Laurel turned three years old today. We had decided not to do a big party like last year, mostly because Laurel is in the prime of her terrible twos. When she is sweet, she is very sweet, but when she is bad, she is VERY bad. I could just see her throwing a huge fit right in the middle of her party. She brings new meaning to the phrase, "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!"
So we just decided to do a small celebration. That quickly turned into a couple small celebrations. I would bring treats and favor bags to her school on Wednesday. On Friday we would go to the aquarium with her best friend Emily and her mom. On Saturday we would take her to ride a horse, which is what she asked to do for her birthday. Then on Monday, her actual birthday, we would have our good friends over for pizza, cupcakes, and presents.
We were all very excited about these plans. Laurel has been talking about turning three since before Christmas. So Wednesday rolls around and I take the treats and favor bags (which I had spent two hours the night before putting together) to school. Laurel goes into her class, walks up to the first kid she sees and says, "Those are my presents for my birthday. You can't touch them!" See what I mean about the terrible twos? So I explain to Laurel that, yes, she will get a bag, but so will all the other kids. She looks at me like I am crazy and says, "But it's MY birthday!" I leave and she is upset about the bags and I'm thinking, "Why did I even waste my time on those things?" When I go to pick her up from school, the teacher tells me that she has been acting grouchy and might be getting sick. I chalk it up to her being mad about the bags, but later that afternoon I notice she is a little hot. By evening she has a fever of 103 and I feel terrible for sending her to school when she was sick and probably infecting other kids in the process. She is still sick Thursday with a fever so we cancel Friday's aquarium. She is still sick Friday so we cancel horse back riding for Saturday. But by Saturday she is feeling better so we keep Monday's plans.
But today rolls around and now Matt is sick with a fever so we have to cancel those birthday plans too. I told Laurel that her friend's would not be coming over after she woke up from her nap and she burst into tears. I felt like crying with her. She was pretty upset for about 30 minutes, but some presents and cupcakes made it a little better.
I know in the grand scheme of things, this is not very important, but I hate that Laurel's whole birthday has been postponed/ canceled. We managed to have a little fun tonight with a sick Matt and a disappointed Laurel, but I was sad that she didn't get to have a great birthday like the last two years. We have moved everything to this weekend and I really hope it works out. But tonight as I rocked her to sleep I kept thinking about this day three years ago and how much our lives have changed since then. Laurel brings so much joy and energy into everyday life. She reminds me how to have fun and take it all in and I'm so blessed to have her in my life.
So we just decided to do a small celebration. That quickly turned into a couple small celebrations. I would bring treats and favor bags to her school on Wednesday. On Friday we would go to the aquarium with her best friend Emily and her mom. On Saturday we would take her to ride a horse, which is what she asked to do for her birthday. Then on Monday, her actual birthday, we would have our good friends over for pizza, cupcakes, and presents.
We were all very excited about these plans. Laurel has been talking about turning three since before Christmas. So Wednesday rolls around and I take the treats and favor bags (which I had spent two hours the night before putting together) to school. Laurel goes into her class, walks up to the first kid she sees and says, "Those are my presents for my birthday. You can't touch them!" See what I mean about the terrible twos? So I explain to Laurel that, yes, she will get a bag, but so will all the other kids. She looks at me like I am crazy and says, "But it's MY birthday!" I leave and she is upset about the bags and I'm thinking, "Why did I even waste my time on those things?" When I go to pick her up from school, the teacher tells me that she has been acting grouchy and might be getting sick. I chalk it up to her being mad about the bags, but later that afternoon I notice she is a little hot. By evening she has a fever of 103 and I feel terrible for sending her to school when she was sick and probably infecting other kids in the process. She is still sick Thursday with a fever so we cancel Friday's aquarium. She is still sick Friday so we cancel horse back riding for Saturday. But by Saturday she is feeling better so we keep Monday's plans.
But today rolls around and now Matt is sick with a fever so we have to cancel those birthday plans too. I told Laurel that her friend's would not be coming over after she woke up from her nap and she burst into tears. I felt like crying with her. She was pretty upset for about 30 minutes, but some presents and cupcakes made it a little better.
I know in the grand scheme of things, this is not very important, but I hate that Laurel's whole birthday has been postponed/ canceled. We managed to have a little fun tonight with a sick Matt and a disappointed Laurel, but I was sad that she didn't get to have a great birthday like the last two years. We have moved everything to this weekend and I really hope it works out. But tonight as I rocked her to sleep I kept thinking about this day three years ago and how much our lives have changed since then. Laurel brings so much joy and energy into everyday life. She reminds me how to have fun and take it all in and I'm so blessed to have her in my life.
Happy Birthday Laurel!! I love you!!
3 comments:
Candace,
Hannah had a very similiar 3rd Birthday. It was when we were living in Vegas working for a therapeutic foster home called Girls and Boys Town. We had all these great plans, and none worked out.. and she was in her terrible 2's.. and she was sick the day of her birthday! It sucked. The pictures from that day are horrible, and I hid them in the hopes that when she's older we can just tell her "oh we had so much fun that day that we didn't have time to stop and take pictures".. so I know how you feel!
I'm so sorry for the birthday disappointments. I hope that all of your postponed plans eventually work out. Happy birthday to your pretty girl!
Poor girl.... I love how the cupcakes made things better, though! You had such great plans, I know it was a disappointment. From what I've learned from Hannah, they really don't remember tons of events from their younger years (except through pictures). I have to keep reminding Hannah how much I actually played with her, non-stop, whenever possible!
So, even though it's a disappointment now, it will become a distant memory. I'm glad she's well and hope Matt feels better soon and that YOU don't get sick!
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