Madeleine celebrated the big zero-four in style today, starting off with a home-made pancake breakfast:
As well as gifts:
(The play-glasses are from Ethan, who is sick of Madeleine pulling off his own REAL glasses in order to play around with them.)
In the afternoon after we picked Julia up from school, we took a birthday trip to the apple orchard for some apple picking and play time!:
We finished off with dinner at the restaurant of Madeleine's choice, complete with a complementary ice cream for dessert!:
Despite her ability to count, however, Madeleine seems unable to accept the fact she is, in fact, turning a year older. I totally get it. Heck, I would have SO loved to turn thirty-three rather than thirty-five on my last birthday. However, when I was a kid, I was always excited to grow OLDER. Madeleine has the opposite reaction. Our conversations about her coming age began as far as a few weeks back.
ME: Madeleine, do you know how old you'll be on your birthday?
MADELEINE: Yes. TWO!
ME: No, silly. You're not turning two! You already WERE two. Now you're three. So how old will you be on your next birthday?
MADELEINE: TWO!
ME: No, not two. How old will you be? Will you be five?
MADELEINE: No! I'm gonna be TWO!
ME: Madeleine, it's actually important that you know how old you really are. Your teachers AND your doctor will want to know that you understand this. Do you really think you're turning two? Can you tell me how old you'll be on your birthday?
MADELEINE: (in a shy whisper) Four.
ME: Okay, just as long as you know for real.
THEN, a few days after that, we had another discussion about her birthday.
ME: So Madeleine, today I bought the frosting and the sprinkles for your birthday cupcakes, AND I bought a number four candle!
MADELEINE: Uh, but Mama. I want a number TWO candle.
ME: Well, honey, you're turning four, so that's the number we're going to use for your candle.
MADELEINE: Well Mama. PLEASE can I have a number TWO candle?
ME: Honey. We don't want to make things confusing for all your friends at your party. They need to understand how number work, too. They need to realize that four comes AFTER three. So the kids at your party who are three will understand that on THEIR next birthday, they'll be four. And they need to see the number four on your candle, not TWO, so that they understand what a four looks like.
MADELEINE: Well Mama. I have an idea! I'll just BRING the four candle and SHOW it to them, and then we can put the number TWO candle on my cupcake!
Argh.
THEN, as if that wasn't confusing enough, yesterday at school while Madeleine's pumpkin muffins were handed out at snack, the teachers let her blow out a candle in the shape of a number four. Therefore, Madeleine became convinced that she had actually turned four a day early.
MADELEINE: (after school) Mama! I'm FOUR now!
ME: Tomorrow. Your real birthday is tomorrow.
MADELEINE: No, Mama, I'm four TODAY!
ME: No, honey. Tomorrow is your real birthday.
MADELEINE: But Mama. I blowed out a number FOUR candle. So now I'm FOUR!
Regardless, she was back on her two-year-old kick today. All day long she insisted that she had, indeed, turned two.
ME: Happy birthday, my big four-year-old girl!
MADELEINE: Uh, Mama, did you mean "my LITTLE TWO-YEAR-OLD girl??"
Sheesh. No wonder two was the number of choice during our math guessing game the other day.
So, I guess I have no choice but to end this post with the following message: HAPPY SECOND BIRTHDAY, MADELEINE!!!
Well, maybe we could explain to her that four is really special because it is made up of two twos! Then she get to have two twos all year long! Love my 2 + 2 = 4 Granddaughter and all my girls and boy! Yiayia XOXO
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