Kate's Birthday Photos

So finally, here are the pics of Kate's birthday(s). The camera was found hiding on top of the cabinet in the upstairs hall outside of the bathroom - of course, that's exactly where you should be keeping your camera, too.

Her birthday was on Friday, and we did some fun birthday things on that day, but then we had a small party with the neighbor kids and Gram and Grandpa on Saturday. As soon as she woke up on Sunday, she asked me if it was still her birthday, and when I said no, not until next year, she cried and cried. She's a party girl.

Out of all the gifts she received (and all the ones she JUST got for Christmas, too) her favorites seem to be a pack of three fruit-flavored lip glosses and a pink Hello Kitty thermos! Go figure.


Lip Gloss! Thermos!

First thing on Friday morning, she came downstairs with Mike and saw the decorations I had put up and her wrapped presents on the table... and Maggie pointed out her brand new drum set to her! Mike said it was one of the first big presents he didn't need instructions to put together.


Her father's daughter


She already has rock star hair!

Maggie has preschool on Fridays, so Kate and I headed up to Barnes and Noble with some coupons I got from their (quite nice) B&N Kids' Club (because we buy plenty of books from them). We got a free cupcake - who doesn't love a HUGE cupcake at 9:30 in the morning on your birthday?! - and went upstairs to hug all the stuffed animals, which is Kate's usual B&N routine, and pick out a book. Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth is a Caldecott winner and a very sweet story about a Zen panda named Stillwater.

After Maggie got home from school, we spent the afternoon making cupcakes. For whatever reason, the first batch I made of white cake cupcakes didn't rise and turned out shorter than the paper cupcake cups. They tasted all right but were pretty dense. I had to switch over to making dinner so we could eat at a reasonable hour, so we had some of these midget cakes after dinner to celebrate and then I had to whip up another batch - a simpler, yellow cake recipe this time - after the girls went to bed. Good thing I had some extra cupcake cups in the cabinet!


Two shortcakes apiece with sprinkles in honor of the birthday girl


Note: She's wearing her hair in a ponytail because I told her a few weeks ago that once you turn three you have to wear your hair in a ponytail. She totally bought it! However, now she thinks that she isn't three anymore whenever we take the ponytail out, and we're having to convince her that it's OK at nighttime to let your hair down and you'll still be three in the morning!


Still yummy


After dinner she (well, Maggie) unwrapped her presents from us and my parents and Grandma the Great.


Where have you been all my life, thermos?


Her new doll - and the thermos! Don't let that thermos out of your sight!


A Good Haul


Butterfly


Superhero cape - that she doesn't like at all and hasn't worn since this picture


Snoopy Sno Cone Machine! It was Mike's big dream that some day his children would have all the things he never had as a child. This cheap piece of plastic is the manifestation of a dream come true for two curly-haired, brown-eyed people.


The next morning, Mike went out and bought some helium balloons, which is and always has been the girls' most favorite part of birthday celebrations. Later, the neighbors and grandparents came over and the kids played and we made some grape Snoopy sno cones (mediocre, but the kids loved them anyway). Kate had requested hot dogs for her birthday dinner, so we grilled burgers and dogs in New England in January in the pitch black dark, but at least the grill wasn't buried under two feet of snow.


Katie and Gram - look at that curl hanging down her forehead! Like I said, father's daughter.


Bitty Baby's new baby carrier and outfit


More (taller) cupcakes!


This year Mags had kind of a hard time with the concept that your sister gets to have a birthday and it's not your birthday. We'll see how it goes next month when it's your birthday and not your sister's birthday, but you opened all her presents and played with all of her balloons, so fair is fair.


She did manage to have plenty of fun - this is her wearing a balloon hat and bow tie - and I tried to convince her that having a sister is the best because you get to be a part of TWO fun birthday parties each year even though only one is yours. She still felt it would've been better if some of the presents were for her.


At any rate, Kate had a blast, and now she's a big grown up three year old girl, ponytail and all! Happy Birthday Kitty Kat Kate!