Happy Three Years Old

When Pavlina was born on my birthday (at noon, on her due date, punctual baby!) I worried that my birthday would never again be my own. I worried that I wouldn't get any birthday attention anymore, that I wouldn't feel special on my special day, that I would miss the excitement that builds in the days leading up to my birthday since I would be so busy preparing for my daughter's. I worried that I wouldn't enjoy my birthday as much anymore. I was wrong and I was right. It is no longer my birthday, it is ours, which makes it so much more special. My family is wonderful about celebrating both of us, and I get to give attention, rather than feeling awkward in the spotlight. (Pavlina is surprisingly graceful in the spotlight, especially on her birthday this year. She was very well behaved, threw no tantrums, said thank you for the presents and spread love all around.) The preparations do cause me more stress than I'd like, but that's just because I want to make the day as much fun for Pav as I can, within reason (she won't be having any Big Top birthday parties complete with petting zoo and air filled bouncing jumpy things). In fact, I enjoy my birthday more because it is so much fun watching her have a great time.

Pav wakes up to a new play table and chairs, a pile of presents, a dozen balloons and a dozen roses, but what excites her most? A pack of bubble gum. We've been telling her for almost a year that she can chew gum when she turns three and that was the first thing she noticed. She happily chewed gum all day, showing it off for the camera and to strangers. We had a hard time getting a picture of her with her mouth shut:

An unexpected bonus to the gum chewing? She was so quiet. At first I couldn't figure out what was so different about her. I didn't expect a drastic change in her behavior from the day before, but chatterbox was gone the moment the gum went in her mouth.

An even bigger surprise--Pavlina convinced Papa to chew a piece of gum. I had to photograph the event to prove that he really did it. In the 34ish years that my parents have known one another my mom said she has never seen my dad chew a piece of gum. She's also never seen him without his beard, but that's a different story. Every time I had gum as a child he told my mom he didn't think it should be allowed, then reminded me to keep it in my mouth, that he didn't want to find it in his car, on his upholstery, under the table, etc. Granddaughters hold a special sort of magical power over their Papas.

Pavlina is in a pink phase. It wasn't easy finding a cake design that would suit us both this year. I imagine it will get harder before it gets easier! I will not have a princess on my birthday cake! (Insert childish stamping of foot.) If she insists on that we will just have to have two cakes.

This picture was taken at 12:06 p.m. CST. That is the moment that Pavlina turned three and Heather turned 32 and two hours. We like to be specific with our celebrations.

Pavlina loved her Cowboygirl outfit, as she called it. It was a good outfit for playing horsie on Gammy's foot. Even better is the picture I took of her playing horsie on Gammy's foot while wearing nothing but her cowboygirl hat with her new temporary tattoo of a skull (she picked it out) and snake on her shoulder. I would have posted that one, but we were worried about it being misinterpreted as child porn. The outfit got her lots of compliments throughout the day. Pavlina's reply: she simply opened her mouth to show off her gum.

Beware! Pavlina will lift up your shirt to listen to your bellybutton. She will also nuzzle your bunny tail with her nose (done to a playboy bunny at our apartment building's Halloween party) and goose you to get you out of her way (done to a woman exiting the restaurant after our birthday lunch; the woman's shriek was unfortunately misunderstood by Pav as laughter so I'm thinking she might try it again sometime). No one is safe when Pavlina is around.