The day before Daddy went on his business trip I suddenly realized that if we were going to involve him, we had to celebrate either a week early or a week late. So I told Jasmine we would celebrate her birthday that day, and hurried to get everything ready. When I told her that she could pick anything she wanted for dinner - going out, or staying in- she picked "chicken nuggets!" Ah, the simple palates of three year olds. All of the kids also love edamame, so we threw that in too.
And of course, she dressed up for the occasion. She typically goes through 3 or 4 outfits a day, to be honest. She is either switching out dress-ups every few hours, or changing because some part of her clothing got slightly wet (she loves to "baaash hands"as long and as often as possible) and wet clothing is totally unacceptable. This Tiana costume is far too big for her, but that's a small detail to a toddler.
After dinner, it was time for the cake that the kids had helped me make. Someone gave Kaitlyn this mix for her birthday, and she had been looking forward to making it for Jasmine's birthday ever since. (I had told her that we could make it when she got it, but making it for Jasmine was Kaitlyn's idea.)
What makes this cake so amazing to my (really easy to please) kids is that it looks normal on the outside . . .
But awesome on the inside!
So much fun.
After cake, we had presents. We debated on this present, because it was actually something that Kaitlyn begged to get for Christmas. We snagged this on a Black Friday sale, but Kaitlyn had too many presents already. We needed one for Jasmine, and since I knew they would both love it, I warned Kaitlyn ahead of time that it was meant to be shared a bit.
Kaitlyn was, thankfully, a great sport about it when that little puppy was unwrapped, despite how sad she was. And honestly, I think it did go to the right home. They both love to play with her, but Kaitlyn doesn't seek out that puppy nearly as much as Jasmine does. The silly doggy walks, sits and makes cute little noises at random, and has been quite adored around here. Of course, the app that you can use to feed it makes it even more fun.
Jasmine tried to name her Kylie, after Grandma's white little dog named Kylie Q, but when we told her that name was already taken, she just called it "puppy".
A day or two later, Jasmine and I met some friends at our favorite skating rink. You pay per age during the day, so I figured I would snag my last chance to pay $2! For a while, we were actually the only people there. And that was a good thing, because she had no sense of direction on that scooter. She just zipped whatever way the wind took her, and the guy that was sweeping the floor dodged the tiny obstacle on each pass.
When we woke up in the Bryce hotel room on her actual birthday days later, I was excited to tell her it was now truly her day. But she was pretty sure I was pulling her leg. "NO! I already have birthday!" She wasn't wrong, but . . . it was her birthday . . . again.
We talked her into it eventually, but it took some work. We drove home in time for Sunday dinner at Grandma's house, and Grandma made sure to have a lovely cake ready for her.
The Annual Snapshot:
*I heard someone say the other day that their child "only believes in extreme emotions", and I thought that was a wonderful way to phrase it. When she is happy, Jasmine is the most sweet and fun and adorable little girl. And when she is hungry or tired or down with a scraped knee, you will hear her fury a house or two away. I hope to someday train her to see the good side of life instead of constantly letting tiny things ruin her, but it will be a lifelong process, I'm afraid.
* I will be very sad when we no longer have a toddler to mispronounce everything and make us laugh. She really doesn't like it when we laugh, but it is just too funny! For a long time, she said that her name is "Da-fin", and the kids would tell her "Oh! Hi Dolphin!". She would jump back "no! I not do-fin! I Do-Fin!" Poor girl. She has settled on "Jas-fin" now. She also used to say "don't-nope-know!" instead of "I don't know". and she still believes that all people are "him". "His need binkie!" she will say when she sees a baby girl crying.
*Another favorite phrase of hers is "you trick me!" She often says that when people do something she didn't want them to do, but seems to know what a trick is, too. One evening while I was out at a meeting, Daddy laid down on his stomach to play a game on his iPad. As usual, the kids all crowded around to watch, and Jasmine perched herself on his back to look over his shoulder. And then she laid her head down. And went very still for a long time. Daddy finally asked Kaitlyn "is she asleep?" and Kaitlyn confirmed that her eyes were closed. He spent a minute or two wondering how on earth he was going to get a sleeping girl off his back without me at home, when suddenly Jasmine said "I trick -a - you!" and popped up with a smile. Silly little girl!
*She LOVES Disney Junior. She would watch "Doc McStuffins" and "Sofia the First" and "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" all day, I'm afraid. I do try and limit her TV time, but . . . she does love those shows! And Doc really improved her pediatrician visits. She screamed all the way through her 2 year visit, but at the 3 year visit she was bouncing up and down with excitement that it was time for her check-up. And the dentist said they had never had a "happy visit" go so well with someone so young. Usually they shoot for teaching a kid to open their mouth, but she got a full cleaning and check for cavities.
*She still doesn't want anything to do with potty training. She has the speech memorized now. "Mom! I just peed! Aww, that's too bad. Pee goes in a potty. I should use the toi-let. Then I be a big girl, and get chocolate." But now matter how much I offer, she doesn't want to sit on there. We are going to take a week at the cabin over the summer and just keep her outside, naked, and force the issue, but for now I just sigh. She hates having a wet diaper on, or even dirt on her hands of any kind, so I really thought she would love it, but it just hasn't clicked yet.
*She still falls asleep anywhere, doing anything. I should make a side blog entitled "where my kid fell asleep", because I keep waiting to post them all at once and she keeps finding funnier spots to crash! Here are some of my favorites, though:
(Yes, that is a Costco cart. She was totally asleep, but I needed to finish the errands. I noticed my bean bag was in my car, so I put her on that and she slept through the whole trip.)
(She loved seeing Big Hero 6 in the theater . . . until she drifted off.)
When it is nap time, it is nap time.
*The highlight of her week is the Nursery at Church. She honestly talks about it all week. "I go -a nursery? I need a dress! I go see my friends!" And when we pick her up, she tells us all day about how " I color a picture a nursery!!" Most awesome place ever, clearly!
*Tyler keeps leaving things with me with strict instructions that "you make sure that Jasmine doesn't touch it, okay, Mommy?" She does tend to ruin things behind his back. So now Jasmine brings me toys and says "you make Tyler no touch it, 'k Mommy?" She often sees no difference between herself and the big kids, and gets a little confused when they do things that she is not big enough to do. Though she will admit "I tiny," with her fingers held up to show how small she is.
She is just such a fun little girl!
