Happy Birthday: Babies turning 3

We celebrated the girls third birthday this Sunday. It was the first birthday that they were able to make some of the decisions--shall we say, it was their first party-planning experience. They chose the ever popular, "My Little Pony Theme," and went with a guest list of fellow classmates. Their colors were pink and purple (of course they were). Evelyn decided on a confetti birthday cake (white with sprinkles), while Rowan (reluctantly) decided on strawberry flavored. They both wanted to wear matching Hello Kitty pink tutu dresses for their party.

Of course the most important decision is always location. The twins agreed that the party should take place at "Hoppin' House," their favorite inflatable playground. So for the past three months anytime we went to Hoppin' House they reminded us that their birthday should take place there.

It was fun watching the girls with some of their little friends. Mary, from across the street, came too. She and Evelyn are pretty good friends. Here is a picture of the two of them together. Evelyn can't say, "Mary," so she calls her "Mitsy" instead. Rowan likes Mary and will play with her, but Evelyn adores her. She'll throw a big fit if she sees Mary playing outside and we won't let her go out and play too. They are just about the same age. I think the girls are a few months older, but not by much. Mary has an older brother named Jack who also came to the party. They're both great kids.

We invited all the kids in their class, because you can't invite some kids and not invite all of the kids. Unfortunately none of the classmates RSVP'd so we had no idea how many kids were coming and since it was at a location and not our house we couldn't invite very many other kids. A few of their really good friends from school came though and they had a great time playing together.

For their presents from us, the girls both got new bicycles. Their first "real bikes." The little kid bikes nowadays are really cute. Evelyn's has a little miniature seat in the back to put a doll or stuffed animal. Rowan's has a basket and bell. We let the girls pick them out themselves.

Apparently, I had some misconceptions about teaching a child to ride a bike. You always see the stereotypical scene of a parent running with the kid and then triumphantly letting go as the kid sails down the street. They fail to show that leading up to that is a lot of bending over, back breaking, as you try to show the child to "peddle, peddle, peddle." Ugh, parenting is so bad for the back and there's just no easy way around it.

Nevertheless, the girls seem to have it down now and can consistently peddle--mostly without any help. They even managed to purposefully run into each other a few times. They also had their first race. They've come a long way since the days when we would put them on the floor and see who could crawl faster. The baby races...ah, those were good days too.


Its so much fun to see each new step. As I was watching Rowan take off on her bike I couldn't help but think about her learning to stand. She was so determined. She would push up and then keep trying over and over again. Then one day she was standing just like nothing. Then she was walking, then running. Now she can skip and hop and jump and twirl. Each new stage is such a big accomplishment. As the parent, you see them pushing themselves to do it and you think, "come on kid, you can do it," and you hope that you're right. Then they do and they are on to the next step. Today it's a bike, tomorrow a car.