Birthday Party

This past weekend we threw a birthday party for Alyce's 3rd birthday. We threw a small party at our house with some immediate family and friends. The theme of the party was castles and princesses. Mom and I spent the better part of the day on Sunday getting ready for the party and decorating the house; there were pink, purple and blue streamers and balloons, princess plates, and pink castle as the centerpiece.

They started to arrive while Alyce was still in quiet time. By the time Alyce came downstairs the house was full of people and I think she was a little overwhelmed. Any reservation that she had must have disappeared because the next time I checked on her she was strutting all around the house in her birthday dress and boots.

Dinner was running a bit behind so while it was cooking we went ahead and opened presents. This was Alyce's first birthday where she opened up presents herself without any adult assistance. There was a mountain of presents before her and she managed to open them all without getting distracted with a new toy and forgetting about the rest. Alyce received a lot of wonderful presents.

• Her first Barbie dolls
• Little People castle and carriage
• Dinosaur bank
• Princess dress up clothes
• Dora the Explorer tent, chair, books, pajamas and purse
• Her first board game Candy Land
• Puzzles (Dora, My Little Pony and jungle animals)
• Clothes

After the presents were unwrapped a few immediately stood out. The Dora the Explorer chair and the princess clothes. While I was in the kitchen getting dinner ready, Alyce's God sister, Shelby, turned my little girl into a princes. She came into the kitchen wearing a tiara, necklace, and a bracelet. When dinner was finally served we put Alyce's new Dora chair on one of our kitchen chairs and Alyce looked like a queen presiding over a royal ball.

Following dinner and some play time with Alyce's new toys we had some cupcakes and ice cream. Mom decorated some of the cupcakes to look like little mini castles. In a little breach of standard birthday procedure Alyce got to eat some cake before we sang Happy Birthday. With some help from Mom, Alyce was even able to blow out the candles on her cake; yet another first!

Alyce must have been more interested in her toys than the cake because she had only eaten half before she wanted to get down from the table and go play. With the help of Uncle Trent and Shelby, Alyce opened up and started playing with her Little People castle and carriage. These were big hits as Alyce continued to play with them while sitting in her Dora chair up until bedtime. Alyce did take a few breaks from playing to give everyone goodbye hugs and to say thank you in her quiet little shy voice.

I think Alyce had fun at her party. To the eyes of a three year I would say that the entire experience would be magical. There was dressing up, presents, sweets, and friends. Everything a little girl could ask for.