referred to as toddlers or tots, as in Fifi's flowertots, now that they have all turned one) all arrived after 11am for play and photos and cup cakes. lots of cup cakes! a couple of the tots enjoyed crisps too, though not our Poppalina; her first "everyone else is allowed to" experience! she did, however; enjoy sharing our fish and chips for lunch (no batter! mama is quite firm about these things)! we set the treasure chest in the centre of the space and let the tots take out all the gifts. I think the pretty, crinkly paper and the shining, curling ribbon were appreciated as much as any book or toy. people insist on sharing this very observation from the moment you share the fact that you are expecting a child; "oh, don't buy any toys, just take out the tupperware or some pots and pans and wrapping paper," and still we insist on spending much more than we can afford on lamaze, kaloo, mamas and papas, fischer price and more (let's not forget any merchandise by disney or nick jnr) AND THEN there's a whole new world of eco and timber toys for those of us who contribute our huggies to landfill and thereby feel the need to buy something created by earth conscious european companies.

did I even mention the wardrobe? no, not the built-in, in which you will find an array of beautiful outfits (yes, outfits rather than separates. Poppy already recognises coordinating pieces. in fact, she assists daddy dressing her by yanking the matching top and pants/dress from the cute little hangers. which all match. the hangers that is.) outfits are the other best birthday gift. aunty Debbie's was the fave; jeans, sweater and faux fur lined coat, I'm sure I mentioned it. just open any issue of studio bambini and you will discover a microcosm of the glamourous world that revolves around runway shows and glossy magazine sales. sigh. alas, Poppy's mama has never completely infiltrated it and now the dreams of resisting opening my dolce and gabbana goody bag, whilst seated next to Anna Wintour at the Paris shows must now be fulfilled by Poppalina Eponina Fashionista. oops, did I once say I would never have a child whom I would push to chase my vanquished dreams? anyway, the whole segue leads to this: even size 000's are now being produced in designer pure cotton and marketed as the solution to the end of the world as we know it. if we, as parents, deem to care in the first place and make the right (rather more costly) choice. but at what cost to the earth do we purchase the cheap and nasty synthetics? yes, that's what they cry! perfect place to elude to a similiar message from Meryl Streep's brilliantly (underplayed) executed monologue in the devil wears prada, when Andy simply can't fathom how the designers' decisions impact on her life. brilliant.

re the pirate flag: my extensive research on the subject has led me to the following conclusion; the reference is to Henry Avery, the only pirate to use a bandana on a skull and crossbones IN PROFILE (and that, my friends, is the point of interest there), however; the readily available image that we hoisted at Poppy's party, appears to be none other than cpt Jack Sparrow's (well, disney's) design! by the way, lv; pirates was published by harper collins.

and so, with that; back to the party! and the cup cakes! mmm-mmmm!

family members and more friends turned up by mid afternoon, so there was no time for a nap (for any of us). just as well, as we'd left the hammock at home. by 4pm we needed a coffee and so joined the dayboro friends and the theatrical friends (who are known for their enthusiasm as well as their ability to access excellent costumes at any given moment. they did not disappoint) for coffee and desert in the slightly more creative surrounds of discovery, a cafe-cum-gallery/gift store behind the esplanade. Sam ordered the desert and I couldn't help but remind him, had I ordered desert before dinner I would have found myself in enormous trouble! one good coffee is never enough so we meandered up to a slightly more commercial coffee institution...gloria jeans (Sam prefers it. I still love starbucks. potate-o potar-to. whatever.) our day concluded, as the rain set in, at 6:30pm. Poppy, warm and full of milky and happy thoughts, settled immediately and we settled in front of the tv with soup and hot buttered toast. nice.

a successful first birthday party, without the assistance of one of those party planner companies (which I always thought I might run one day, actually. fond-ish memories of story telling at the fairy shop during uni days) and without any mishaps or grave disappointments. we expected nothing less. and there's the secret of the secret that everyone is so obsessed with. all over again. it is, after all, another re-wrapped life-coaching package. very clever marketing. and no better testimonial than Oprah's. but it has always been the way we (Sam and I) live our life. often, to the dismay or bemusement or otherwise of a few family members! but we have always held firm to the belief that what we expect, we receive. so we set high expectations and we visualise what it is we want and we work hard to get it. that's it in a nutshell. not always easy. not always rational. but there it is. now you don't need to buy the dvd. it's all here, in this quiet space.