Kalib's first birthday, part 2: The one year-old throws an insane party

On December 26 at 3:19 AM, Alaska Standard Time, Kalib Lokaa' Dine Hess, my first grandson, turned one. About 12 hours later, he was presented with his first birthday cake. Kalib did not know that he was supposed to blow out the candle, which looked to him to be something fascinating, something that he should reach out and touch.

So his mother prepared to blow it out for him.

Of course, the party did not begin with the cake.

It began with the arrival of guests, most of whom were adults - uncles and aunts, and friends of his parents. Two other little people did come, both of whom were slightly older than Kalib.

This is party-girl Bryne, Kalib's senior by three months. Sadly, she and her parents had to go to another dinner elsewhere, so she was unable to stay to the end, but Bryne was a delight while she was here.

And this is party boy Lafe, Kalib's senior by one month. Lafe just might be the strongest baby that I have ever seen and he is a real tough guy. 

He and Kalib have been buddies practically since the day Kalib was born. I think Lafe will be a good person to have as a buddy in future years.

I hope that the two don't raise too much hell together, but that they do raise just enough. For what is the life of boys if they don't raise some hell?

Hell. That's what such a life is.

Hell.

A group picture of the three tots is needed, so Dad Jacob sets about to pose them on the front-room couch. He will face greater challenges in life, I am certain.

The three tots: Kalib, Bryne and Lafe.

Can you remember when you were very small and an adult, especially a pretty woman, smiled at you and spoke in a certain kind of voice and said something that made you feel like you were very unique and special?

That is how Sarah, Bryne's mom, is causing Kalib to feel, right here.

Cake time! Lavina blows on Kalib's behalf, lays the flame down and out it goes.

Sadly, Bryne was gone by now, leaving the cake all to the boys. Left to their natural male tendencies, they made hogs of themselves.

"That's enough sugar for you," Lafe's Mom Markie says just before yanking him prematurely from the cake. "Remember what happened the last time you ate too much sugar?"

With Lafe removed, Kalib has the cake to himself. He will be hyper not only for the remainder of the day, but on and off through the night, as well.

One only gets one first birthday party. Might as well go full hog.

The adults eat their cake (cut from a second slab that no one had wallowed in). Kalib demands more.

Something has upset Lafe. Maybe a ride in Kalib's new sled will make him feel better.

When Kalib saw Lafe riding across the floor in the sled that he had received for Christmas, he came crawling across the floor about three times faster than I had ever saw him crawl before. Until this moment, I did not realize that Kalib had such a strong sense of ownership over that sled.

Kalib opens his presents.

A present lights up; Kalib reaches for the light.

Among Kalib's new presents was a frog puppet. At first he wasn't interested, but Lafe was. Then, when Kalib saw how much Lafe liked the puppet, he became interested.

Eventually, everyone had to say goodbye. Of course, this goodbye is from much earlier, when Bryne and her parents left, but I only wanted to have one goodbye here, so I saved it for now.

My dear Melanie! When she arrived at the house, the driveway was filled with vehicles, so she decided to park at the side of the road. She did not realize that the snow plow operator had drug his blade partially over the culvert, cutting flat the snow that topped it so that the culvert looked like it was the shoulder of road.

Thus, when Melanie pulled over to park, her right wheels sank through the deception and into the culvert.

Jake had to pull her out. Kalib helped hook up the car as Muzzy supervised.

See how pretty the snow is, bunched up on the spruce branches?

A big wind would arise overnight and blow it all away.

Life, right here in Wasilla, Alaska, is like that.

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Kalib's first birthday, part 1: flashback one year to his actual birth day

In just 45 minutes, guests should begin to arrive to help us celebrate Kalib's first birthday. I had not yet begun this blog when he was born at 3:19 AM, December 26, 2008, so I am going to flashback one year to that day. This way, when I post the pictures from the party, readers will be able to put them in context.

Shortly after the birth, the scene was calm, peaceful, joyous and serene as Kalib bathed in the love of his mom and dad. Of course, it did not start out that way.

It began in pain, along with a disruption of our Christmas plans. Jacob was working on a roast, which he was marinating and doing various things to enhance the flavor. As usual, we were cooking turkeys out here and pies and all of that kind of thing. The baby was not due for another week.

Then in the afternoon, we got a call that Lavina's water had broke and they were headed to the hospital. Jake had to put his roast aside. 

The emergence was not imminent, so the rest of us ate our dinner and exchanged our gifts. The word was we could confidently wait until after we got a good night's sleep to come in, because the baby was not coming fast.

Still, we could not wait. We climbed into the car and drove to Providence Hospital in Anchorage. We entered the delivery room a bit after midnight and this is what we found.

The stuffed St. Bernard is the original Muzzy, the one Jake gave Lavina years before, when they were in no position to have one of the eating, breathing, slobbering, bounding, loving, pooping kind.

Jake holds Lavina's hand. In this way, he helps her bear the pain that we who sire the babies can never know. Once, Jake caused his mother that same kind of pain. When it reached its worse, she told me that she had changed her mind.

"Take me home," she said. "I changed my mind. I don't want to do this anymore. Take me home right now." She was not joking. She meant it. 

I did not take her home. She got very angry with me. Margie doesn't often get angry, but she did then.

Lavina bore her pain quietly, hugging stuffed Muzzy, holding Jacob's hand as her good friend Natalee massaged her back, moaning and crying out lightly now and then, but never did she scream. Margie and Melanie watched the baby's heart beat on the monitor, as it sped up, slowed down, then sped up again.

Obviously, the baby was having a remarkable experience.

 Natalie Massages Lavina as Jake comforts her from the other side. Shortly after this, a nurse came in and told us that the baby was almost a good ten to hours away from being born and that we should go get some sleep and then come back refreshed for the big moment.

I was leery about leaving, as I did not want to be gone when baby appeared, but I was extremely tired and so was Margie.

At that time, Jacob and Lavina lived in an apartment less than two miles from the hospital. So we drove over there, to bunk with the flesh and blood Muzzy and the calico cat, Martigny.

We had barely exchanged greetings with the cat and dog and settled down to sleep on two different couches when Margie's cell phone rang. The process had speeded up. The baby was about to be born. 

We rushed over and headed for the delivery room. The door was closed. And suddenly a sound penetrated the door - the sound of a baby's first cry. I wept. 

Natalee came out as the nurses cleaned baby and Mom up. She smiles as she listens to the cry of the newborn.

Soon we were in the room with Mom, Dad, and newborn son. Mom and Dad had waited until the moment of birth to learn his sex. For a boy, they had already picked the name, Kalib. In full: Kalib Lokaa'Dine Hess, in honor of his Navajo clan. In both Apache Navajo cultures, the children belong to the clan of their mother, so this worked out just fine.

Have you ever heard a sound more beautiful than the cry of a healthy, newborn baby?

I haven't.

A baby's cry is the most beautiful sound in the world.

Not even Mozart ever created a sound more beautiful than this.

Mom, Dad, Kalib and gramma.

Having missed Christmas dinner, Lavina now eats a corn chip.

Dad kisses Kalib.

Mom kisses Kalib.

Dad and Kalib.

Kalib and Uncle Caleb. Caleb soon proved himself to the very definition of doting uncle.

Newborn Kalib.

Newborn Kalib with new mittens.

Kalib Lokaa' Dine Hess - our first grandson.

Well, Kalib's first birthday party has now been over for about two hours. Yes, I was unable to finish this entry before it began - with no small thanks to the glitches and vagaries of Squarespace - but now I have.

Soon, I will blog Kalib birthday party #1.

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