Last night we went to a birthday party for Emma’s cousin Anthony’s 1st birthday. It was a fun time at a place called KidsTown. The place is essentially an indoor playground that also has a bunch of themed rooms with toys all over the place and seating areas for grownups. We had the place to ourselves which is nice too.
Of course the grownups all congregated in the area designated for food while the kids went off and ran around and played. It was great to be able to socialize without being interrupted all the time and it was nice to relax. Definitely a great place to have a kids party.
Emma loves being with her cousin Lindsey and they had fun running all over the place and eating from the seemingly endless candy table. Seeing her interacting with all the other kids of different ages demonstrated just how much of a big girl she is becoming. It is kind of sad that she is growing up so fast. I know that this stay at home dad will be in a world of change when his little girl is all grown up.
Which reminds me of the other day when she was acting lovable and snuggling with and hugging me while Melissa was out of town. I asked her, as I always do, if she will always give me kisses and hugs, even when she is 15 years old. She always says that she will. Time will tell. I will be sure to remind her of her promise!
There was a younger girl at the party too, probably 3 or 4, that followed Emma around and I could tell that Emma enjoyed it a lot. This got me to thinking about how I regret that Emma doesn’t have a little sister – or brother. We definitely tried to make it happen but it wasn’t meant to be i guess. Every so often I went to the play area and watched Emma playing and I could see that she enjoyed being the leader of this little girl and her brother. It was so cute to watch and I really enjoyed watching my little girl acting the part of a big sister.
This got me to reflecting on the challenges, that I have documented on this site as well as the rewards of being a stay at home dad . During times like last night while watching my cutie pie and feeling such a sense of love and pride in her, I am grateful for the opportunity of the last 7(almost) years!