Celebrate, Celebrate

And that's just what we did!

Dylan enjoyed a full day of celebration for her birthday. She started her day with a birthday song as she got out of bed, and her first of many little gifts throughout the day. Since Dylan is a Mermaid fan lately, I decided she needed all things Mermaid. At least all things Mermaid that the Dollar Store had in stock!

After getting changed she got a purple ball (how lucky was that??) with Mermaid stickers on it. She thought this was about the greatest thing. Little did she know what else was in store for her this day!

Cupcakes for breakfast!

And Dylan had two. She loved the idea of cupcakes first thing in the morning. She licked off all the frosting before asking for another cupcake, but I was a good mom and made her eat the cake portion of the cupcake first! You can't just eat frosting for breakfast, even with a nice cup of milk.

After breakfast I asked what Dylan wanted to do, and she quickly responded that she wanted to watch Mermaid. Big surprise there, but since we were staying home I figured it was the least I could do on her special day. We watched Mermaid again and again as we played with Isaac and read stories. During this time she got her next special gift. This time it was an Ursula figurine. I don't think Dylan quite knew how to react. There was a "whoa" and a "karry."

Dylan ate lunch and reluctantly went to bed. Not to worry though, there were no cupcakes with this meal. I considered it, but decided I didn't want a 2 year old with a tummy ache sometime in the night.

After her nap things got really fun. Dylan got her next toy (an Ariel figurine) and played until Todd fed her dinner. Afterward, family started to show up.

First it was Grandma and Grandpa Dwyer and Dylan that this was great. Then Aunt Shanen and the kids showed up, and before we could even shut the door, Aunt Jennifer and her kids arrived. Finally our neighbors showed up with their little girl and we all trekked downstairs where Dylan found her next surprise.

A slide!

Dylan has been down the slides at the park, with Todd and my help, but I don't believe she's ever gone down a slide on her own. We bought Jenn and Dwain's old slide that their kids have grown out of and put it in the basement. This was the most fun for all the kids. They all got in line and down they went. Dylan was a little hesitant at first, and wanted a helping hand, but it didn't take long for her to be sliding down with the rest of the kids laughing the whole way.

We decided it was time to open presents and Dylan thought this was the greatest thing. She first opened her pretty, pink, princess chair from Aunt Jennifer and family and that was her throne for the rest of presents.

Dylan loved each present she opened, and always tried to go play with the current gift before coming back to open the next. Finally Todd and I gave her our gift and rolled out a brand new tricycle. Dylan didn't hesitate and jumped right on the seat to be pushed around on her bike. I'm so glad she liked it!

We convinced (or, forced) Dylan off her bike and to her table so we could sing "Happy Birthday" (throughout which she cried) and let her blow out the candles. She did a pretty good job, in theory, but Todd helped her get them out. She then proceeded to dig in to her cake, face first.

Everyone ate their cake and ice cream and we had a great evening. We are so glad everyone could come over and celebrate Dylan's birthday, even though there was a lot of family missing. Luckily we'll get to see most of those missing in just a few days!

Just a final thought...Dylan cried for 5 minutes after having to leave her bike downstairs, then another 10 once everyone went home. We definitely have a party girl on our hands!