Pinkalicious 3rd Birthday!

There are moments when I truly doubt that Madelyn is, indeed, genetically my child. You know...like when a plate of delicious food is put in front her and she lollygags and fidgets and fabricates any reason to get down from the table. I typically have to give her a 3-count for nearly every bite as though eating were some kind of punishment. Trust me. No one has had to give me a 3-count for bites of food for a very long time, if ever. I get down to BUSINESS when a plate of yummy food is put in front of me.

But then something inevitably happens that confirms our genetic connection, most recently her third birthday party. We kept things very low-key this year given my pregnancy and Kurt's impending trip to China and opted for a brief afternoon celebration at a local ice cream shop. I told Maddie that we were going to eat ice cream for her birthday this year, and she said "Yeah! For my pinkalicious birthday party!" Some of you might remember that we had a huge Purplicious birthday party for her last year given that that was (and is) her favorite color. Purple decorations, purple attire, purple food. I love a good theme, and I like to take it to the tiniest detail. I was willing to let a theme go for this year, but evidently, my daughter was not. She suggested a pinkalicious theme all on her own, and even when I tried to say that all we really needed was family and ice cream and a gift or two, she would smile and re-emphasize "At my pinkalicious birthday!" Ah well. She's my theme-loving daughter after all. (Interestingly, she has since told me that every birthday party from now until she turns eleven will be a color-licious birthday...greenalicious for next year, blualicious the year after, etc. all the way to whitealicious when she turns eleven. Now that would be taking a theme to a whole new level.)




(These last two photos are from Madelyn's actual birthday. Kurt left for China that day, so the best we could do was a pancake and egg breakfast with just the three of us. We stuck a candle in one of the pancakes and sang Happy Birthday and did our best to make her feel special. I think it worked out ok.)