365 Days Later

Today is my 365th day of being Jane's mama (not counting gestation time). Because 2012 is a leap year her birthday is tomorrow, but I'm already feeling nostalgic and ecstatic about the beginning of her second year.

I am worried that I'm not doing enough -- she's not having a "real" party, I haven't planned to give her a cake, etc. She will have a play date tomorrow at the children's museum, she has an "I'm One" t-shirt and a cake hat that my aunt made for her to wear, we'll have a Google+ hangout for family to watch her eat dinner and open some presents before bed, and then on Saturday we'll have friends over for dinner to celebrate more.

She's got many presents -- probably too many from us, even though it didn't feel like enough at the time I was putting them together.

I don't know what it is -- a cultural pressure? an internal pressure? -- that's making me want to overindulge her with THINGS, when that's the exact opposite of how I'm trying to parent. Constant battle within me for sure...