Party time! Excellent!

I now have a two-year-old. Kyle's birthday was on Sunday, and he was spoiled well beyond reasonable measures. After all that attention, it may take weeks before I am able to convince him that he is no longer at the center of the universe. I might have to put him through some sort of "you're not special anymore" treatment, perhaps going as far as pretending that we have another kid, and giving him Kyle's gifts. We'll just wait and see.

As for Kyle's birthday party on Saturday, I would say it was a success, considering that Kyle did not get stuck in a tree, ants did not attack the cake, and our guests were not devoured by a giant sinkhole (as a parent, you often fear the worst). Overall, people seemed to have a good time. Since we have no yard of our own, we had the party in Brooklyn's beautiful Prospect Park, a sprawling natural oasis in the middle of the borough. There are both advantages and disadvantages to using the park. On the plus side, all the trees, grassy fields, and chirping birds make you feel as if you're not in a city's public place. On the other hand, the truth is you are in a city's public place. During the party, a man pushing an Italian ice cart parked himself several yards from the edge of our party. He ignored us, though. Instead he stared at the couple of young adults lying on the ground, under a tree nearby. They were groping each other. But who could blame them? After all, it's common knowledge that children's balloons are a popular aphrodisiac. We should have known better than to put ours within view of the rest of the park.

Other than that, you could say our party was no different than the typical birthday fare. We had cake and gifts. We sat and talked. We all took turns running after Kyle. Then we went back to our apartment, where we all relaxed and enjoyed the aroma of a room crammed with nearly a dozen people who had been sweating out in the sun all day. I miss having a home with air conditioning.

Kyle received a lot of presents at the party, and he opened even more the next day, when he officially turned two. Our friends and family were awfully generous, and I'll be lucky to not trip over something this week. As Kyle opened each gift Sunday, he said "Wooow" as if each gift shot off a barrage of colorful fireworks. He did this even with the cards. Yep, our kid's already learning the necessary skills of gift receiving. This "wow" thing certainly will come in handy during future birthdays, when he starts receiving tube socks and underwear.

Of course Kyle can't complain about this year's gifts. He received a lot of exciting stuff, including Legos, Mr. Potato Head, a remote-controlled car, Play-Doh, a beginner train set, and a do-it-yourself atom smasher. There's only one gift that really drove me crazy on Sunday: the Little Tikes basketball hoop. Upon opening it and watching Kyle slam dunk the ball and nearly bring the hoop to the ground, I learned that its base needed to be filled with sand. So, during Kyle's nap, I walked to a nearby hardware store and picked up some sand, realizing then that a four-block walk feels a lot longer when you're carrying a 50-pound sand bag. I then spent a good chunk of the rest of the evening trying to cram 30-40 pounds of that sand (which was sticky in the humidity) into the base... through a hole the size of a quarter. The whole time I cursed the person who bought him the hoop, which happened to be me. And, with my expert scooping skills, I managed to turn our hallway floor into our own personal beach.

Ah, parenthood. It's a never-ending feast of surprises and back pain. Another birthday down, and countless more to go. Can't wait.