All posts tagged birthdays

Logan’s 6th and Scarlett’s 3rd Birthday

(January 15, 2014: I feel so bad that this post never went up when it was supposed to. I was waiting for hubby to take the photos from his phone and put them on the computer. Can you believe he hasn’t done it yet? I need to pester him hard for it this week. I will add photos to this post once they are available but for now, here is the post so you can read it.)

Originally written November 21, 2013. Photos added February 11, 2014. See, even getting those took a long time.

You know you needed a break from blogging when you don’t even care that you missed important milestones, like birthdays. But better late than never, right?

Logan had his sixth birthday on the 11th and Scarlett had her third birthday on the 13th. With their birthday’s being right on top of each other, sometimes it feels rather overwhelming to make each one special and not lumped together. This year we kept them separate and simple.

Logan wanted a cow cake. By now you should know how he feels about farm animals. He’s twice had a farm cake, and once had a drawn cow cake, but this time I went with a sculpted cake.

We invited some friends and went to our favorite park which is only a 5 minute drive from the house. Since his real birthday was on a Monday, we chose to celebrate the day before, on Sunday, so that daddy could be there. The park was crowded, as is typical for a weekend, but we settled ourselves in the small amphitheater so as to have a place to sit and place the cake. (Picnic tables are not available here.)

My kids love running up and down the rows of seats and on the small stage of the amphitheater, so it was the perfect place for them to play. They ran with daddy and played games until they couldn’t any more.

Then it was time to cut the cake. I made sure to only cut the outside parts of the cow shape and I left the middle round cake intact. Why? Because I came up with the brilliant idea of removing the frosting and reusing it for the butterfly cake Scarlett had requested. Glad thought it was a sane idea that would prevent us from having loads of cake to eat later. So I did.

Glad decided to stay home the evening of Scarlett’s birthday (he still works most evenings, but can cancel the classes if needed). I cut and frosted that cake that had once been a cow’s body and turned it into a butterfly. Not my best decorating attempt, but she was happy, so I didn’t go for perfect.

She picked out and ate all the chocolate gems before I could get a good pic. You can see the dents they left.

Logan, as usual, had requested more animals for his gift. I told him maybe, then bought him a book instead. 🙂 I want him to get used to the idea that there is more to the world of animals than small plastic toys, so I picked out an abridged version of “The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle”. We have been reading it a chapter at a time before bed, and he and Lila are enjoying it.

He also picked out a farm puzzle for himself, and our friends got him a scooter, plus a small bag of … you guessed it – plastic animals. He was delighted.

Scarlett is easier to please. Her only request was a pink butterfly cake and gifts were up to me. She picked out a tiny cheetah stuffed toy, which we named Itsy Bitsy, and I got her an ABC puzzle set as well. On the weekend we took them to the same Bunny Bounce Funland play place that we went to for Lila’s birthday and they enjoyed it.

Understandably Lila feels a little left out at this time of year, since her birthday is six months away, so she tries to get in on the act by making her cake and gift requests now. This year she told me that she wished her birthday was here already, and she also asked if it could be moved to Christmas. She has a cousin who’s birthday is on Christmas Day and she thought it would be great if her’s were there too.

Fortunately for her, Christmas is just around the corner and she will have forgotten the birthday feeling-left-out-edness (ok, I know it’s not a word) in favor of getting to spend Christmas at Nana Mable’s house and visit with some cousins she has never met.

Christmas is shaping up to be exciting this year.

1 Comment

by Mercy Langille on January 15, 2014 • Permalink

Posted in children, family fun, life, my family

Tagged birthdays, cake, growing up, Logan, my kids, parks, photos, Scarlett

Posted by Mercy Langille on January 15, 2014

https://dayslifedreams.wordpress.com/2014/01/15/logans-6th-and-scarletts-3rd-birthday/

35, Alive, and Truly Happy

Tomorrow is my 35th birthday.

Time has flown so fast. I feel like my childhood was only a few years ago and now I’m mid-30’s. How did that happen? Where did all those years go?

There was a time when I couldn’t imagine reaching 16. It seemed so old. Then once I was past 16, 25 seemed ancient. I remember thinking my mom was so old when she was in her late 40’s. (Sorry, mom. It’s true.) But now that I’m here, 35 feels so young.

For a long time I felt like I had wasted my best years, my 20’s, by doing so little of nothing in particular. I spent time as a nanny and preschool teacher, but I didn’t feel that was my life’s calling. I traveled, trying to find a place where I felt like … I don’t really know. I wanted to belong, to live, not just endure.

When I came to India 10 years ago, I wasn’t sure how long I’d be here. I spent a lot of time working with kids. It wasn’t bad. I know I was helping them, teaching them, caring for them, etc. Deep down the thing I wanted most at that time was my own family. I spent almost 4 years here before I met Glad. At that time I was ready to leave the country, but now I’m happy I stuck it out.

Everything changed when I started having kids. The past 6 years have been a blur – pregnancies, newborns, toddlers, diapers, feeds, messes; in short, insanity. But you know what? Exhausting as it was, I loved it! I finally felt like I had found what I was looking for.

Now that my kids are getting older, I’m realising that my best years have not been wasted; they are just beginning! The 20’s are about finding yourself, figuring out who you are and what you want out of life. I spent most of those years worrying that I would never find a husband or someone to love me.

I never gave a thought to trying out a different line of work. I stuck with child care because I was good at it, but it wasn’t what I truly wanted to do. I’m taking time now to figure out what I really want to do. I know I want to write. And I love to create with my hands – crafts and such. With our pending move to Canada, a whole new world is opening up for me.

I feel more relaxed about the way my life is going now that I am in my 30’s. I force myself to stay positive, to stay away from worry or negative thoughts. I exercise, make time for myself, and feel like I am truly enjoying life. I can honestly say that right now, I am the happiest I’ve ever been. I’m happy with my life the way it is.

While there are always improvements to make, I don’t stress over them. I’ve always been the shy type, and I spent years trying to be outgoing, just because others told me I had to. I tried to will myself to change into an outgoing person, but the stress exhausted me. Now that I’ve accepted myself as I am, and no longer listen to those who tell me I have to be someone else, I’m happy.

This year I’m looking forward to our move and getting settled in what we hope is our permanent home. I look forward to getting settled in a job I enjoy, teaching my kids about a new country (they’ve never been out of India), and seeing my family again.

What do I want for my birthday? Nothing really. There isn’t anything I need. My only desire is a happy, healthy family, and perhaps a solid nights sleep. 🙂

So 35, I’m not afraid of you. I’ll see you soon.

6 Comments

by Mercy Langille on May 21, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in life, linkup, me

Tagged birthdays, happiness, life lessons, my life, my thoughts

Posted by Mercy Langille on May 21, 2013

https://dayslifedreams.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/35-alive-and-truly-happy/

Lila’s Fourth Birthday

Another year has gone by and my baby is now 4. This past year, I think the best word to describe her is stinker. Yes, she has always been trouble incarnate, but this year especially so. The terrible twos are nothing compared to the terrible threes!

So this year she chose butterflies for her birthday theme. She wanted a butterfly cake and butterfly gifts. That gave me a rather broad spectrum to work with, but I managed to get some things that she loved.

The day before her birthday, we took these butterfly cupcakes to her school so she could share them with her classmates in the summer camp.

The body is chocolate gems, the wings are mini-cookies, and the antennae are fruit rolls cut into tiny strips.

Then on her birthday, I made this butterfly cake. I used my carrot cake recipe, swapping half the carrots for zucchini, and using cheese in the frosting instead of it all being icing sugar. It tasted quite nice, but I want to experiment with it and find a way to eliminate the icing sugar and make it with honey instead.

In the afternoon we went to a fun play place, Bunny Bounce Funland. They had an inflatable bouncy house with a slide, a play area with a ball pit, trampoline, small swing and various other jungle gym toys. There were also a few arcade games and mini basketball/bowling games, air hockey, etc. that you could get tickets from to cash in for various items.

The kids had a load of fun, and Glad passed the time playing some arcade game. We had planned on staying 1/2 an hour, but ended up staying 1 1/2 hours. None of them wanted to leave even though it was past their dinner time.

At home we cut the cake and they decided that on birthdays, dinner should just be cake. 🙂 All the more reason for me to make it healthy.

Then came the gifts. Lila had already gotten some before – a bubble blower set from daddy and an outing with me to a shop she had repeatedly requested to go in. It was one of those small costume jewelry/makeup/hair stuff places. She picked out a large pink hair clip, a set of clips and elastic’s with strawberries on them, and pink nail polish. In her words, “I have to have nail polish, Mommy, because I’m big now.” Ha.

The ones she opened were a Winnie the Pooh puzzle set, matching earrings and necklace set, faux gold butterfly earrings, a shirt with butterflies on it, and a mini purse that contained “makeup”: some chapstick and sparkly pink pressed powder.

She has wanted to play with makeup for some time, and once climbed way up to the high shelf in the bathroom where I keep my makeup (to keep her out of it) and took my bag down. When I found her, she had eye-shadow all over and black waterproof mascara on her face, lips, and legs. What a cleanup job! So I figured it was best to get her something she could safely play with.

She had a fun day overall. She is already talking about what she wants to do on her 5th birthday. Slow down, girl, and enjoy being four.

1 Comment

by Mercy Langille on May 4, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in family fun, food, me

Tagged baking, birthdays, cake, carrot cake, growing up, Lila, my kids, outings, photos

Posted by Mercy Langille on May 4, 2013

https://dayslifedreams.wordpress.com/2013/05/04/lilas-fourth-birthday/

Beach Outing and Nana’s Birthday

Ok, time to update you all on our doings. Time has not been on my side as far as being able to sit and write. My morning priority has been exercise, but in order to get it, I have to get up at 6 every morning. By the time the kids are off to school, house is clean, and any other stuff is taken care of, it is time to make lunch, feed and nap the kids, and I’m ready for a nap myself.

Afternoons are full of playground outings, cooking, cleaning new messes, disciplining (by far the most stressful part), baths and homework. By the time the kids are in bed I’m ready for bed myself. I think it’s time to evaluate my schedule and see how to work in some writing time every day so it doesn’t pile up on me. I’m looking into what I need to do to make the switch from writing as a hobby to making it my profession, ie. get paid for it.

Until then, whenever “then” may be, here is today’s post.

Ok, so Glad’s mom was with us from the 10th to the 26th. Because of our move, and knowing that once we go it will be a long time before she sees us again, Glad arranged for her to be here during the kids’ and her birthdays. We also plan to visit her for Christmas, and we will most likely stay with her a while before we make our final move.

Anyway, the 21st was her birthday and my kids were excited. They knew it would equal more cake (which they can never turn down) and they hoped for other fun. They have yet to figure out that adults aren’t as into birthday parties as kids are. Logan and Lila had decided that Nana was turning 3 years old and that she needed a number 3 candle on her cake. Ha.

I made our favorite chocolate cake (if you haven’t tried this recipe, you have to) but I only made a third of it since I wanted a small cake. Fewer leftovers mean less temptation and a smaller waistline for me, if you catch my drift.

That afternoon we went to the famous Marina Beach. Despite its popularity, we have never gone there before, mainly because it is normally qute crowded and swimming is not allowed due to dangerous undercurrents. Drownings are reported in the local paper almost weekly. Being a weekday afternoon, the part we went to was rather empty.

While Logan kept badgering us to let him in the water, Lila was freaking out from the strong wind and the sand hitting her legs and she wanted to leave right away. Scarlett seemed to enjoy it, and she had her first horse ride.

We didn’t stay long, less than an hour, but at least some of us enjoyed it. I convinced Lila to collect some shells that littered the sand, and we plan to make something with them.

Click here to get more photos of the afternoon and Nana’s birthday.

The last 2 days Nana was here, Scarlett warmed up to her and started talking to her all day long, wearas in the beginning she was scared and wouldn’t go near her. I think Scarlett will enjoy visiting her at Christmas, though I am not looking forward to the train trip. More on that another time.

November Birthdays and More

I can’t believe that I missed blogging about my kids birthday’s. Well, maybe I can. All of last week they were sick with some sort of tummy bug that had them vomiting for about 12 hours straight, each of them. It started on Tuesday morning with Logan. He spent 2 days on the couch watching t.v., not getting up for anything. The evening of his second day sick, both girls came down with it at the same time – both vomiting, both wanting comfort, both needing me to rush to them as they almost simultaneously threw up for hours on end.

Once the vomiting ended their bowels were hit. Everything coming out that end for over a week now has been liquid. Gross I know, but now you know what I’ve been dealing with. Poor Scarlett woke up several times with bigger diaper blowouts than she ever had as a baby, and she hated it. She is already toilet trained, so it scared her to be such a mess. I had to reasure her she was ok and clean her up while holding my breath and trying not to gag. It was that bad.

Snuggling with daddy while she was sick.

Somewhere around here Glad got it too (no, it didn’t touch me), so no one was eating much of anything. By Friday they were feeling slightly better, not perfectly, but enough to go to school. Lila had a Diwali party and Logan was having his class birthday party. Scarlett and I passed out muffins (carrot rasin, yum recipe) and small gifts for each of the kids in his class.

Saturday morning Glad’s mom arrived. I spent all of Friday afternoon and evening cleaning the house, then Saturday morning after my walk, I took down all the screens and washed them before she showed up. Glad and the kids were still taking it easy, not eating much, resting, watching lots of t.v. I spent the day making Logan’s cake for his birthday.

Sunday was Logan’s 5th birthday. We don’t make a big deal out of our kids birthday’s. There is never any plan or order to them. The only constants are a cake of their choice and gifts. Sometimes there are guests, sometimes not. Sometimes we do special activities, sometimes not. So when I got home in the evening (I work a few hours on Sunday), we had the cake right away together. I had picked up Logan’s requested gift, more plastic animals. I offered to wrap his gift but he said just give it to me, so I did.

Our neighbors daughter, who sometimes plays with my kids, dropped in, so we invited her to stay for cake. It was very informal but just right for us. Logan was very happy with his cake, even though my attempt at a farmyard was pitiful.

Click here to see more pics.

Monday and Tuesday were school holidays because of Diwali, so everyone was home. Glad had those two days off work, but rest had to wait as Monday was the kid’s passport application appointment. We were there from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. – a long time for little kids. I had packed up snacks, books, coloring books, and Logan’s new animals to keep them busy the whole time. Glad had to take each of the kids in separately to do each application, which is one reason it took so long. Also, the place was packed, but they had a good processing system, unlike most Indian legal venus, and the kids had priority entry. Once we got home they were tired and napped and we rested for the rest of the day.

Heading out to the passport office.

While there were firecrackers most every night since Friday, Tuesday was the big day so they began early, at 6:30 a.m. My kids do not enjoy firecrackers and fireworks. So with them going off all day long around us it was rather chaotic and there were lots of tears and freakouts when some of the louder ones would go off.

Tuesday was also Scarlett’s 2nd birthday. She was so excited, saying “It my boofday” all day long. We took the kids to the mall that morning for a family outing. Nana had given each of them (Lila too) some birthday money so they bought some gifts and treats. Then they had fun on the rides at the arcade. All too soon they were hungry and tired so we had lunch at KFC and Glad and his mom took the kids home while I stayed to do the grocery shopping.

In the afternoon I gave Scarlett her big gift, a baby doll. She loves it and has carried it around all day ever since. At the mall she had picked out an alphabet animal wooden puzzle and a Minnie Mouse stuffed toy, and she got some clothes and books. Logan’s gifts were a large floor puzzle, the animals, a shirt with cows on it, some “big boy” cologne, and a Winnie the Pooh finger puppet theater game, which we have yet to put together and use.

Click here to see more birthday pics.

Oh, and Wednesday was Children’s Day so both kids had special activities at school and today, Logan had a costume party. He wanted to be a dancer, but had to wear track pants (his favorite) so he went as a rapper with his tracks, t-shirt, and oversized hoodie. I even gelled his hair and he looked good.

Lila dressed up for Children’s Day, and playing with Scarlett’s new toys.

Happy girl with her new baby doll and her favorites of Logan’s new animals – the cow and cat.

Now I’m tired just thinking of it all. Until next time.

Back to School – Finally!!

After 2 weeks of holidays, it is Monday morning and back to school. As usually happens during a holiday, we were all on a rather late schedule, with the kids going to bed as late as 10 or 11 p.m. and not getting up before 9 a.m., so moving up to our school schedule does take some adjusting. I did have them in bed by 9 but they didn’t sleep ’till almost midnight (Logan and Lila, that is. Scarlett slept on time.) So getting them up at 7:30 was not so easy.

I managed to make it up by 6:30 and get in a half hour walk. I’ve gotta get more exercise, but I’ve come to realise that a little is better than none, and I feel better. It wakes me up, too, and I’d rather be awake before the kids get up than have them wake me (like was happening these past 2 weeks) and be groggy and not able to focus while they beg for food, milk and t.v.

Our t.v. is super old. We got it from some friends who had it for I don’t know how many years, and I think it may have been used when they got it. Just around the time we decided to move, it started acting up. Turning it on most days requires banging it and turning it on and off until it connects with the set top box. The remote is fiesty too. So imagine being woken and the first request is “Mommy, can you put the t.v. on?” Oh, and even if daddy was up and sitting in the living room reading the newspaper, Logan still wanted me to do it. I tried sending him to daddy but he says, “No, only you do it.”

So now my mornings are slightly more peaceful, except for the crying of a certain someone who wants to be carried as soon as the others leave. She follows me around begging me to pick her up while I try to get the house clean. What ever happened to the days when she would play quietly on her own?

Now to plan my next big project: Logan and Scarlett’s birthdays. Scarlett is easy – she wants a butterfly cake and doesn’t care about gifts yet. I think I’ll get her a doll, if I can find a good one. The one I got Lila is already falling apart from so much love. It wasn’t as sturdy as I thought. Good thing Lila isn’t attached to it ’cause it won’t be coming to Canada with us. (They already know no broken toys are coming and they have each picked out their one or two favorite cuddle toys to keep.)

Logan had to go and make it hard for me by not being able to make up his mind about his cake. As you know, he is into animals of all kinds, so first he wanted another farm cake, then a bear, butterfly, Noah’s Ark, back to farm, and we left off on a water animals cake. I’m still stuck as to what to make. I offered to make a cow, as in an actual cow cake and not one with the cow drawn like last year, but he doesn’t want that. And of course the only gift he wants is more plastic animals. Now to make up my own mind about what to make.

2 Comments

by Mercy Langille on October 29, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged birthdays, my kids, school, vacation

Posted by Mercy Langille on October 29, 2012

https://dayslifedreams.wordpress.com/2012/10/29/back-to-school-finally/

Backlog and Updates #2: Glad’s Birthday

August 12 came round again and it just happened to fall on a Sunday this year, meaning Glad got to be home for his birthday instead of working. Since I work Sundays (balloon sculpting at the Taj hotel, more on that another time), I planned our dinner and his cake ahead.

I served mini pizza slices, fried sausage pieces with cheese dip, carrot and cucumber sticks with hummus dip, and chips and salsa. Yes, I did make a lot, but we had some friends over so I wanted enough. We did end up with leftovers but who minds leftovers like these?

Obviously I didn’t actually “make” all of this. I put the pizzas together, made the hummus, chopped the veggies and fried the sausages. Everything else was just “open package, dump on plate”.

Hungry tummies couldn’t wait.

I went ahead and made the cake the day before. I wanted it to taste like a Snickers bar since that is his favorite chocolate bar, so I made a chocolate cake and filled it in the middle with chocolate frosting, melted butterscotch chips, and peanuts. Unfortunately the butterscotch hardened and was almost impossible to cut, …

Trying to cut through the butterscotch.

“I give up!”

but the taste of the cake made up for it and no one minded. Glad thought it was just a normal chocolate cake until he began eating. After about the third bite, he looked up and said “It’s Snickers!” Ahh, he got it and that made it all worthwhile.

A little “mouse” got into it in the fridge. She came and told me “the cake is so yummy”. Ha.

After dinner we just sat around, drinking and getting Glad to tell some stories about himself. It was a fun, relaxing evening. Scarlett, though, had extra cake after dinner and she was the last one to go to bed. I had to sit in her room until she slept as she was just playing and making so much noise I was afraid she’d wake the others.

No, they didn’t like it one bit.

The next day at work, Glad found his desk covered with cards and gifts, all from his staff. They all like him a lot and he gets lots of attention. Ahem. That is what happens when your staff is 90% female. (I think. It might be more.)

That’s it, until next year.

1 Comment

by Mercy Langille on September 6, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged birthdays, my hubby, photos

Posted by Mercy Langille on September 6, 2012

https://dayslifedreams.wordpress.com/2012/09/06/backlog-and-updates-2-glads-birthday/

My Birthday 2012

Yesterday was my 34th birthday. Since lots of people have requested to hear about my day, I’m gonna write about it, even though it was a pretty normal day for me.

Well, I got up early as usual. I tried to sleep in, but my body clock is now stuck at 6:30 and I rarely sleep past then. So I got up and checked my mail and FB. Skipped my workout cause I was so sore from jogging at the park on Sunday. I plan on doing that every Sunday, when Glad doesn’t go to the gym; it was good but painful. Have to build up to it.

After breakfast I did my usual house cleaning, then got the kids ready to go to the mall. We were out of the house by 11. Catching an auto with all 3 of them is always an adventure. Every driver wants to help us but I have to bargan the price hard and let them know that I’m not a tourist and that I know what the rates are. Still, they try to overcharge me, just because I’m white. In their minds, white foreigner = lots of money. In some parts of India drivers still charge by the meter but here you have to haggle, always fun, especially when the driver only speaks a little English.

We got to the mall and it was still quite empty. Malls here only open around 10 or so and most of the shops open after 11. I guess they don’t get customers before then so they figure, why open?

Our first stop was Hamley’s toy shop. It is a British chain and the nicest toy shop I’ve ever seen. This time we discovered a play nook that we didn’t see before and they spent a good half hour playing, even though it was all baby toys. Scarlett found a rocking horse and got on right away. She loves the one at home (it’s still going strong, Tina) but she was all smiles on this one. Then we looked around the shop at all the toys I wish I could get them. If only.

After that we set out to find an ice cream shop; then we sat for ice cream. I got them their own bowls this time; sharing a bowl can get messy. After that we spent some time walking over the whole mall. Logan loves the escalators and wanted to go on all of them. I was wishing I hadn’t been so hasty in spending my birthday money a few days earlier cause now I had nothing to spend. I saw some clothes I would have loved to have. I am happy with what I bought ( a top, pair of shorts, and 3/4 tracks) but some of what I saw yesterday was so pretty. Made me wish I had a pile of cash. Anyway, moving on.

Around 12:30 or so Scarlett started getting tired so we made our way out and haggled with another auto driver. Scarlett fell asleep on the way home; after lunch, Logan and Lila did too. I had a short nap with them and then spent the afternoon relaxing, then folding the pile of laundry that had burried the guest bed.

Glad got home around 6:30. He cancelled his classes and stayed home for the evening. The kids were excited to see him bring a cake. For them, it isn’t truely a birthday until there is a cake, complete with candle. After it was lit, Logan looked at it and said, “How many is mommy?” Ha. They always have number candles on their cakes so seeing one regular candle made him wonder about my age. Well, the cake was small, so 34 candles would have burried it. Ha.

Logan polished off two pieces of cake before the pizza arrived, and I had to stop him from having more. He loves cake. He is the only kid at school who would request a second piece at every school party. Lila wanted all the cherries from the top and Scarlett was happy to just have a piece.

Some friends of ours dropped by for a while; they gave me a new book, “Lust for Life” by Irving Stone. It is about Van Gogh. Can’t wait to read it. Will probably begin today. Once they left, I got the kids ready for bed, put Scarlett to sleep, and then watched parts of “The Lake House” with Glad. He fell asleep early but movies always seem to put him to sleep. Went to bed around 11:40 after checking FB for all my birthday wishes and taking Logan to the toilet.

And that was my day. No, I didn’t take a single photo, so don’t ask. But I’ll leave you with this cute one from last week.

1 Comment

by Mercy Langille on May 23, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in me

Tagged birthdays, my kids, outings

Posted by Mercy Langille on May 23, 2012

https://dayslifedreams.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/my-birthday-2012/

Lila’s Third Birthday is Here!

I started writing this on the 28th, but wanted to wait on the photos before posting it, and I had to wait for my friend who took them to send them to me. So it is a little late, but better late than never. Enjoy!

She’s been waiting for it, eagerly, and it’s finally here – her birthday! So it is time for a short trip through memory lane.

Lila was born on a hot day in April, 2009. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy for air conditioners. I stayed in the hospital room all 5 days, and when we finally left, the heat wave that hit me took some adjusting to.

She made her first attempt to crawl at 10 weeks old. I’m not kidding. (Update: there was a post with a video of it but I’m currently not able to upload any videos so I can’t edit it.)

Her daring antics began early. See the first pics in this post.

She stood on her own at 9 months old. She started climbing then too. And she kept climbing.

Then she turned one, and grew more and more independent.

She had her first big accident.

Then she turned two.

And gave me my first big parenting fright.

She became a typical two-year-old with her naughty antics.

Well, since that point I have only done one update on her so it is time for some new stuff.

– She has gotten real naughty lately, teasing Logan and then yelling when he hits her for it.
– Her hair is super curly and so cute, but it is also now long enough to need to be tied up to look neat.
– She is getting picky with food, which is frustrating for me as she has always been such a good eater. At least my experiences with Logan getting picky last year are helping me deal with it.
– She is losing her independence, preferring to have me do for her things she long wanted to do for herself.
– She went to her first summer camp. Hopefully she got to know the teachers well enough that when she returns for school in June, she will settle right in.
– Her birthday request this year was for a pink cake and pink doll. I couldn’t find red food coloring so there was no pink cake, but the candle, most of the gifts, the wrapping paper, and her dress were all pink. She was so happy.

So yesterday we took some cupcakes to summer camp for her birthday. It was the last day so I think it was a good end to the camps.

And tonight we had her party at home. Some friends came over and we watched “The Incredibles”, pausing it when Lila decided it was time to open her gifts and then again later when it was time for cake. On to the photos.

Eager.

She had requested a pink doll and I found this adorable one.

Hair stuff, now that her hair is long enough for it.

I wanted to do a fancier cake, but she was happy with this.

She also got some pink skates, the adjustable kind that go over your shoes; a hat; some cute necklaces with matching earrings; and a children’s Bible.

You can see more pics here.

1 Comment

by Mercy Langille on April 30, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged birthdays, Lila, memories

Posted by Mercy Langille on April 30, 2012

https://dayslifedreams.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/lilas-third-birthday-is-here/

Three Years Ago Today

Today is Lila’s 3rd birthday. Whenever my kids’ birthday’s roll around, I think about their birth and how far they have come since then.

Lila is the only one I actually had labor with. She came 10 days early, too, though I was happy for that. I was so ready to have her out! April is sooo hot here, and I was suffering heat rash and sweating all day long, not to mention the backaches of chasing a toddler and keeping him out of trouble.

5 days old, just home from hospital.

Lila has been the most advanced of my kids. She learned to climb around 9 or 10 months and hasn’t stopped since. She could get up onto my bed by using her crib as a foothold. Climbing is her favorite activity and she has incredible balance, though lately her daredevil antics have been earning her some spills – cut lip, scratches, brusies, etc. She is the one who will climp to the very top of the jungle gym and balance without holding on, do headstands on the sofa, and slide on wet or soapy floors and say she is skating. She is too daring and I’m afraid for her safety all the time. Plus, getting hurt only delays her from trying the trick again.

Balancing – on her first birthday.

Always climbing.

Lila’s hair grew super slow. It was very fine and could never hold clips, and only in the past few months did it get long enough to need to be tied up to look neat. I have never cut her hair, nor do I intend to until it is needed. Those curls are cute and I want them to last as long as possible.

Her hair at two.

Her hair now. This is my attempt to get a good pic of her curls.

This month she attended her first summer camp program and it was her first time away from mommy with people she didn’t know. She has enjoyed it so far. Actually, today is the last day and I will be taking some cupcakes over so she can celebrate her birthday will the other kids. Tomorrow we will have a party at home, when daddy can be here.

They grow too fast!