Today we celebrated Kayla's fourteenth birthday with family and friends. My mother-in-law, sister-in-law, neice, and nephew all drove over to eat lunch and cake with us. Our neighbor Louie Holliday also joined us with his kids. It is so hard to believe that Kayla is already in her teens. It seems like it was just yesterday she was turning four years old and looked like this for her birthday:
Of course, back then the rest of the kids looked like this:
History of Kayla's Birthday Parties
As the years have gone by, we've adjusted a lot of the birthday party traditions that we began when the kids were younger and birthdays were a slightly bigger deal. The "family" birthday party is a tradition which was started in 2001 when Kayla turned on year old. Back then, we were living in Lansing, but it was still quite a drive for both sides of the family. That was the year that set the standard for other birthday parties. We provided a lunch of some type (sub sandwhiches), and of course there was the smash cake, and then the opening of presents. That was the year when Kayla's grandparents gave her a Little Tykes car. Her older cousin, Alex, was way more fascinated with it than Kayla was. He ended up getting on of his own for his second birthday the following month.
We had moved to Shepherd by Kayla's second birthday, and her brother, Josh, was already on his way. Family drove to our apartment in Shepherd to celebrate Kayla's birthday, but this time we served pizza for lunch. Pizza would be the choice for food during the next few years.
As Kayla was meeting kids from around the neighborhood, we decided either for her second or third birthday party to hold a "friends" party. It was a day when it was important for the kids to spend most of the time with their grandparents, so we kept the two parties separate. This was another tradition that continued on for the following few years.
By Kayla's fourth birthday, we had moved to the house where we live now. I had changed jobs and was now working for Dow Chemical. Shortly after we moved to our house on Clark street we met our backyard neighbors the Hollidays. The Hollidays had kids which were close in age to Kayla and Josh so they all quickly became friends. I remembered realizing almost as soon as I saw how much they were playing with each other that Kayla would want to invite them to her birthday in September. We always held a party for family, but Kayla's friend parties continued to evolve. Her social sphere expanded once she started school, and her list of friends to invite grew in length. Gradually, parties with cake and ice cream changed to sleepovers, and then parties became a little simpler. There was a time when Kayla was so young that we needed to explain that it was her birthday, and help her to unwrap her gifts. This year (as in recent years) she sat and opened up her own gifts, and read the messages from the cards. It was more enjoyable watching her do her thing that it was to see what she actually had gotten. It was all a reminder of how much she has grown up, and how far she has come since she was the little baby I had in my arms right after she was born.
Looking ahead
Looking ahead, I know that Kayla's interests will continue to change as she grows older and her priorities change. Along the way, we will be continuing some of the same traditions we began fourteen years ago as we celebrate her two brothers' birthdays. And, birthday #15 for Kayla will be held at our house. For me, her birthday will be always be a time to reflect on her momentous arrival and celebrate her accomplishments.