Madeline’s 2nd Birthday

We have a two year old. It feels completely surreal. Somehow our little baby is officially a toddler, and we had a wonderful day celebrating her by doing the things she loves most.

We had a late night the night before, so Madeline slept in a bit on Sunday morning, which all of us enjoyed. When she woke up, she was very excited that it was finally her birthday. We let her open a couple of small gifts from us, including the Melissa & Doug Ice Cream Counter. It was an immediate hit. She played with it throughout the day, taking our orders and serving us little scoops of pretend ice cream. She also got a few new books, which are always a safe bet with Mads.

After presents, we made breakfast and basically let the birthday girl decide how she wanted to spend her morning. Her choice was to play in the loft, so we all headed upstairs. At some point she decided she needed to dress like a cat, because why not? Then we played Candy Land, took care of her baby dolls, did some coloring, and played with Play-Doh.

I love how much she enjoys the loft. We have slowly turned it into a space that is really hers, and it makes me happy that when given the choice of what she wants to do, she often just wants to go upstairs and play. It was a pretty simple way to spend her birthday morning, but it also felt very Madeline.

She played right up until naptime and then took a nice long nap. In fact, she slept almost exactly until it was time to get ready and head to the aquarium for her birthday party.

We chose to hold her party at the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium this year for two main reasons. First, Madeline absolutely loves the aquarium. Second, it was significantly easier than hosting another giant birthday party at our house. Last year we went all out at home, but this year the aquarium handled most of the logistics for us. Really, all we needed to do was show up with cake and a few decorations.

Of course, saying we “just needed to bring cake” undersells Alison’s contribution quite a bit. She was hard at work making three different cakes: chocolate salted caramel, funfetti, and peanut butter dream. The peanut butter dream was a peanut butter cake with peanut butter marshmallow fluff between the layers and peanut butter buttercream. All three cakes were delicious and got rave reviews. It was fun having an assortment so everyone could try something different.

I also decided that the kids needed some 3D-printed party favors. I made a whole collection of little creatures, including articulating sharks, articulating manta rays, glow-in-the-dark jellyfish, cute little hermit crabs, and alligators that held hands. I set them all out and let the kids choose what they wanted, and they ended up being a huge hit. It was fun watching all the kids dig through the pile trying to decide which creature they wanted to take home.

We had a really great cross section of people from our lives at the party. There was family, coworkers, friends, and neighbors, along with a small army of little kids running around everywhere. One of the best parts about the aquarium party rooms is that they are right next to a giant indoor play area, which turned out to be perfect for our group.

While Alison and I were getting everything set up, Madeline immediately took off with her cousins to explore the big-kid play area. She has played in the smaller toddler area plenty of times, but this was the first time she really explored the bigger section. It was kind of amazing to watch. Suddenly she was big enough to navigate it mostly on her own, climbing through the obstacles, finding the slides, and running around after the other kids. It was another one of those reminders that she really is two now.

Once most people had arrived, we gathered everyone back into the party rooms to sing “Happy Birthday” to Madeline and cut the cakes. She seemed pretty pleased with having a whole room full of people singing to her, and then everyone spread back out again.

The nice thing about having the party at the aquarium was that people could come and go from the room throughout the party. Some families wandered through the exhibits, while a lot of the kids spent most of their time in the play area. Madeline was definitely in the latter group. Whenever I went looking for her, she seemed to be running somewhere, going down a slide, or climbing through one of the obstacles with a huge smile on her face. She spent most of her own birthday party playing as hard as she possibly could, which felt like a pretty good sign that we had picked the right place.

After the party wrapped up, we took Madeline on a quick walk through the aquarium so she could visit a few of her favorite exhibits before we headed home. We didn't stay too long after such a busy party, but it felt wrong to have her birthday at the aquarium without actually seeing some of the exhibits.

Back at home, she opened her presents and was thrilled by the enormous pile of new toys, books, and thoughtful gifts from our family and friends. Eventually, after a very full day, we got our newly minted two year old ready for bed and called it a night.

It was a fabulous birthday, and most importantly, Madeline had a lot of fun. As she gets older, I always want her birthdays to feel like they are actually about her. Of course Alison and I enjoy planning the party and all of the little details, but more than anything I want the day to be filled with things she genuinely loves. This year that meant playing in the loft in a cat costume, eating cake, running around the aquarium with her cousins and friends, and coming home to a pile of new toys. I think we accomplished the mission.

Her birthday was definitely the centerpiece of the weekend, but there was quite a bit going on in the days leading up to it too.

Bret and Calvin were in town from Wednesday through Saturday. On Friday night we all gathered at Gary’s Asian Bistro for a family dinner to celebrate their engagement. We could not be happier for them. They seem so happy and excited about this next chapter, and it was really nice having everyone together to celebrate them while they were in town. Afterward we all walked over to Handel's to get some delicious ice cream and extend our family time a little bit. 

Saturday morning, Madeline and I went to Kid to Kid for their big costume drop. By now you probably know that I am very into spooky season and firmly believe Madeline needs a costume for basically every possible Halloween occasion. Apparently a lot of other parents feel the same way because Kid to Kid was absolute madness.

We still managed to come home with a few good finds, including a Grogu costume, an Olaf costume, and a pig costume. I wasn't especially sold on the pig costume when I first saw it, but Madeline absolutely loved it and was so excited to try it on that there was really no debate. Once she put it on, I had to admit it was pretty cute.

Saturday night we had another family dinner at Blake and Debbie’s house. Blake and Debbie smoked a brisket, and we had a really nice meal together. We played some games, caught up with Bret and Calvin before they headed home, and also squeezed in a little early celebration for Madeline’s birthday.

Bret and Calvin brought her a giant unicorn balloon, which she absolutely loved. Debbie made key lime pies, and Madeline got to open her present from Blake and Debbie. They gave her a pair of binoculars, or “noculars,” as Mads calls them, along with a teddy bear made from one of Blake’s old shirts. The bear was such a sweet gift and something she will be able to keep for a long time.

It ended up being one of those weekends where there was something going on almost constantly, but in a really good way. 

Two years has gone incredibly fast. Madeline seems to change almost every day right now, with new words, opinions, games, and little pieces of her personality constantly emerging. I know there will be plenty more birthdays and plenty more elaborate plans over the years, but I hope we always manage to keep the same basic goal we had this year: give her a day where she feels loved, gets to be completely herself, and has an absolute blast.