Three.

Happy Birthday Londyn!

Londyn's favorite color is purple.  I'm not sure when it started - she's been obsessed with purple for as long as I can remember.  A lot of her favorite things are merely copy-cats of Jacey's favorites (favorite food, favorite game, etc.)  But purple is all Londyn.  (Jacey's favorite color is pink.)

So it seemed fitting that we should celebrate her third birthday with a "Purplicious Party."

We didn't really plan for everybody to wear purple but it worked out that way.  And I think it made the party that much more fun. 

Playing SuperFrog and Pink, Pink, Purple. (aka Duck Duck Goose)  Will was a good sport and put on the purple t-shirt I got him.

  

 

Playing "Purple Monster Where's Your Loot?  Somebody Stole it From your BOOT!"  (Yes, I know it's a stretch . . . but Londyn really wanted to play this game and I had to make it fit with the theme, didn't I?)

The Purple Party-goers:  Londyn and her cousins.

Limbo!  (Smug Emma . . . "Don't these amateurs know you can just walk under it??)

After the kids games all of Londyn's Aunts, Uncles, Grandmas and Grandpas came over for lunch and cake & ice cream.

What a good sport Grandpa Russell is for wearing purple!  (And rest assured - next to that 7up there is purple grape soda.)

 

A purplicious picnic pizza party!

How convenient that Londyn should get a Snow White dress-up for her birthday!  It just so happens that she wants to be Snow White for Halloween.  What are the odds?? ;)

Londyn's cake was supposed to look like the cake in the book.  It didn't really.  But I give myself a bonus point anyway for staying on-theme.  I don't think I got a picture of the inside, but the cake was purple too.  And I lucked out and found purple ice cream.

All in all, it was a fun day.  Londyn was so cute and excited that it was her special day.  She made sure to give everybody hugs and say thank you while she was opening gifts, and then as everybody was leaving she told them all "Thank you for coming to my purple birthday party."  We're really lucky to have so much family nearby.  It feels good to fill up the house once in a while.

Some notes about Londyn . . .

• She loves to learn.  I think she's pretty jealous of Jacey going to school this year.  She pulls out her babies and plays school a lot while Jacey's gone.
• She has the most hilarious facial expressions.  I can't do them justice in writing.  But she raises her eyebrows, turns her head to the side and says things like "You know mom, I already knew that."
• She speaks shockingly well for a 3-year-old.  Even the pediatrician commented on it yesterday at her well-child visit.  Will's uncle is an audiologist/speech-language pathologist, and he said a few weeks ago that he's never heard a 3-year-old as articulate as Londyn is. 
• She is kind of a punk.  I try to scold her and she just sits there and grins.  She thinks she's funny, even when she's really getting in trouble.
• She is really starting to love playing with friends.  She's in a little play-group swap with some neighbors and she really gets excited about that.  She plays with Blake on Friday mornings (Marie and I swap babysitting once a week) and they are so stinking cute together.  (They went through a phase where they didn't get along all that well, but I'm pleased to say that they've grown out of it.  They really get excited to see each other now.)
• She LOVES her grandparents.  A common conversation after her nap is "Mom what are we going to do tonight?"  "I don't know, nothing really."  "I've got a great idea!  We should go see Grandma at Grandma's house!"
• She looks forward to nursery each week.  At Family Home Evening on Monday nights we always do scheduling - we each say what we have going on that week so we can work out any schedule conflicts, etc.  When Will asks Londyn what she has going on this week, her answer is always "Um, nursery and . . . that's it."  She has a fantastic nursery leader who has really made it a great experience for Londyn.  I can't believe she'll be a sunbeam in January.
• She loves tagging along on Jacey's tennis lessons with Dad.  She takes her badminton racquet along and thinks she's big time.  Next year, Londyn bean.
• When Londyn hears "Pocketful of Sunshine" start to play, she busts out into this little jig that makes me laugh so hard.  She used to stick her pointer fingers out and just shake her bum, but now she just kind of jumps around.  I've been trying to trick her into doing it while the video camera is on but she won't be duped.  This is the best I have. (It's crappy because I have no idea how to do video on my new camera.  I was just messing around, trying to figure it out.)

Untitled from Cynthia Robins on Vimeo.

 

Londyn is a character.  Crazy, zany, hilarious . . . unless somebody is watching.  She reminds me so much of myself!  My mom always said that she couldn't get me to be quiet and my teachers at school couldn't get me to open my mouth. 

I can't believe it's been three years already.

Oh and one more thing before I end this marathon post . . . what do you do after a Purplicious Party when you have a dozen purple balloons floating around?

If you're my husband, you strap them to Londyn's baby and see if they make her float.

They don't.

THE END.