Birfday Parties!

Hallie's been invited to quite a few birthday parties lately, and let me tell you, it's tough to keep up! She's been having a blast, though, especially at the parties held at local gymnastics facilities. (Now that her collarbone is healed, Hallie has really enjoyed the loose gymnastics instruction provided by the facility staff supervising the parties.  I tried to get her into dance and/or gymnastics this year, but missed registration deadlines due to the timing of our move and the way the classes are structured.)

The parties have also been exceptionally fun for Hallie because she's gotten to go without Will.  I can tell she feels like a "big girl" when she attends birthday parties for her friends instead tagging along to birthday parties for Will's friends.

I've also realized how much simpler it is to take Hallie to a party than it is to take Will to a party.  Hallie can eat anything the host serves, including any kind of cake, which makes my job a heck of a lot easier than it is when I'm at a birthday party for Will and have to assess everything on his plate, scrape the frosting off the cake, and/or bring a different snack, meal, and/or dessert for him in case there isn't anything he can safely consume.  

On the flip side, when I take Will to parties I don't have to bring a spare pair of underwear and continuously ask him if he needs to go potty...

Here are a few pics of Hallie at two recent birthday parties - the first was for Matt and the second was for Caroline, both of whom just turned three.

Super excited for birfday parties!

Warming up on the mats.

Wrestling with Levi.  Hallie loves Levi and Levi loves Hallie.

Jumping over "french fries".

Climbing the rock wall.

Hiding from Zachary.

Rolling in the foam pit.

Jumping on the trampoline.

Watching Caroline blow out her candles.  
(Or watching Caroline watch her mom blow out her candles.)

Waiting patiently for her cake.

I've yet to decide what we're going to do cake-wise, theme-wise, or party-wise for Hallie's 3rd birthday (which is only two-and-a-half months from now!), but all of the parties we've been to recently have given me some good ideas...if I were a betting gal, I'd put my money on a Hello Kitty party at a gymnastics facility. We'll see!