fiesta de los fruit loops

A disclaimer: the occasion for the party described herein was Gabriel's successful turn in the world as an underwear-wearer for two whole days in a row. In other words, he's been pooping and peeing in the toilet, rather than a diaper, which is cause for major celebration. It marks the end of a 5.5 year diaper-changing era for his parents, it transforms Gabriel into a full-fledged card-carrying big kid, and the earth is heaving a huge sigh of relief. (Sorry about the thousands of disposables, dear planet.) Plus - you may not have realized this - underwear (compared to diapers) is quite slimming. Gabriel has a new svelte figure for all of us to admire.

The reasons to celebrate this milestone are plentiful. But the milestone itself, I understand, is not the stuff of polite dinner conversation, nor of particular interest to anyone besides a toddler's most intimate relations. I will try to focus on the celebration from here on out. Just indulge me one tiny detail first that I cannot resist sharing: imagine Gabriel, running from the bathroom in a shirt and nothing else, yelling, "Didi! I did it! I will SHOW you!!" and Frances bounding up the stairs to meet him, crying, "You are the best pooper in the WHOLE WORLD!"

Ah! These are the moments parents dream of. Anyway. Back to Fruit Loops.

When Frances was still in diapers, she and her friend Henry had a babysitter that would, unbeknownst to the mamas and papas, walk the children in a double stroller to the Prince St. Cafe in downtown Lancaster. There the three of them would hit the cold cereal bar and fill up on Fruit Loops. No wonder they loved her. Before too long our rather verbal kiddo started asking for Fruit Loops, which sent us for - I cannot resist - a serious loop. It took awhile to figure out how and where she had encountered these rainbow-colored confections, and once we did, no one said anything to the babysitter. It is pretty fun to feed toddlers sugar, after all.

But I myself refused to give Fruit Loops to the kid, who continued to ask for them. But then one day, in a fit of potty-training desperation, I told her she could have them. After she used the toilet for...oh dear! It is hard to tell this story without using the p-word. And I don't mean pee. But you get the idea. And when she finally did the deed, weeks later, she whooped and hollered and immediately said: Let's go get some Fruit Loops!!! Which we did, and enjoyed, and that glorious day lives on in our memory still.

Frances has been looking forward to this day with Gabriel for about a year. She figured this must be the way we celebrate this particular occasion in our family, and so she began talking it up with him as soon as he could toddle. Sure, she takes pride in her brother's accomplishments. But she also was counting the days til she could eat a big bowl of Fruit Loops again.

And it was today! Frances was the photographer for our afternoon fete. Gabriel was the guest of honor. It was simply delightful.

Here I am, the proud mama who spared no expense and bought paper party napkins for the occasion.

Fruit loops proved imperfect yet beautiful building materials.

What party is complete without prizes? I found these long-lost hair bands - originally destined for a stocking - in the glove compartment for Frances, and I found this magic stone - which once meant something to me, a keepsake whose origin I cannot remember - in my closet for Gabriel.

And here he is. Our darling dear boy, infectiously pleased and proud of himself. Please don't tell him that, contrary to my frugal housewifely inclinations, I will be burying the nearly-full box of Fruit Loops in the trash tonight. These children will have to wait til their own kids leave diapers behind before I'll buy another box of that stuff and serve it at my table. But today? Today it was the perfect thing. We'd been waiting for those Fruit Loops for a long time, and they didn't disappoint.