I see myself in her personality more every day, which is one reason I think this has been a tough year for she and I. On top of normal terrible twos and the stress of adding a baby, we also have a tendency to butt heads because our personalities are so similar. We get impatient and frustrated with each other and nearly daily I have to remind her who is the mommy in our relationship. But the flip side of that is that no one gets her like I do and along with that comes a fierce love that I have no doubt will continue to get us through the rough, who-is-more-obstinant patches.
She is also very much her own person, of course. Her heart is so tender that it can hardly bear to read stories where someone gets hurt. When she says bedtime prayers, she always wants to pray for someone who has a boo-boo. She loves rules and routine. She is learning to be a great hostess and share things and rarely turns on the shyness anymore, especially around adults. Her manners have really taken root and I can already tell that she has a very deep sense of right and wrong and fairness.
As you can tell, I really couldn't be more proud of the sweet little girl she's turning into. :)
So what did we do to celebrate our little lady? Well, on her actual birthday, I cooked her chocolate chip pancakes, she watched her current favorite show Doc McStuffins, we went to get a few things for her party and she got to pick out a balloon (two, actually, because the first went on a trip to Jupiter) and then we had her third swim lesson. For dinner, she chose pizza as her birthday meal and followed it up with a chocolate chip cookie cake and presents (a marble race obstacle thingy, three Berenstain Bear books, and a Going Fishing game.) It was a sweet, fun day full of small gestures and simple pleasures.
On Saturday we threw her quite the royal birthday bash. The theme was princess and she and her little friends all dressed the part (except for Luke and her boy cousins Carson and James - poor guys were the odd men out!) She came downstairs decked out in a long pink dress-up princess gown and everyone gushed over how gorgeous she looked. When the other little girls arrived and walked up the royal pink carpet, we decorated foam tiaras and let them color on the giant cardboard castle that we'd set up. Her picture slideshow ran in the background and we ate lunch (crown-shaped sandwiches, chips, and fruit wands for the kids; a sub platter, fruit, chips, and potato salad for the adults) and then I asked her whether she wanted to do cake or presents first. Being a girl after my own heart, she chose cake. My sister-in-law Jenny had made her the most beautiful crown-shaped cake with Audrey's name written on it. It was a masterpiece that we almost hated to cut up! Everyone gathered around and sang to her as she soaked it all in. We blew out the candles as a family (she insisted she needed help) and then enjoyed cake and ice cream. After we ate, she opened up presents fit for a princess: Craft kits, clothes, a magazine subscription, a cabbage patch doll, a hot wheels track, zoo tickets, an interactive map, a purse, money, and princess stuff galore - puzzles, a beach towel, bounce ball, and more craft activities. She played with a few things and then thanked people for coming and helped hand out their favors (a princess-themed book and a sucker for each kid, bag of princess-molded cookies for each family). She napped well and we spent the rest of the day breaking down decorations, cleaning up, and playing with her new toys. It was another wonderful, memory-making bash full of our favorite people and celebrating my favorite girl.
Happy Third Birthday, Sugar. You are an amazing gift from God that has already taught me way more than I could ever teach you. You are beautiful, kind, special, and smart and I continue to pray God's blessings over your life. I love you more than you'll ever, ever know.
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