Updated 8/14/2000
by Jacob Kramer Oringel
(with a little help)

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Chapter 12 - Happy Birthday to me!

Wow.  Can you believe it's been a whole year since I arrived early and brightened up Mom & Dad (and most everybody else's) days and nights?  I can hardly believe it myself.

Let me tell you about my birthday.  What a fun celebration.  It seems like we partied for a whole week.  It seems like I'm still playing with toys for the first time.  And each one is funner and more sophisticated than the next.  Now I'm doing puzzles. Though it's only eight pieces (not 1000 pieces like my great-grandma), it's a fun challenge for me.

The funnest part for mom & dad was the cake.  Since I'm still a particular eater (no spoons for me. not even if mom makes it wiggle), mom was worried that I'd just look at my cake.  But I surprised her.    Not only was it in my mouth, but I got chocolate cake and blue icing in my ears, hair, nose, and clothes.  It was pretty neat, but I'll stick to Cheerios and cheese for my next few meals.

Since I'm older now, Mom felt safe leaving me with Gran and Dad for the weekend.  She and Ugma and Ms. Dawn ran away to the beach for two days of sand, margaritas and massages from some spa guy  named William.  They came back tan and happy, but maybe not as happy as the men in Mom's life.  Since it was just the three boys for the weekend, we had our own good time.  But Gran and Dad made me promise to keep our fun a secret, so you'll have to ask them how much fun we had playing ball and doing big boy stuff.

Today I went to the doctor for my one-year checkup.  Dad came with me but he wasn't much help when it came time for my vaccinations.   I got stuck four times with needles for things I can't pronounce.  But Dr. Harvey's office gave me a cool green frisbee so I'm mostly over the bo-bo's.   We'll see how I do over the next few days.

We're making our trip plans for the next few months right now, and will certainly see many friends and relatives before 2000 is over.  I know I'll be in Miami, Tallahassee, Atlanta, and North Carolina in the next few months. Or maybe you'll come see me.  Either way, I hope we can say hello in person. 

Love Jake                               August 14,2000

Look how small I look compared to all those presents. Thanks everybody!

Eating cake was a fun mess.  But all the fun and cake still made me very sleepy.