Family Traditions

To me, traditions in general are hugely important, even more so are family traditions.  Growing up there were traditions I always looked forward to, like going on vacation to visit family in Virginia Beach during the summer and at Christmas.  And then there were traditions I didn't really like at the time, but only now really understand the importance of, like taking a family photo that' has the whole family in it.

My wife and I didn't really how much some traditions vary so much from family to family.  It wasn't until we had our son, Henry, that it really became apparent how different some traditions were between our childhoods, but how special each one was to us.  As a family, we decided to take bits and pieces of each of our family traditions, mold them together, put our own little spin on them, and come up with traditions for our family.

We want our family and our unique traditions to be special to Henry and to us.  We want them to be special and have meaning, no matter how silly the meaning might be, because we understand that while some of these traditions might only last for 5 or 10 years (hopefully more), that some of our fondest and Henry's fondest memories will come out of these traditions we have.

So, in that spirit, we started a new tradition in our household today - the half birthday!  Partly because Henry's birthday falls only a week after Christmas, and partly because it's just something fun and special to do.

For half birthdays around our house, it won't be anything crazy, just half a special birthday cake made just for the half birthday person, and maybe a little "happy un-birthday" song sung for fun.

Here are a few photos from Henry's half birthday today.  This littleman turned 2 1/2 today.

What are some of your family's traditions?  And why are they important to you?