c.r.u.m.b.s: Oh, the places he will go!

Yes, after the post about Birth Announcement/Birthing Story comes the 1^st Birthday post. I know I am just kidding myself when I wrote that I shall be trying to write while I was on maternity leave.

Anyway, I am back now at work. Bunso is one year old. What a year that was!

The first days were terrifying because of the G6PD deficiency complications. Bunso displayed an early onset of G6PD Deficiency symptoms. So bad that we have to leave him at the Hospital’s NICU. His bilirubin was at alarming level, his pee was tea colored, he was losing weight more than is expected. That is just too much for his tiny body. And too much also for Mommy. I am just glad that I did not have post partum depression and that Bunso is okay after about 9 days.

Since it was winter, Bunso and I just stayed home. We hibernate. We went out occasionally but that is just if it is needed.

We only had walks about April or May? He was baptized in May in preparation for our back-to-the-Philippines trip (separate post for that trip).

By the time that the weather is ideal for strolling, we were also ready flying back home to the Philippines.

We were not really planning for anything extravagant for his 1^st birthday celebration. I have learned my lesson that babies really don’t need that kind of party at that age. Plus it is costly. We had that fantastic Philippines trip so we were just planning to lay it low this time.

When we got back here, I re-started the party planning -- contacted and booked suppliers -- I did it mostly online, while trying to re-connect to the city.

We have agreed that it should not be too fancy, yes, but I of course wanted something special for him too.

On the actual day of his birthday, we did a cake smash pictorial and simple party at home.

While the actual birthday celebration was just a simple get together with relatives and friends. If I can have it my way, I would have wanted it at our home but I know that’s going to involve too much stress and planning for me and our house is not going to accommodate all the guests comfortably. We settled for a buffet restaurant.

A few balloons, a special cake, birthday banner, customized candies, and a theme-related souvenir. That’s it.