A birthday for Beatrix

Birthday celebrations are typically a quiet affair in our family.  But this year Beatrix had grandparents in town, and her birthday celebration spanned two days.  The leap from two to three is a big deal in my book, so it seemed appropriate that a big deal should be made.  Beatrix went from baby to big girl overnight.  (Don’t tell her that she needs to give up diapers though.  She’ll tell you that she “does her best” but she just can’t.)

We visited a local bowling alley for dinner where there was singing, a special cake just for Beatrix, and of course some bowling.  She loved it.  You know, Beatrix loves most everything (well, she doesn’t love not getting her way) and her love of life and everyone around her just shines.  As we sang to her she clasped her little hands together and just smiled, soaking it in, unlike other children in this family who hide under the table the second singing to them begins.

Somewhere in those days of celebrating, hot rollers got involved much to both girls delight and thanks to a very accepted new grandmommy, .  We don’t have hot rollers at our house, because when I get a haircut I instruct Nikki to cut my hair “so that I don’t have to fix it.”

Bea’s wispy hair didn’t hang on to much curl for long, but she loved it while it did.  It was certainly a far cry from her usual “do.”

Let’s see…there was orange creamsicle cake made by daddy for our little orange “june” loving girl.  There was a birthday dress that I was sewing buttons on at the last minute;  a dress that I will share more about next week.  There was a new doll (inexpensive b/c Bea is destructive), a handmade backpack (although not by me) and an easel that I scored at Goodwill for 3.99.  A couple coats of chalkboard paint and it was good as new.  Well, Jonny actually covered the dry erase side with a sheet of metal because it couldn’t be salvaged.  But, I much prefer Beatrix playing with magnets than with dry erase markers!

I wish you could have watched Beatrix painting.  She asks to paint nearly every day, and just isn’t quite satisfied with watercolors at the table, and I had hoped that this would satisfy her need to paint on a deeper level.  She involved her entire body while coating that paper with stroke after stroke of color. (I bought this paint, wanting rich washable color.)  By the time she was finished, her ponytail and barrette were gone, and she was covered in paint, but I think she was satisfied.

Happy Birthday, Beatrix.  We love you, oh how we love you.