I went to the birthday party of one of my dearest friends’ daughter this past weekend - her first birthday.  It is a monumental occasion, those first birthdays.  It is a reflection of the past twelve months, of the accomplishments and milestones that have been crossed, of remembering that amazing moment when parent and child first lay eyes on each other.  And, in Addy’s case, it was extra-sweet: she had been born nine weeks early, spent six weeks and NICU and overcame some pretty big obstacles along the way.  Here she was, a year later, diving into a applesauce-sweetened spice cake and smearing pale pink icing from ear to ear (and not necessarily just her own ears!).  Those first birthdays are definitely a major milestone.

It was time to turn on a bit of the think-tank to come up with a present for Addy; after all, there were over forty other people in attendance (don’t freak out - they were all mostly relatives) and all bearing gifts.  Your typical tub toy or outfit wouldn’t hold a candle to this crowd.  So, I sat down and created a list of some ideas for gift-giving to be a little bit “different”.  Read more…