Saturday, February 16, 2013

Happy Me Cake!

My baby just turned 2 on Tuesday. I am not in the least bit sad to kiss her rapidly departing babyhood goodbye. In fact, every day is cause for rejoicing. Less screaming. Fewer tears. Fewer bald spots on Samaya's head. All good things. I love this child dearly, but God had some sense of humor when He chose exactly which babies I would push into the world. First, He made them large. Violet was 9 lbs. 4 oz, which I believe is technically in the category of too-large-to-really-be-fitting-through-there. Funny, God. Second, He gave me two children who screamed their way through the better part of their first two years and who just might be as stubborn as their parents. Really funny, God. You should come over every night around teeth-brushing time if you're in the mood to pee your pants. It's a riot.

Now that she is rapidly picking up language and even occasionally wielding it instead of her fists, I'm finding it so much easier to be HAPPY in life. Hello happy! Where have you been?! I almost forgot what you looked like. Please, stay awhile. Stay forever.

Today we had a very happy birthday party for Violet. We celebrated the actual day with a few presents (all clothes, including a shirt with a picture Samaya drew of the two of them. Which I promptly ruined in the dryer), a family trip to the Children's Museum, and pizza and cake with the grandparents. Grandma also got her a plush baby doll that she immediately took to. The girl loves babies--both the real and stuffed varieties. (In the car last night, she was holding the baby right in front of her, but it was too dark to see much. "No see baby, Mommy! No SEE baby!!!!" she wailed in a panicky voice.) I'm also working on a book entitled 'Violet' based on Ian Falconer's book, 'Olivia.' And no, I am not at all ashamed to admit that Violet takes her middle name from this very pig. (True story: When Sisay and I were courting, I had a stuffed Olivia that I loved a little. Okay, a lot. He got so jealous one night, that I said I didn't want her coming between us anymore and I rather violently slammed her head in a cabinet door. That was when we both found out that he loved her too. Olivia got to stay. And later on, multiply.) Which brings us right back to Violet. So yeah, the book isn't finished and that's okay because she doesn't care. The essence of birthdays for a two-year-old pretty much boils down to cake. In fact, she told our good friend, her 'Happy ME cake' was coming. Little did she know her Happy Me Cake(s) were coming.

The party was 'violet' themed: violet-colored food, 'Pin the violet on the rainbow', violet-colored water beads, violet-colored playdough (a cupcake making station), violet painting. They had a BLAST. A little bit to do with my set-up, but mostly because our new home has a hallway that just screams 'RUN!' Totally forgot to do the pinata, but we're still calling it a roaring success. The kids took home a piece of play dough cake topped with cloud dough frosting, so I'm not sure the parents are calling it a success by now. I'll just apologize here. Sorry, guys! It seemed like a cute idea when I saw it on pinterest...