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Angus' actual birthday was on Friday this year. Things were complicated though because he attends one nursery in the morning and the other in the afternoon. The afternoon nursery was closing early on Friday, so he had to have his nursery party on Thursday. Then on Friday he had a party at his morning nursery with a Spiderman cake, crisps, and assorted party bags to hand out. He was full of beans when he came home, regaling me with tales of everything he'd got up to. I made his 3rd birthday cake that night, but this had the special topper on I'd ordered from eBay which had his face on it above a display of Mystic Force Power Rangers. The fridge was stocked with goodies for the next day when his real party would be.
 
Disaster struck the next morning when his main friend and family couldn't make it. Angus took it well, surrounded by presents as he was - I think that helped to numb the pain, y'know? LOL! I busied myself preparing a Greek-inspired menu with slow roasted lamb on a bed of rosemary and garlic, crispy roast chicken with lemon and thyme, homemade hummous, tzatziki, taramosalata, felafel, and pitta breads. I only got pizzas and mini sausages for the kids since at all the kids' parties I've been to recently, the children hardly touched any savoury food. I figured if they were still hungry after that, they could tuck into the chicken and pitta breads. My best friend did a sterling job of tidying up along with Gav. I couldn't have done it without her. Angus just trotted about playing with all his new toys, whilst wearing his green Power Ranger's costume. The helmet covered his eyes most of the time because it's so big, but he carried on gamely nonetheless. As guests started to arrive it livened up and everyone got on really well. There weren't a lot of kids, but Angus didn't care, because overall, there were a lot of people which meant it was a BIG party, and that's all that he was worried about. I organised a couple of games of pass-the-parcel, and musical statues, but Angus didn't want any more games than that - what an easy going kid, hey? He spent a lot of time off his ventilator because he was distracted by so much going on. He was perfectly happy all day - so unlike many kids I've  witnessed who seem to get over-excited and end up having a meltdown about half way through their party. I was really proud of him.
 
Juliet's friend brought her little brother round who is 2 months younger than Angus. He's about twice his size, but I was struck by how indistinct and immature his speech was compared to Angus'. I'm not writing this with any sense of smugness, simply relief in knowing that all my concerns about whether Angus has been badly affected by his difficult start in life, trach, and hearing problems, are unfounded. He speaks pretty well for a boy of his age - his sentence structure is complete, his subjects and objects usually agree, and his vocabulary is good. He ends some words sounding a little like Sylvester the Cat, but it must be hard to decipher those palatal sounds in the back of the throat when you can't hear them properly or get a clue by seeing how the tongue is working in the mouth. I'm very proud of the way he has compensated so well.
 
Today we went round Drumpellier Country Park on our bikes, with Angus in his new bike trailer. He mostly enjoyed it, though the ride was rather bumpy in places. Gavin and I are thinking of getting some polystyrene blocks to put either side of him, and under his feet to add to his stability. He has good sitting balance, but his feet don't reach the bottom of the trailer, and his wee chest is just too narrow to be held securely by the straps. Polystyrene blocks will improve the situation without adding significantly to the weight of Angus+ventilator+/-oxygen. After our ride we flew kites and Angus used his new Power Ranger's kite that I picked up for a song. The weather was really windy so it was perfect for kite flying. Angus held the kite himself, though I hovered a fair bit, feeling how strong the wind was. He worked out that if he moved the kite to a particular area, there was a down draught which made the kite nosedive into the ground. He thought this was hysterical and did it several times. Thankfully the wind was strong enough to pick the kite up again with the merest tug of the string and send it soaring upwards again. I took him back the the car when the wind got too strong and he was getting cold. He sat and licked crisps and stared out of the window at his dad flying a stunt kite.