This year was the first year that Taelyn has really gotten in to the concept of birthday. And with that excitement and enthusiasm also came plenty of drama. We went from planning a pretty big party at our home where Taelyn was eager to invites all her friends to a small play date at our house - all in reaction to Taelyn's potential of getting out of control. There was a bit of girl drama going on in her pre-K class where there were some "mean girl" incidents, so in the end, we decided to cancel the big birthday party altogether and have a small "play date" party at our house. Then we had Taelyn (and the whole family) volunteer at an animal rescue center to bring the focus off of the "me, me me" mentality and start thinking about others. Once we made this decision, we were pleased to here Taelyn talk more about helping puppies throughout the week than about the "I want's" of her birthday.
To start the birthday celebration, Taelyn had a little party in her class on Thursday. She picked out her 5 favorite class songs/skits and re-enacted all of them with her classmates for Justin and I. Our favorite was one where she was a princess locked in a tower, and a prince came in to rescue her. Then Ms. Cate presented a wonderful gift to Taelyn from the entire class. Each person drew her a picture of all of the things that she likes. It included rainbows, flowers, butterflies, unicorns, and roller coasters! Next, the class sang Happy Birthday to Taelyn, and she attempted to make a wish and blow out the candles. Unforunately, the candles I bought were apparently trick candles (the box said nothing on it but "candles"). She tried and tried to blow them out, but they kept sparking and lighting up again. It was pretty cute to watch her try, though! Finally, Taelyn invited the class to come and have cakes at their seats. I made Sleeping Beauty cupcakes inside ice cream cones and brought them in for the class to enjoy. Everyone was really quiet when eating, so they must have enjoyed the cake!
On Saturday, Taelyn had her play date party with Arianna and Dale. We rented a blow-up slip-n-slide and add bubble bath for the kids to splash and play. At first, Kaelia and Arianna were not excited about the bubbles and got upset any time bubbles stuck to their skin. But they got over it and eventually had a great time. All four kids ended up sliding as close together as possible to try to collide in to one another and get lost in the bubbles. After some water fun, we brought out the birthday cake (Sleeping Beauty), and Taelyn opened presents. She got some fish for diving in the pool from Arianna, an arts and crafts kit from Dale, Monster Surgery game (like Operation) from Kaelia, and her first Lego kit from us. She loved all of her presents! Then the kids split up and played in pairs for a while - Kaelia and Ari with the dollhouse, and Taelyn and Dale on the iPad before spending more time on the slip-n-slide. It was a very nice afternoon and, more importantly, drama free.
We finished the birthday weekend on Sunday where we all went to an animal rescue center to volunteer. We gave lots of puppies a bath and took a few older dogs for a walk. The girls enjoyed getting in the bath tub with the puppies. They also insisted on walking the dogs without any help. Taelyn did a great job with this, despite some tricky times when her dog, Casanova, didn't want to move. Kaelia also did well and even started running with her dog, Crumpet, until she started to take off with Kaelia. She eventually had to let go of the leash before toppling over.
The birthday celebrations were perfect for Taelyn, and we are so proud of how much she has learned about being nice to others and not just thinking about herself. At one point during the party planning and lesson learning, Taelyn even told me: "Mom, Miley Cyrus makes bad choices, just like I made bad choices, just like some of Daddy's students make bad choices." It was great to see her make connections and reflect on her own behavior!
To start the birthday celebration, Taelyn had a little party in her class on Thursday. She picked out her 5 favorite class songs/skits and re-enacted all of them with her classmates for Justin and I. Our favorite was one where she was a princess locked in a tower, and a prince came in to rescue her. Then Ms. Cate presented a wonderful gift to Taelyn from the entire class. Each person drew her a picture of all of the things that she likes. It included rainbows, flowers, butterflies, unicorns, and roller coasters! Next, the class sang Happy Birthday to Taelyn, and she attempted to make a wish and blow out the candles. Unforunately, the candles I bought were apparently trick candles (the box said nothing on it but "candles"). She tried and tried to blow them out, but they kept sparking and lighting up again. It was pretty cute to watch her try, though! Finally, Taelyn invited the class to come and have cakes at their seats. I made Sleeping Beauty cupcakes inside ice cream cones and brought them in for the class to enjoy. Everyone was really quiet when eating, so they must have enjoyed the cake!
On Saturday, Taelyn had her play date party with Arianna and Dale. We rented a blow-up slip-n-slide and add bubble bath for the kids to splash and play. At first, Kaelia and Arianna were not excited about the bubbles and got upset any time bubbles stuck to their skin. But they got over it and eventually had a great time. All four kids ended up sliding as close together as possible to try to collide in to one another and get lost in the bubbles. After some water fun, we brought out the birthday cake (Sleeping Beauty), and Taelyn opened presents. She got some fish for diving in the pool from Arianna, an arts and crafts kit from Dale, Monster Surgery game (like Operation) from Kaelia, and her first Lego kit from us. She loved all of her presents! Then the kids split up and played in pairs for a while - Kaelia and Ari with the dollhouse, and Taelyn and Dale on the iPad before spending more time on the slip-n-slide. It was a very nice afternoon and, more importantly, drama free.
We finished the birthday weekend on Sunday where we all went to an animal rescue center to volunteer. We gave lots of puppies a bath and took a few older dogs for a walk. The girls enjoyed getting in the bath tub with the puppies. They also insisted on walking the dogs without any help. Taelyn did a great job with this, despite some tricky times when her dog, Casanova, didn't want to move. Kaelia also did well and even started running with her dog, Crumpet, until she started to take off with Kaelia. She eventually had to let go of the leash before toppling over.
The birthday celebrations were perfect for Taelyn, and we are so proud of how much she has learned about being nice to others and not just thinking about herself. At one point during the party planning and lesson learning, Taelyn even told me: "Mom, Miley Cyrus makes bad choices, just like I made bad choices, just like some of Daddy's students make bad choices." It was great to see her make connections and reflect on her own behavior!
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