Sophia Turns 3

We celebrated Sophia's 3rd birthday a couple of weeks ago. All in all, it ended up being about a week long celebration. On Saturday, April 18th, we had a party for her at our house. I invited several of her friends and their families thinking not everyone would be able to make it, but everyone except for Aunt Beckie and Uncle Sam were able to come. Our friend the Clarks came with their kids Ellen and Hugh, Izzi and Aiden came with their mom, Megan. Our new neighbor JoAnn brought her daughters, Sarah and Marita, Zaza, of course was here, and The Buddington's with Quinn and Nathan came. We got hit with a big snow storm the day before, so we weren't able to go outside and play; so we had a full house. Unfortunately, I don't think Sophia had a very good time at her party. I learned that maybe she isn't a party-kind-of-girl, or maybe it's just a stage because she was quite unhappy for most of the party. It wasn't until I finally gave in and let her watch TV by herself that she seemed happy. Each time the doorbell rang, she said, "Not again!" She hid when we sang Happy Birthday to her, and she insisted that I hold her for most of the part. Due to the weather we ended up letting the kids swing away at the pinata in our living room while Yale and I held it up with a broom stick. In retrospect, I'm surprised that no one got their front teeth knocked out, but the kids seemed to have fun. The darn pinata was very sturdily built. After each kid had taken several turns whacking at it, I took a turn, and put a bit of a dent in it. Then several more kids took turns. I just ended up ripping it open to get it over with. After about 10 minutes of kids swinging at it, Sophia decided she'd try it and swung at it twice. Finally, when the candy was scattered all over the floor and kids were diving wildly to get their fair share, Soph cried until she got the one piece of pink candy that she'd wanted. I do think Sophia liked the present-getting part of the party. She got all sorts of fun things: a flower night light, a bunch of sand toys and a bubble gun, dress up clothes, a stroller, and a Betsy-made hooded towel. Yale and I gave her a leotard, tights and ballet skirt for when she starts dance classes. She's wanted to take dance classes for a very long time, but now with the new outfit, she can hardly stand waiting to start.