Celebrating Elle's 3rd birthday

Elle's birthday was on a Wednesday this year, and even though I was off of work, on maternity leave, Tim had to work. So we celebrated mostly on the Monday before her birthday (Tim's normal day off) and then spread the fun over the next few days.

Elle is big in to sea creatures right now and loves aquariums (just like me, muah hahahaha). We decided to go to the Florida Aquarium - we had been there on Memorial Day and she'd really liked it, so we knew it would go over well again. She loved it!

We also let Elle decide where she wanted to eat her birthday dinner - no idea why, but she chose Red Lobster, just as she had last year. This year's trip was made "fun" but her insistence to look at the lobster tank a dozen times, her frequent requests to go potty (thus ruining my meal) and the fun that orange slices can provide:

The day before her birthday, we went to a local bike shop to get her fitted for a helmet ... which went along well with the "big gift" we gave her on the morning of her birthday. She'd been asking for a pink scooter for weeks, so she got a pink scooter. (We got the Mini Kick/Mini Micro scooter, largely on the recommendation of two moms who have kids Elle's age - thanks, Claire and Kate!)

We rounded out the safety/scooter ensemble by using a birthday gift card to purchase elbow and knee pads (Elle calls them elbow, knee or lily pads depending on how excited she is at that given moment). She likes the scooter and helmet, but to be honest, July in Florida is kind of a rough time to ask a kid to suit up and scooter around in the heat and humidity. She's tried it out a few times (and scootered every where in the condo for the first three days, until she scootered over my toes and I declared the scooter an outside-only toy) and is scared to go too fast, haha. I'm sure that will change soon and we'll be begging her to slow down.

She also chose her birthday cake - she wanted a pink cake with sprinkles, so I used this recipe for a strawberry cake, and she was in love. She helped me bake it and was super excited when she saw the finished, decorated product.

All in all, a fun, intimate celebration of our favorite little girl - I still can't believe she's three!

Three.

Dear Elle,

Sweet baby girl, you are now three. I've been begging you for days to stay two years old and be little forever, and you gleefully tell me you're going to "get big forever!" And you are. And as much as it breaks my heart to see each little bit of "baby" slip away, it makes my heart so full to see how you are growing in to such a big girl, full of compassion, humor, intelligence and creativity.

You and I share a love of aquaria and sea life.

 I honestly don't know where the last three years have gone. I feel like it was just yesterday that we found out we were pregnant with you, set up your nursery, brought you home from the hospital and celebrated so many very special milestones with you. I look at photos of you and wonder when you went from the big-headed newborn with sharp, dark eyes to the tiny person with strong, sturdy legs, long, soft eyelashes and wavy blond hair. I hear your voice and wonder at exactly what moment you stopped calling "cupcakes" by the slightly incorrect but oh-so-adorable "cupcapes." I'm realizing more and more every day that it is things like this that I've been taking for granted - your cute little mispronunciations and grammatical quirks are fading little by little. You've always had a command on your language skills, and I never want to forget things like you saying "Don't annoy me. I'm trying to read."

Modeling the cape Grams made for you, Super Elle Belle.

I know part of the emotion I feel for your birthday is because of the juxtaposition of your newborn brother. (The postpartum hormones aren't helping, either.) I see how small he is and know how fast time is going, how fast time will go. You were once that small. And you've grown - dazzled, amazed, amused and challenged us every day. I look at something as simple as your fingernails and wonder when they got so big. Daddy and I lift you and wonder when you got so big. I prepare for your first haircut and wonder where the time has gone.

You've certainly had your share of toddler tantrum moments this past year, but for each meltdown, argument or stubborn standoff, there has been a sweet kiss, hilarious comment or gentle hug. You've overcome fears this year (as well as developed new ones). You've had new experiences, from a new daycare to a new brother, and have been a total champ with every challenge thrown your way.

Out for your birthday dinner - celebrating with your Daddy.

You make your daddy and I so happy and so proud - I don't think you'll ever know just how much we love you and how thankful we are for you. Even when you're driving me nuts, I wouldn't trade you for any thing or anyone else in the world. You will always be my special girl, my first baby and my best buddy.

How were you ever this small?! Two weeks old, little one.
Photo by Christine DeLessio Photography.

The morning you were born brought us the greatest responsibility we'll ever know - but it also brought me far more joy than I ever could have imagined was possible. I think back to it often - I can picture so many vivid moments from my pregnancy and your birth that I think it will always feel like it was just yesterday. I don't know how we went from milestones like you rolling over, sitting up and trying your first solid food to having full conversations and achieving potty training success. I am having a hard time with it, actually - for as much as I know how much fun the last three years have been and therefore how much fun the future will be, I also know just how fast it has gone and how fleeting each moment has been. I wish I could stop time and freeze you in these moments, as you are still small enough to carry (barely) and hold on my lap, but I also know, deep down, that there is more joy to look forward to.

A little bit of "baby" lingering in our big, big girl.

I am positive the next 12 months will go just as fast as the last 12, if not faster, but I know that they'll be filled to the brim with memories and special moments. And I know that you will be just as charming and stubborn at age four as you were at age two.

I knew better than to try to read one of my all-time favorite children's books to you last night, because I knew I wouldn't make it through without bawling. As I cuddled with you, though, I told you how special you are to me and how you'll always be my baby girl, and I thought of the words from the book that always - ALWAYS - make me tear up:

"I'll love you forever,
I'll love you for always.
As long as I'm living,

my baby you'll be."

Happy birthday, sweet pea! I only hope that your big day is as special as you are.

Love,
Mommy