Nathan's 3rd Birthday (Part 1)

Nathan had a pretty special birthday this year! It started out first thing when Nathan found the balloon bouquet that Daddy got for him. He was super pumped about the balloons all morning, and the excitement wasn't even dampened when his first favorite balloon deflated.

I had signed up to host playgroup on Nathan's birthday and turned it into a very simple friend party for him (since he had a preschool party the next day and the family party that is still to come). Nathan was super excited about it because at 8:00 (an hour and a half before playgroup starts) he was asking "When are my friends coming? Are my friends here yet? What are my friends doing? Are they riding with their mommies (to our house)?" I kept him distracted by requesting his help decorating the cupcakes with dinosaur sprinkles. 

Last week, when we were talking about what he wanted for his birthday, he first told me a "blue cake."  Then he changed his mind to a "brown cake" and when I said, "Oh, a brown chocolate cake?", that sealed the deal.  This kid loves chocolate!  So chocolate cupcakes it was, "with sprinkles!"  I also made popcorn, one of his favorite treats that I rarely get around to making.

Before his friends arrived, he said something about Clark and his balloon that I didn't really hear.  I thought Nathan was worried about his friends taking his balloons, but he said no, I want to share my balloons!  I asked if he meant while they were playing at our house, or share so they could take one home?  He said share to take them home.  I was thrilled since I was going to suggest that to Nathan, but I was so glad he decided on his own he wanted to share!

FINALLY all his friends got here and we sang "Happy Birthday" and ate cupcakes and the kids had tons of fun playing while the moms all chatted and ate.  Before everyone left, I got this picture of the big kids, each with their balloons!  Disaster almost struck when his friends were leaving, though, because twice balloons blew away in the wind (the very minor impact Hurricane Sandy had on us).  But Jen and I both made dashes into the neighbors yard and were able to snag them, much to everyone's relief!

After nap, we had a full afternoon planned.  We went to AC Moore to buy Nathan a tiny, yellow teddy bear that he had seen at the check-out lane during previous visits.  He had always asked if he could have one, but since I have a strict "no checkout lane purchase" policy, I told him that he could get one on his birthday.  He then proceeded to remind me about it every day for the two weeks before his birthday!  Our second stop was Harris Teeter, where we found the red race car cart to ride in and bought powdered mini-doughnuts, his requested treat for his preschool birthday celebration.  I had a pretty short list for the store that day so when we went to check out before Nathan was ready, he thought we needed to get something else.  So to humor him we did some additional laps around the store until he decided he had a long enough ride in the race car cart!

We went home and hung out for the afternoon, talking to grandparents and family on the phone and playing until Daddy called to and said he would be home in time to go out to eat. Nathan's restaurant pick was Jason's Deli with the "black milk" (the carton is black and white cow print) and an ice cream cone at the end of the meal.  He definitely has a sweet tooth!

Then it was home to put Sarah to bed and present opening.  We got it all recorded and I'll share some of the highlights soon (I hope).  My gift ideas for Nathan haven't always been great hits in the past, but this year he was pretty excited about the slide whistle and mix cd with his favorite song.  Its the little things!

So it was really a wonderful day.  Everyone was super cheerful, no timeouts and fun for all of us all day long.  Just how I think a birthday should be!