Hadley's 2nd Birthday Party

I supposed that technically this is Hadley's third birthday. After all, October 23, 2006 should count for something, right? Of course, there was no Elmo cake like the one at Saturday's birthday party.

Granted, he turned out looking a little more like Animal from the Muppets, but Hadley seemed to know who he was. Here's another shot of the birthday table with the Sesame Street plates, hats, and party favors, and another shot of Hadley's expression after she saw all the stuff laid out on the table:

Her buddies Matthew and Aiden came over and Hadley was so happy to play with them all evening. They colored, played with balloons and all kinds of toys, and all three practiced the new skill they learned - jumping!

Last year I made Hadley a birthday cake and she was quite suspicious of it (there are pictures on this blog of last year's celebration), but this year she had no problem diving into Elmo. In fact, when she first saw the Elmo cake, she took her Elmo doll (who she calls, "Uncle Geoff's Elmo" because he gave it to her) and put his face on the cake. I said, "Hadley, what are you doing?" She responded, "Elmo wants to eat the cake." I told her Elmo had to wait for Matthew and Aiden to come over.

FYI - the carseat on the table is NOT our soon to be second child. That is my friend Mindy's new baby Ryan who was born October 1. Here's a video of everyone singing to Hadley:

I had a great time watching Hadley have a great time. Hadley and I have known Matthew and Aiden and their moms Erin and Mindy for over a year now and we are fortunate to call them good friends.

This Thursday, which is the "official" birthday, we'll have our family celebration.