Happy Birthday, Julia!

I cannot believe Julia is 4 years old already! While in some ways it's hard to remember that there was ever a time without Julia, it's also amazing to me that the little baby who I held in my arms for the first time on Thanksgiving day four years ago is now a galloping, skipping, running, bike-riding, potty-trained, name-writing preschooler. (And not to mention big sister to my 1-year-old!)

There seems to be some element of confusion for Julia as to why she's having "another" birthday. I've tried explaining the difference between a birthday party and an actual birthday, but I don't think it makes much sense to her yet, seeing as she followed up my explanation by asking, "And tomorrow I'm gonna turn five?" She has also responded to everyone's birthday greetings with, "Happy Birthday." As in: "Happy Birthday, Julia!" "Happy Birthday, Auntie Caitlyn." Again, I tried to explain to her that unlike "Hi" or "I love you," "Happy Birthday" does not require a return birthday greeting, but that instead she should say "Thank you."

We started the birthday off with some chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, which both girls devoured:




We spent the mid-morning enjoying the 60+ degree temps by taking a walk to the playground, then went home for lunch and afterwards brought Julia to school. I had a special birthday surprise for her after Madeleine and I picked her up; instead of driving home, I took the kids to:


Kids Fun Stop, an indoor play place in West Roxbury.

"Happy Birthday, Julia!" I said as we pulled into the parking lot.
"Happy Birthday. Thank you," she replied.

The kids had a blast playing inside, and I can't really blame them, since it's kind of a kiddie wonderland:





Some pictures of our afternoon:








Julia understood the concept of going home to meet up with Daddy and go out to a restaurant of her choice for dinner (anyone want to wager a guess on which one she chose?) Madeleine didn't, so it was like pulling teeth to get her out of there. She was writing around in my lap as I tried to put her shoes on, and continually crawled (or walked - hooray!) off to play everytime I let go of her. When we pulled in our drirveway, Madeleine began kicking her legs delightedly, which Julia interpreted as: "Mommy, Madeleine is happy of JOY because she thinks we're back at Kids Fun Stop!"

We are off soon for the birthday dinner, followed by family gifts to round out the evening. Happy Birthday, Julia!!