Two!

One day in August my Mom called me and as soon as I answered the phone, she told me excitedly, “I’ve been working on Addison’s Halloween costume!”  I was about to climb atop my parental high-horse and give her a talking to about how I’m the Mama and I get to decide those things.  Instead I took a deep breath and said, “Oh really?  What is Addison going to be for Halloween?”  (See?  I’m evolving.)  “Dorothy form the Wizard of Oz!”  She was talking in exclamations that day because she was excited about the costume.  I suspect, from her tone of voice, that this was supposed to be a surprise for us, but she couldn’t keep it to herself any longer.  Since I thought that Dorothy was the perfect Halloween costume for my pig-tailed girl and her little black dog, I got excited about it too.  Good thing she didn’t picture Addie as a genocidal maniac.

Since we were having a Halloween themed party for Addison’s second birthday, her costume would also double as her party outfit.  I was thrilled to see how cute it turned out, no alterations needed.  Addison’s Nana flew in from Pittsburgh for a visit a few days before her birthday.  She was a huge help in setting up the festivities and Addison was pretty psyched to have her here so she could show off all of her new tricks.  We invited a lot of Addie’s friends and everyone really got into the spirit by showing up in costume. 

And for the adults who didn’t wear a costume but still wanted to join in on the fun, we had moustaches. 

I was worried, as I always am, about the kids being BORED at the party.  I had some organized games planned in case I caught them sitting around staring at each other, but they weren’t, so we never got around to playing them.  Besides, I don’t think toddlers are crazy about being rounded up for a game of pin-the-nose-on-the-pumpkin when they’re all playing nicely together.

My main goal was for Addison to have a good time at her party because the atmosphere in our house has been a little sad over the past few weeks while we’ve been dealing with Oliver’s medical issues.  For a few hours, I wanted her to have fun and play with her friends and just be 2.  And I was happy to have something else to focus on for a little while too.  I made sure Ollie got lots of love during the party.  He was walking around shaking hands and holding babies and enjoying the attention. 

(photo by Julia S.)

Addison had a blast at her birthday party.  I had been talking to her all week about how her friends were going to come over to celebrate her birthday but I could tell she wasn’t really comprehending what that would mean.   After she got over the initial shock of dozens of people in our home, I could see it all click for her and she really let loose.  I think every kid should look this happy on their birthday.