This past weekend we celebrated Clara's first birthday! We had a birthday party on the 13th, and shared a quiet family day on her actual birthday, July 14th.
Clara shared a birthday party with another little friend, Jip, at our apartment on Friday. Jip and Clara have many friends in common, and their birthdays are only 7 days apart, so we decided to 'co-host'. We had a lovely time, and there were lots of little people underfoot. As Jip's mother, Nicolienne, said, "You know you are a grown-up when you are hosting your
children's birthday party!"
We put up some balloons and streamers around the apartment, which captivated Clara, and the other little children. Clara is pointing at objects that interest her, and Mark spent quite a bit of time following her finger from one balloon to another.
Clara is at the age where the container is the most interesting component of any object. Here she is closely inspecting (with carrot in hand) a rather large box! She is wearing a
Shalwaar Kameez, traditional Bangladeshi wear, that Mark picked out for her special birthday outfit.
We even managed to track down a birthday hat for Jip and Clara....although it didn't stay on their head for very long!
Nicolienne baked a lovely carrot cake for the occasion, and there was a lot of excitement about the candles and icing sugar...unfortunately (or fortunately, as the case may be!) we don't have any photos of the air-conditioner blowing out the candles, or of the little children getting their hands into the icing sugar, so these photos will have to suffice! ;-)
Clara had a lovely afternoon, and the party ended before it dissolved into sniffles and screams... perfect timing!
Mark and I had a wonderful day celebrating with Dhaka friends, but we couldn't help but miss our family and friends in Canada. Thank you for all of your thoughtful birthday wishes - Clara has received many warm, long-distance hugs and kisses from you all!
Lots of love from the Boltons in Bangladesh!
