I can see why some parents get carried away with birthday parties/ celebrations; I didn't want to stop celebrating my baby girl's arrival.
Day 1: A birthday playdate with friends, fruit dessert pizzas, and strawberry cupcakes. Top it all off with the arrival of Grandma and Papa from New York.
Day 2: A birthday lunch party consisting of homemade pizza courtesy of Chef Leah (her specialty? pepperoni, peppers, and olives-- Yum!) and strawberry cupcakes (of course!). Grandma and Papa, and Nama and Grandpa helped us sample Leah's creation before showering her with gifts.
Come Sunday, I felt like we were supposed to continue the festivities, and in a way, we did; when Leah had a cupcake for dessert, she requested the birthday song, too. Unbeknownst to us, she wanted the candle in her cupcake; when we placed it in front of her sans one, she burst into tears. (We quickly remedied that situation.)
In honor of my precious daughter's third year, here are some things I adore about her (warning: yes, this involves heaping lavish praise on my little girl):
*Her heart: for others, and for God. Leah wants others to be happy and feel loved, even if she doesn't best express those sentiments all the time (like when she randomly antagonizes a friend or when she snags a toy from Hunter's hands). Most of the time, she's all hugs (or in the case of Hunter, kisses, too. Poor boy can't escape from his sister's hands... yet). And she loves the Lord, even if she doesn't always want to pray with us. What's funny, though, is that when she's resting, I can hear her praying, "Dear God, Thank you for...," and singing songs from Bible study. Plus, she loves sharing what she's learned from Bible study. Her favorite story recently is when Jesus calmed the storm (another favorite is Jesus and the children).
*Her intelligence: She knows her letter sounds, and is working on learning out to spell/ identify short words (cat, mat, fat, etc.). This is all Leah-driven; sometime during the past year, she expressed an interest in learning letter sounds, and just recently expressed an interest in spelling. We're just capitalizing on that.
*Her creativity: Give this girl some stickers and markers, and you have a friend for life. She could spend hours creating her "masterpieces", whether it's painting, using stickers, coloring pictures, or playing with play-doh. If it involves art, she's all over it. Her recent achievement: starting to color in the lines. I'm still floored by this one, probably because it happened almost overnight (or so it seems).
*Her silliness: Oh my, the things she says and does! I wish I could record or list them all. A recent one: "If you're happy and you know it pretend to sleep --snoring sounds." Or while lifting one leg in the air, "I'm Angelina Ballerina!" Or even when she takes great pride in giving me raspberries. How I love those silly, playful moments with her. They remind me of why staying home with her and Hunter is such a joy and a blessing.
So happy birthday, baby girl! You are a beautiful, kind, loving little lady, and my life is immeasurably better because of you.
Apparently, cupcakes are for smushing, not eating.
Can you tell she's excited about Grandma and Papa's arrival?
So serious when her friends sang Happy Birthday. Blowing out a candle is apparently pretty serious business.
Leah's specialty!
Spending as much time as possible with her grandparents.
Happy Birthday, baby girl!
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