I swore when I was planning Gracia's 1st Birthday and going ALL OUT that I would NOT be throwing her a 2nd Birthday and beyond. I figured its her very first birthday so we HAVE to do something right?
Well here we are a year later and I am throwing my daughter a 2nd Birthday party.
Why? you might ask.
Well, I justified it because she was seriously sick during her 1st Birthday and I don't believe she got the chance to really enjoy herself despite her best efforts. Even now, I am binding all illness that she is not sick during this Birthday.
Last year, she was into Disney's Sophia the 1st and this year she is in to Peppa Pig - so much so that she asks for Peppa every single day and night, when she wakes up, when she goes to bed. If it isn't on, she brings you the remote because she knows that we have taped all episodes on the DVR.
I wrestled with a few themes but in the end we knew that this would be a very Peppa Pig Birthday after all. I am not even sure how I came across the information that Peppa Pig, a popular pig cartoon from the UK that comes on Nick Jr. was doing her first US tour, but when I did I was hype because I knew that I could finally take her to something she would love.
Not to toot our horns, but as a team of parents, Amos and I had pretty much mastered a good balance of how to keep the toddler entertained, engaged and not crying for too long when she got upset in public. We were more excited than she was since we knew where we were going and she had no clue.
We get to the Warner theater in Washington, DC on the afternoon of Black Friday. I debated about getting tickets that when I finally decided to purchase, the better seats were in the balcony (or so I thought). We head up to our seats, which had a great view but ZERO leg room. The seats were so close together that my 5'7 self couldn't even sit down without deeply tucking my legs under. I knew that my 6'3 husband was not going to be able to deal. The family next to me saw my struggle and said "tight fit, huh?" I said "yup, I won't be able to take this." and they looked at me leave to make something happen, almost in disbelief. I went to the hostess and told her the issue and asked was there anything that could be done. She told me to hold tight, that there were possibly some tickets in the suites that we could have. We paid for three, but we got two in return and that was fine for the exchange of leg room and Gracia wasn't going to sit down in a seat anyway.
Needless to say, when she heard the familiar theme song of Peppa Pig, she was so excited!
Unfortunately, my hopes for a sick-free birthday season was not so. She is sick as we speak. But this time its not RSV or double ear infection, its her sinuses. We reluctantly welcomed the nebulizer into our home and he is now called "Mr. Seal". Day One was a screaming match, but by Day 3, she was a pro.
She didn't let any of this damper her spirits though. She was all smiles regardless throughout her Birthday season and since she was born in December, my mother made me promise to always let the baby have a birthday and not smoosh it into Christmas. So her dad and I try to go above and beyond on Birthday.
She had a small party at daycare complete with cupcakes and ice cream, which she loved!
We picked her up that night and took her too the Winter Festival of Lights at the near by Park. I noticed that as we drove through the neighborhood that she loved Christmas lights. It surprised me late one night that as we were driving she burst out with "oooh mommy, amazing!" and pointed at the lights. I knew then that she would like this huge light show. Her favorites of course are the Santa figures and the Gingerbread Men, which she calls German because Gingerbread was too many syllables.
We then decided that instead of picking her toy for her, that we would let her pick out her own toy if she wanted one for her Birthday. We never made it there because she was too in love with the toy that she had just received at daycare. We instead took her to Hibachi, which ironically I always said I would do on her 2nd Birthday versus a party. We were joined by her Godfather, which was nice because she got to hang out with him and is starting to actually recognize him without us telling her these days.
Nothing was more hilarious then watching her reaction to the Birthday Song complete with the Gong played loudly. She squirmed at the fire show that the chef gave but enjoyed her food and when the Chef left she screamed "bye bye Chef" as if they were the best of friends.
I forgot that I ordered some Peppa Pig things online way before her birthday and judging by the delivery date I put it out of mind to be here after the new year. Once I got the package and realized it came from China, I see why it took a while, however it came right on time. She opened the package and she loved it! Squealing of course.
Her party actually took place at the My Gym.
The blessing of My Gym is that they literally do everything for you and have built in entertainment that is age appropriate.
Now my child is a stubborn two year old so while everyone was doing circle time, she was off at some other part of the Gym. At first we tried to get her to participate, but in the end we just let her be and eventually she came to be a part of the group.
My parents weren't able to be there but we were able to FaceTime and she loved that. It felt like Neena and Pop Pop were there with her. She of course mostly enjoyed the ball pit, dodge ball and the bubbles. At first she was unsure about the puppet show, but in true Gracie fashion, while every kid say seated, she ran over in front of them and stood there watching with a smile.
When we came home, I asked Amos to put her gifts under the tree. He said "Why? They are for her Birthday." and he was right. Oops. I said well lay them near the tree so I can open them with her since her Birthday has passed. The first picture you see is the result of me not opening her new Minnie Mouse toy fast enough. (which by the way she has been sleeping with ever since she got it).
Needless to say, she had a great 2nd Birthday.
I promised husband no 3rd Birthday event, especially since her birth/birthday falls right in the middle of his busiest time of year as a musical director for a huge million dollar Christmas Extravaganza. But hey, I can't make any promises because we weren't supposed to have a 2nd.
Happy Birthday Vashti-Gracia
