We had a fantastic party for Lex this weekend
(if I do say so myself). Lots of family and friends. The
weather was perfect, as it has been for his birthday every year
so far! I was trying to come up with some organized games, but
it was tough because of the age range of the kids and because I
wasn’t really sure who would even be there. Instead we did a
bunch of activity stations, including bubbles, balloon animals
(thanks Julie!), ball pool (the hit of Lex’s 2nd bday party),
face painting, ice cream sandwich making (thanks Ellen!), etc.
The kids basically ran around and played with everything. We
also have the swing set my parents got Lex last year, a big
slide that our neighbor gave us as a hand-me-down, and the new
picnic table from my parents this bday. There was lots for the
kids to do. We also had lots of food, especially considering it
was a 2-4ish party, between lunch and dinner. I have this
not-so-odd need to have lots and lots of food available for any
event :) Alan’s mom made fried chicken and deviled eggs, my mom
made tofu salad, and I made a watermelon bowl fruit salad,
brownies, and other stuff. It was great. Now we will be eating
leftovers for a very long time :) Lex asked for a square cake,
so I made him an alphabet block type cake – 4 square cakes
layered on top of each other, bordered with Twizzlers and
decorated with a frosting “3” on top, “Happy Birthday” on one
side, and “L”, “E”, “X” on the other three sides. It held
together, looked good and tasted excellent! :) Overall I think
everyone had fun. Lex, surprisingly, took a nap and I woke him
up when everyone started arriving and asking for the birthday
boy. Not surprisingly it took him a few minutes to warm up to
the crowd, but then he had a great time.
I also wanted to add a note about Lex’s recent burst of
independence. He’s been dressing himself and wanting to do some
things on his own for awhile, but lately he suddenly wants to
do EVERYTHING for himself. He makes his own snack mix
(Goldfish, Annie’s Bunnies, and dried fruit), pour his own
cereal, pour his own milk!, get his own Zone bars, cup of
water, etc. It’s a little scary, but for the most part he does
pretty well. The first day he asked to make his own snack I
immediately thought “no way!” but was able to control that
impulse and I let him make it (with my oversight and small
assistance) and he did really well. So now I’m trying to let
him do as much as he wants to on his own, within reason and
safety, of course. He even helps with Eve more and more,
feeding her, getting things for her, putting her shoes on for
her, etc. As I’ve said many times before, it’s so amazing to
watch a kid grow and learn and develop into an independent
person. We are very lucky to have this opportunity,
twice!
(This post was interrupted by some thumping and
bumping upstairs. I went up to find Lex with wet PJs and a wet
bed, saying “My bed is all wet. I wanted to see what was in my
cup” (water cup). The big dresser drawer was wide open (he was
trying to get new sheets) and the diaper pail tipped over (he
climbed on it to open the drawer). As I was changing the sheets
he said he needed a new diaper and promptly dropped his diaper
on the floor and headed to the dresser for a new one. I turned
around and saw a poopy diaper laying on the floor and Lex
dashing across the room. Too much independence!! And poor Eve
laying sleepily in her crib wishing we would all just go away.
Note that I started a new bar down the side with Lex quotes. He
says some great stuff sometimes and I often wish I wrote things
down so I could remember them later. So now I will! He’s going
to be very embarrassed by this blog
someday.)
And now the
moment you’ve all been waiting for… Blogger does a terrible
job of putting pics inline, which is why I’ve been throwing
them at the end lately. Makes it easier to add captions too. I
won’t post all 444 pictures here, just a few ;) Here we
go…
Eve
chillin’ in the ball pool before the party got started. Once
Lex fell asleep for his nap we all went outside and set up all
the activity stations, got the balloons in place, food out,
etc. 
Drooly
girl!
Eve in
her party dress. I’ve decided 1yr is the most photogenic time.
Kids are so personable and silly and not at all camera shy.
Makes for great pictures.
I
thought it would be fun to get a picture of all of the kids
sitting on the new picnic table. Challenging, but worth it.
What I didn’t expect is that all the kids would settle in
nicely, except the birthday boy!! Rose and Joyce were snapping
awhile (I’ll post the whole series on the photo site soon) and
still we were unable to get a picture without me holding Lex in
place. Oh well, it’s a very nice group shot anyway. Maybe
someday I’ll edit myself out :)
For
weeks Lex has been asking to “play running games at my birthday
party.” And by “running games” he means my modified version of
Red Rover. We weren’t able to get all the kids playing, but I
got these four running pretty fast for awhile. I think it
satisfied Lex’s desire for running games.
Cake
time! It took a group effort to blow out the candles… but
notice who isn’t helping? :)
Mema and
Eve.
Time for
presents! This is the first time that I wasn’t involved in the
unwrapping process with my kids. Rose and Joyce helped Lex,
Barney took notes, and I socialized and kept the rest of the
party going. It was interesting later that night to go through
the gifts and see what he got. 
Quick
reading break.
What’s a
party without wrapping paper fights?
One
benefit of outdoor parties. They really get some air, don’t
they?!?
The
party tired Molly right out!
The
party tired Lex right out too! Jim made him a party mix CD, so
Lex spent some time mellowing out, eating a snack and listening
to music.
That’s
one very happy 3yr old!
The next
day in the front yard.I will try and put all (or at
least lots more) of the photos up on the photos site soon. I
also have to give photo credits to Rosy, Joyce and Barney. My
camera wasn’t working well and most of the pics came from their
cameras (or B using my camera). I love having other people in
charge of photography :) Thanks!!
