Birthday Fun

Happy birthday to you, my Molly! As always, I can't believe my baby is growing up so fast. When I look back at her birthday pictures from last year, Molly was such a chubby, dumpling of a baby. Now she's so much taller and leaner and so very much a little girl. Since I didn't get to hold and cuddle and love on my babies when they were born, I always make it a point to take a vacation day on their birthdays so I can spend the day with them. They're too little to care much now, but I think it will be a nice tradition as they get older.

When she woke up, Molly was happy (and a little confused) to be greeted with Mama's rendition of "Happy Birthday." Molly and I were the first ones downstairs, and I enjoyed some one-on-one time with my little girl. I also couldn't resist giving her one of her presents early – she loves gorillas and I found her the cutest little stuffed gorilla. She immediately snuggled it and gave it a hug and carried around her "barilla" for the rest of the morning. When Max got up, I made pancakes with fresh blueberries for breakfast (one of Molly's favorites) and Molly (and Max) thoroughly enjoyed the meal.

When Dad got home from work, it was time to open presents! Both Max and Molly had already spotted the presents on the shelf in the library and were chomping at the bit to get their hands on them. Max kept thinking that it was his birthday and his presents and seemed a little disappointed that we were making so much fuss about Molly. But, he didn't let that get him down for long and was generally happy to join in the birthday fun. The first present that Molly opened (with help from Max) was a little plastic tea set that I had gotten for her. I thought she would like it, but it was an even bigger hit than I expected – she demanded that we open it then and there and immediately set to making tea. Molly was having so much fun passing out cups and saucers (color coordinated, of course) and pouring tea that she wanted nothing to do with the rest of her presents. We let her play for a while and she eventually deigned to open the rest of the gifts, with Max assisting with the tearing of paper and opening of boxes. Molly got a Mr. Potato Head, some wooden play food, a Magnadoodle, a Bee-Bop Band set (which she was originally supposed to get for Christmas), a Good Night Gorilla book and toy, and a new Wiggles DVD. There was also an extra Magnadoodle for Max, as well as a copy of Knuffle Bunny and Knuffle Bunny Too (to his great delight).

Since we had big afternoon plans, I tried to get M&M down for a nap before lunch. Max didn't nap, but Molly managed to get in a short snooze before I had to get everyone up and feed them. After lunch, Grandma came over and we headed off to a local children's museum (after spending a ridiculous amount of time putting on shoes, going potty, brushing hair, etc.). A friend had given us some passes for the museum (thank you!!) and I thought Molly's birthday would be a great excuse for an outing. Although Max and Molly have been doing great on the potty training front, we haven't taken them outside of the house without diapers for longer trips. So, since I wasn't feeling terribly brave, they both had to wear Pull-Ups.

I've been to the children's museum many times, but not at all recently. They've done a lot of remodeling and expanding since I was there last and it was even cooler than I remembered. We managed to snag a great parking spot and walked right in (after I led everyone around to the old entrance, only to discover that the new entrance is now around the corner!). To say that this place is little kid paradise is an understatement -- a whole building where kids can touch everything, push buttons, pull levers, climb on things, etc. is every 2 and 3 year olds dream outing. It was a good thing we had lots of extra hands (thanks to Grandma and Big Brother and Big Sister), because Max and Molly were really good at taking off in opposite directions.

The kids were impressed with the musical stairs on the way in, but Max and Molly (especially Molly) LOVED the giant water table. They had step stools for the little kids, lots of toys, and lots of water -- the water table stretched all the way across a very large room. I think Molly would have been happy to stay there all day -- we had to drag her away from it. There were levers and gears and gadgets and buttons and even a mini tornado. Max was very impressed by the big ambulance that you could climb in and explore (although the competition for the driver's seat was pretty fierce).

When we went upstairs, there was a little climbing wall, a giant piano on the floor (think Big), an observation hive of real bees, and even a giant bubble maker. One of the big hits upstairs was the little TV studio, complete with a green screen, and the "dance studio" where you could see your silhouette on a giant screen with different funky backgrounds -- your very own iPod commercial! After a couple of hours there, the little ones started to get tired and cranky and it was time to head home. We stopped at the water table on the way out and let Molly play some more while Max checked out the train table.

By the time we got home, it was time to start whipping up Molly's gourmet birthday dinner. We thought we'd honor her late-night meal request at the drive in, so it was hot dogs, bananas, and cheeps (chips) on the menu, with birthday cupcakes subbing in for cookies (we also threw in some pickles and chip dip). To make the dinner even more special, I'd picked up some juice boxes, which are a much-sought-after (and rare) commodity at our house. Molly was so excited when she saw the juice box that she couldn't get into her high chair fast enough. She thoroughly enjoyed her meal. :)

After dinner we broke out the birthday cupcakes -- vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting (and, of course, sprinkles). Molly was a little confused about why we were all singing to her, but she seemed to enjoy the attention anyway. She blew out her birthday candles (with a little help from Dad) and dug into her cupcake. She really enjoyed her birthday treat, although she didn't finish it because she ate so much dinner (Max, however, devoured his and asked for more).

Molly and Max spent some more time playing with all the new toys before they were packed off to bed. After such an exciting day, it didn't take Molly long to fall asleep (with her new gorilla tucked in beside her). I guess being two is more exhausting than you might think! I'm sending my little girl sweet dreams -- I hope she had a very happy birthday.