Happy 3rd Birthday

Vivian has waited breathlessly for a long time. "Is it February yet?" she'd ask.

Finally it was. Uncle Alu and Aunt Michelle braved closed airports and came in from the east coast. Brandon and Holden drove in from San Antonio and Houston. The cousins arrived from New Braunfels. The neighbors came. And so did a few friends from Vivian's class. It was a party at Gymboree - with a parachute and Jimbo and bubbles and a soprano Gymboree party leader and all. My highlight - Mona's fabulous decadent chocolate cup cakes. Jo stopped me from OD-ing on my third.

My favorite pictures: the expression on Eleanor's face in the picture where she's looking at the cup cakes, and Holden doing a great vampire thing with a little help from the camera's red-eye enhancing feature. "Come here little girl...".

The party carried on at home where Vivian got to open her loot. She loved every single one, but soon got engrossed in a book (she isn't much of a reader - only seems to do this at her birthday parties).

On Tuesday, the day of her birthday (the party at Gymboree was on the Saturday before), Ms Mary had a small celebration for her at school which she loved.

And that evening, when we asked Vivian where she'd like to go for her birthday dinner, she predictably said "I want to go to Musashino" - where the waitresses got her a large bowl of ice cream with a candle in it. For the girl who waited all year to blow out candles on her cake, I think she's satisfied.

Happy birthday sweetheart.