Every Day with Eli: May 1

Daisy turns four in a few days, but we celebrated her birthday tonight so that everyone in the family could come. This post is a day late because I was so exhausted by the time we got the kids to bed, everything cleaned up, and the photos organized that I just couldn't do it. Prepare for lots of pictures!

Before the party, though, Daisy had her birthday checkup at the doctor's office. Since I'm still not feeling ready to take all the kids someplace by myself (maneuvering to get everyone in and out of car seats is challenging with my leg), my mom kindly volunteered to come over and watch the little ones. Mom lucked out, though, because Lily was still sleeping when Daisy and I left at 9am! That's totally unheard of in our household. I helped Mom put Eli in the ring sling, and Daisy and I were off.

Mom texted me this picture later:

Lily woke up around 9:15, but when Mom went in to get her (still wearing Eli in the sling), Lily was not really ready to be awake. Mom got her out of the crib, and Lily immediately laid her head on Grandma's shoulder. So mom sat down in the chair, started rocking, and within minutes, both babies were asleep. Not only did she get double snuggles, but Mom got a nice reminder that she still has the magic touch.

Daisy's checkup went well. She weighed 32.5 pounds (25th percentile) and was 40.5 inches tall (50th percentile). She has jumped percentiles in both areas since last year, but her BMI has remained steadily in the 7th percentile for a while. But that's okay! She's skinny and healthy!

We returned home in time for lunch and naps. Amazingly, Lily went down for a nap right on time, even though she slept so late! Daisy, however, was another story. She tried to nap, but was just too excited. While she stayed in her room and didn't sleep, I got things ready for the party. With my broken leg, I was really glad that we prefer to keep things simple for most birthdays. Also, the past three months have trained me to be really adept at not caring if my house is impeccable. It's just not going to happen right now, and that's okay.

Finally, it was time for the party! BYO Pizza, followed by lemon cake and presents.

Grandma brought this crown for Daisy, and she was thrilled.

For at least three months, Daisy has said that she wanted a lemon birthday cake. The girl has never had a lemon cake before, but she was adamant that her birthday cake be lemon. Then about a month ago, she told me that for her fourth birthday, she really wanted a big-girl bike. A purple big-girl bike. This girl has definite ideas about what she wants, just like her mama. And since I know what it's like to have definite ideas, I try to honor her ideas as often as possible.

Exhibit A: lemon cake.

Daisy was delighted with it, and told Chris at bedtime that blowing out the candles was the best part of her day.

She shouted, "I did it! I blew out all of the candles at once!"

(She didn't really. Each candle took a separate blow. But no one wanted to argue with the birthday girl.)

Daisy loved her lemon cake. One of my favorite moments was much later, after everyone was done eating and off playing or talking. Daisy sat alone at her pink table, eating lemon cake off of a sparkly plate. She was happy as could be!

After presents from the family, we took Daisy outside for her present from us:

A big-girl bike.

A purple big-girl bike.

Daisy's face when she saw it:

She told me later that her first thought was, "No one else has a bike like this one! I've never seen a bike like it!"

Caleb was in on the surprise, and very excited for his sister.

Chris wore Eli in the stretchy wrap for much of the party, but he handed him off to Gayle so that he could help Daisy get a feel for her new wheels.

Max ran alongside, offering encouragement. He got a bike for Christmas, so I'm sure the experience of figuring out how to ride it was fresh in his mind.

Daisy was totally terrified at first because the bike goes so much faster than she's used to. But after a while, she began to get the hang of it.

Meanwhile, Caleb and Max played "sneak up" as they crouched and pretend to sneak up the sidewalk. Funny boys. All of the cousins played so well together, which made us all pretty happy.

Caleb was happy to throw gumballs, too, which none of us enjoyed.

Grandma specifically requested a photo of sweet Lily in her darling dress, with her hair that was pulled back this morning by - who else - Grandma. Lily is holding the hottest toy of the evening: a sticky, stretchy, jiggly centipede. All of the kids wanted to play with that thing!