The party life

In the grand tradition of the McDonoughs and the Rotondaros, Nora is really partying it up for her first birthday. We're celebrating September birthdays with family today and last weekend, on her actual birthday, we played outside with friends and had some cake.

And when I say had some cake, I mean we seriously had some cake.

This has been one of J's biggest fears for all his life, I think. The first birthday party, where the baby gets birthday cake - in this case a delicious Elmo birthday cake - all over his or her face. He hates it, just like he hates it when his ice cream gets melty, and he starts to have a panic attack and has to run and wash his hands.

So during this memorable event, this hallmark of a child's life, as we all stood around and laughed at one-year-old Nora eating her cake like there was no tomorrow, I heard, on my left, a continual refrain oh so quietly muttered as he snapped photos, a grimace on his face: "That's disgusting. That's disgusting. That's disgusting. That's disgusting."

A few thoughts

I read in "Us Weekly" the other day that Jon Gosselin was at some after party for the Emmys. What? What's he doing at any after party, Emmys-related or otherwise? Jon Gosselin! I thought you said you hated the press. Don't you remember? Why are you suddenly big news in the gossip mags? And why do I read it so fervently? BrickBreaker is awesome. IT IS AWESOME.

I give up. I read mysteries. I love them and I don't want to read anything else. And you want to know why that's ok? Because I did my time with the great works of literature. When I was a teenager I stayed up all night reading Thomas Wolfe and John Steinbeck novels like they were crack cocaine for the soul. And when I read "The Sorrows of Young Werther," I underlined pretty much the whole book, thinking, every five seconds, "That is exactly how I feel, that's just how I feel!!!"

I also want to read the new Dan Brown novel like you wouldn't believe. I heard you can buy it in the grocery store.

Speaking of BrickBreaker, Nora practically had a nervous breakdown when I wouldn't give her my BlackBerry today. It was one of those parenting situations where I tried to do the right thing in not giving it to her, thinking, "This kid has to learn that she can't have whatever she wants whenever she wants it." Then her little face crumpled and she let loose one of those cries that consists of a huge sucking in of breath and then "WawawawaWAAAAAAAAAAAH." But don't feel sorry for the little one just yet because guess what. She's a faker. And it worked. I gave her my BlackBerry and the "crying" immediately ceased, replaced by the smug, ultra-serious look she adopts when she is emailing all her business associates or whatever she does with that thing.