Happy 3rd Birthday, BB!

So she's three years old, now -- a fact that still doesn't seem entirely real to me. We've entered that fun time of the year when the kids' ages are only a year apart (they are separated by 22 months). I admit that I get a big grin every time I get to say, "I have a 3-year-old and a four- year-old."

We had a small family party on Sunday, the day after moving in to the new place. Chocolate cake with vanilla frosting were BB's choices. As I've mentioned, she'd made it clear that she did NOT want to have a big party and did NOT want to share her cake with anybody except me, S, and BJ. So that's what we did!

She'd asked for a few very specific gifts: two new princess dolls (Snow White and Ariel, to be precise) and I'd thought she was going to pick out a princess theme for her cake as well. But when we went to the bakery, she was smitten by the Winnie the Pooh design. So that's what we got. Heck, I was just glad not to be hunting around for baking supplies the day after the move!

It was yummy, too!



She ended up with more of a pile of presents than I'd thought she would -- I'd had the foresight to pack a box labeled BB's Birthday in order to keep all her important stuff together (who wants to hunt for birthday candles in dozens of boxes?) and packing it up it didn't seem like so much. Certainly enough to get her excited!



She was tickled to unwrap the dolls -- S and I gave her Snow White and BJ gave her Ariel.

Earlier in the day, I'd let her open up the gift from my folks so that we could call them and do a birthday chat. As you can see, she was pretty enchanted by the little mouse family they gave her for her dollhouse. They merited a huge hug with accompanying squeezing sounds.

But the gifts to excite her the most were the two she had picked out with me a few days earlier. She'd asked for roller skates, so on the Thursday before her birthday I took her to the toy store to try some out. While we were there, I asked her if there was anything else she wanted for her birthday. "A wind-up toy!" she said with great enthusiasm. I didn't even know she knew what a wind-up toy was -- but apparently she did. She ran right up to the display and chose one. A galloping horse. It's been a big hit with both the kids.

Of course we didn't forget about the skates. She chose a pink pair emblazoned with the Barbie logo -- not my first choice, but she loves them.

Naturally we got all the protective gear too. I swear, she looks about six years old to me in this picture. When in the world did my baby get sooooo big?

Our friend A had heard that we were thinking of getting skates, and since she had an extra pair around the house she offered them to us. They worked out perfectly for BJ so that he could join in the fun.

As you can see, we're still in the throes of moving in, surrounded by boxes, but it was still wet and rainy so we let the kids skate around the living room for a bit to try things out. Too stinking cute, if you ask me. I love how at the end of the clip BB imitates her brother by deliberately falling down....

So another year older for my little girl. Certainly a memorable birthday. I was gratified when she announced to me that the new apartment was a good place for a birthday. Good thing, that. Happy birthday, my darling daughter. We love you so much!