Party girl

In retrospect, it was probably cruel to tell an almost four-year-old that she had to wait until after lunch for her party, which really didn't start until 2 p.m. And then to reveal the cake decorated with plastic princesses... and tell her not to touch it... well that's just asking too much.

As I set to work in the kitchen assembling fruit and veggie trays I looked over and discovered one of the green frosted leaves had left the cake.

"I was just trying to see it," Sydney explained as she reached for the Cinderella figurine.

"Sydney, don't touch." I told her again.

"Okay, Mommy," she answered as she reached again for the cake.

"Sydney, don't touch!"

She jerked to attention, as if snapping from a trance. She was simply too excited.

Getting her dressed for the party was a relatively easy task. I let her pick her favorite dress, and accessorized it with a crown and a flower in her hair.

"Princesses love flowers!" she happily affirmed for me. The tiny carnation was originally part of a bouquet I'd bought for her on impulse, figuring it'd make a nice centerpiece. At first, Sydney wanted to carry around the flowers rather than put them in a vase. Once she finally handed them back to me, I discovered the one small stem had been broken. I trimmed off the bloom and offered to clip it in her hair. Sydney was thrilled!

The party started and went off mostly without a hitch... until it was time to open gifts. Little Miss Independent was so sure she could open everything herself. But then she had trouble opening an envelope (photo above) and ripping off the wrapping paper (photo below).

Aaahhh... a princess toy. That's more like it!

And birthday cake. Once again the party was a success. Sydney was actually quite good at blowing out the candles. We made her do it twice because the first time she blew them out so quickly that no one had time to take her picture.

One other party highlight: meeting the newest little girl in the family, Bella, the Bianchi's new chihuahua. 

Lucky girl that she is, she has two more birthday celebrations in store. On the actual day, we'll celebrate and give gifts from the immediate family, plus she gets to bring cupcakes to daycare. We're also planning - for the first time - to do a party for her friends. We just have to figure out when we can do that. Quite possibly she'll have to be patient until July. It's a lot to ask, but by then she'll be four, so maybe it'll be a piece of cake.