March 3, 2010: The Birthdays

Celebrating a birthday with your daughter is a mixed bag. On the one hand - fun! Lots of fun things that we will be able to do down the road together. On the other hand, it takes planning for her when all I want to do is lie around. Yesterday was the perfect day, however, because I spent minimal time planning and maximum time playing.

First off - a word or two about Clara.

Clara loves horses. She loves princesses. She loves to sing, dance, talk to herself, pick on her brother, snuggle, act like a puppy, and is a sugar-aholic like her mom. She loves cheese, loves to snack, and picks at her dinner. She'll take cookies over just about anything.

Clara loves school. She asks every day if she gets to go to school. She seems to be a pretty smart kid, and her sentence structure when she talks is advanced for her age. I have to remember that she is younger than she is sometimes. She is stubborn. Much more stubborn than Josh, although memory may have just faded. She will dig in her heels and there is no changing her mind. It's all in the approach with this baby.

Clara's best friends are Caitlin, Jacey, and Burke (from preschool), but she really does love her Joshy. She names all of her stuffed animals either Gabi or Kate, after our neighbors. She can sometimes be shy, but usually warms up quickly. She tends to be more reserved than Josh in social situations.

Clara is a mini-me. She really looks a lot like me, although she is cuter than I was. She's very funny and silly and likes to make people laugh. She doesn't like to share unless it is other people's stuff. She loves movies, especially the barbie movies.

I feel like I have known Clara a lot longer than her four years in our family. I love her so much that it overwhelms me sometimes, and I am so grateful that she is my little girl. She is exactly what I ordered.

For her birthday, we had her preschool friends come over for pizza and cupcakes. They ran around the house chasing each other and then watched a movie. It was very unplanned. No games, no structure - they loved it. I didn't feel any pressure to follow a schedule. Awesome. Fortunately for me, I am great friends with all of Clara's friends moms, who came over and joined in so they could hang out with ME on my birthday. Handy, no? We talked and talked and ate and talked. I also had the blessing of having my mom and mother-in-law there for the party.

After everyone left, Dave brought home chipotle. We were going to go downtown to the Red Iguana, but that just seemed like too much effort, and I was all sugared out by then anyway. Then after the kids were in bed, Melissa came and picked me up and we went to a movie. So really - it was just the perfect, low-key day. And now I get to go to NYC.

Caitlin, Burke, and Jacey enjoying pizza
Clara blowing out her candles
Clara digging into the cupcake
The birthday girls!