Happy Birthday, Daddy (and other July birthday friends)!

Lucy and I went shopping to get her daddy a birthday gift...we went to the Dollar Tree and I let her take control...I told her she could pick 5 things to get him and she took her job very seriously, even insisting upon carrying the basket around.


Pretending to be on the phone with Daddy...

 She didn't totally get the 5-item-limit thing - and she also wanted to do a little shopping for herself (notice the giant lollipop in her cart which I later removed when she wasn't looking) - but she did pretty well and seemed pleased with her selections.  She wanted to add a balloon and a card, and the balloon choice was pretty funny...(but Dave's face was even funnier - panicked, as he was trying to determine if the balloon held any greater meaning (no)).

She picked out two cards and I had to tell her to narrow it down to one.  One had a dog on the front and wished the recipient a "doggone good birthday" while the other had a choo-choo train and said, "Happy birthday, grandson!"  I didn't want to steer her and instead let her totally choose on her own but I was really hoping she'd pick the train just because it would have been hilarious to see Dave open it...but she went with the dog.

She had fun wrapping the gift - in the bag she chose - and decorating the card with stickers:

Daddy got a real kick out of his gifts from his girl:

So for his 33rd birthday, Dave got a water shooter, a dish scrubber, some Monster's University sandwich baggies, some ear buds and some popsicle molds.  Not too shabby!

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A few weeks ago, Lucy partied with her friend Lucia:



Hooray for cupcakes!

Lucia received a dollhouse for her birthday.  Lucy has a dollhouse and it is her favorite thing to play with so I was a little concerned when Lucia unwrapped it but Lucy continued to sit nicely and watch the birthday girl open her gifts.  Afterward, Lucia invited her to play!

And aside from one, "No, Lucia!" I heard Lucy yell, the two played very well together.  Lucia had picked up one of the dolls and Lucy was protesting, though she herself was already playing with another doll.  I had to tell Lucy to be nice since these were Lucia's toys and Lucia was nice enough to share with her.  Luckily that was all I had to say.  I was proud of Lucia, though...she quietly stood her ground and tightened her grip on her doll!

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Yesterday, we helped cousin Alli celebrate her 5th birthday...but the party was from 2pm until 4pm - aka, Lucy's nap time.  And in case we were wondering if Lucy is old enough to skip naps, the answer is a big fat "hell no!"  We got her down for an early nap but got her up early, too, and she just wasn't ready.  She was pretty grouchy for much of the party and by the time she was really into it and having a blast, the party was over.
But the birthday girl clearly enjoyed the entire party...and her rainy party curse was lifted (yes, it rained on Saturday but it didn't rain until the party was over)!  And Lucy loved her cake and ice cream, watching the other kids beat on the pinata (she didn't want to partake but was more than happy to help scoop up and eat the treats once they were freed!), and jump around in the bounce house with her cousin:



"Happy birthday, Alli!  Sorry I was a wiener at your party!"