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I'm sort of busy, mom. Could we move this party along?

I think birthdays are more for moms than kids.

Or at least for this mom. . .

Cole's 3rd birthday was yesterday.  I was ready.  Complete with a small side of separation-anxiety-new-baby-stress-sorry-we-moved-in-with-your-grandparents guilt.  It all adds to the necessary celebration to mark the end of this year and the commitment to move on to a better one.

Bill took Cole out for breakfast.  I decorated while they were gone.  I hung balloons.  I hung big pictures of Thomas and his buddies.  I hung personalized "happy birthday to Cole" signs all over the house.

I wrapped presents.

I wrapped foam blocks that would look like beautiful castles when his father put them together.  I wrapped more (how on EARTH have I found more that we don't already have?) Cars cars.  I wrapped arts and crafts supplies for rainy days.  I wrapped another Thomas train.  Because really?  That's my addiction, not Cole's. 

And I got a cake.  A beautiful cake with Lightening McQueen and Mater. . . his two faves.  And a big "3" candle.  And ice cream. 

And I put the presents on display and I put the cake out and I waited for Bill and Cole to get  home.

Because this was a party.  And I was the hostess.

And I get this phone call from Bill:  "Yeah, uh. . .are you done getting things ready because breakfast didn't go so well and we're heading home."

"Oh man.  What happened?"
"He wouldn't even eat ice cream at 9:00 a.m.  He screamed and yelled.  It was so embarrassing.  I'm coming home."

Right.   He's 3, right?  But as soon as he comes in and sees this. . .everything will change.

Uh,  yeah.  How long is this going to last? 
 I've got another tantrum scheduled at 2:00.

This is the perfect face caught on camera.  This was sort of how our big day went.  There.  I said it.  Our big day. 

I'll admit, it wasn't that climatic.  Our original plan was a big party at Chuck E. Cheese (kill me now) but I cancelled due to weather.  So it was tiny.  Just us.  And a TON of presents.  So really, kid.  Get with it.





At least he stayed a minute to blow out the candles.

Finally, we decided to take him to Chuck E. Cheese by ourselves. Because it had to be more fun than this. And it was. Cole would not stop riding a mechanical horse. (side note: it's hysterical when you leave Chuck E. Cheese by yourself without a child. They say things like. . ."ahhh, is your child inside with another guardian?". . .nervously.)

And by the time we got home, he was feeling much more silly and in the party mood.

And we were visited by some aunts and uncles and a cousin that brought more wonderful presents and smiles.


Oh, and the Tills? Could this kid be any better?

Happy Birthday, Cole. Now let's just put our head down, keep the tantrums to a minimum, and plow through to 4!