Happy Birthday K!

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We celebrated K's 4th birthday on Monday. It was a busy and fun day!

The day started with a few presents and cards and, of course, the birthday crown, which I found just in the nick of time...






While K went off to pre-school, I made his cake. I baked it the day before, but it was the decorating that took the time. It's actually made from individual cupcakes (you can see the silicon liners reflected in the foil), placed together to form a train shape. I'm afraid I can't take credit for this great idea; I found a (reduced-price) kit like this one at Jusco!




After school, it was party-time! This was the first time K had had a children's party for his birthday; until now it's just been family. Since there are 'only' 10 children in the older classes at K's pre-school we thought we'd invite them all. With a few siblings coming along too we ended up with a guest list of 15 little ones, plus some mums, although in end illness brought it back down to 13 (including T!).

From what I hear nowadays, kids' parties back in the UK can be major events. I, on the other hand, had the advantage that no-one here really does kids' parties for birthdays and so there were no expectations. I kept it very old-school, just the kind of party that I had when I was little. We had the classic party games (pass-the-parcel, musical statues, pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, balloon-between-the-knees relay...), cake and juice, and goodie bags at the end. Pretty much all of this was new to everyone concerned, who I think were just expecting the kids to be
running riot
playing freely.

thanks to A's mum for this pic - I completely forgot to take photos...

The day before the party, K announced that he wanted to play the planet game. No, I didn't know what that was either. He informed me that it involved me (the Sun) standing in the middle and everyone else holding a balloon and walking around me, in the correct order according to a list of planet roles composed by K.

So H and I spent Sunday evening blowing up balloons (he hates to blow up balloons and I cannot tie them. What a ridiculous pair), and the game was duly played at the party. It did prompt one older girl to ask 'Is this a game??' but K later declared that it had been his favourite part of the party.

Anyway, the party went well and I'm pretty sure everyone enjoyed themselves. Once all the guests left we had a quick Skype chat with Mum and Dad and then, seeing as I couldn't be bothered to cook, we went to Joyful for dinner, a treat in K's eyes. Back home again there was another cake, a gift from pre-school...

...and then yet more present-opening. Everyone who gave K a gift obviously knows him and his current interests so well. Presents included 2 space books and a set of space stickers, an inflatable globe and a couple of little books on geography and flags, workbooks for English and math, and a Chuggington annual.

K finally headed off to bed just after 9, but was still awake reading the afore-mentioned Chuggington annual at 11. I thought (hoped!) that this might mean a little lie-in the next day, but at 7:15am, K was up and in our bed - bringing the Chuggington annual with him...

So happy birthday little K! The past year has been a big one for you, becoming a big brother. This year brings many changes too, starting with Japanese kindergarten next month. The night before his birthday K said that he was looking forward to his party but was sad about not being 3 anymore. I think this means we need to dial down the 'you're a big boy now' phrases, however positively we intend them. Perhaps, especially with T around, K feels pressure to be 'big' and on his best behaviour.

Don't worry K. You can still be my sweet little, planet-obsessed, book-loving, photograph-taking, cutting-and-gluing boy for as long as you like. I love that you love to share things, that you're (generally!) so kind and gentle to your little brother and that, like me, you love to get out and about and see people. I even love it when you come into our bed in the middle of the night but shush, don't tell Daddy I said that ;-)

K is 3!

K turned 3 on Saturday. Where did all that time go? It doesn't seem that long ago that we took that sweet little baby photo but, on the other hand, it's sometimes hard to remember our life before he came along.

The day started with a pancake breakfast for us all...


... followed by opening cards...

... including one featuring Maisy! Well done H for finding that :-)

Then it was present time. K got 2 different sets of jigsaws, which had to be tried out immediately, with a little help from Mummy and Daddy...

He was very excited to get this dinosaur too, but later declared that he didn't like it. Apparently, he likes 'eating grass dinosaurs', not 'eating other dinosaur dinosaurs'.

Last week I appliqued a couple of T-shirts for him. He wasn't bothered about the one with a tie but I don't mind, it was mainly for my benefit. When he saw the grey shirt, he said 'Ooh! A pig!'. Hmm... Later in the day though he changed his mind, and declared it a dinosaur. Phew.

Note to self: stick to simple shapes for applique. Ties - good. Triceratops - bad.

H's parents and aunt and uncle happened to be going out for lunch so we gate-crashed that, and then we headed off to the park for monkey-watching...

... a visit to the planetarium...

... and general playing.

We went to the same park on K's birthday last year too, although I notice that he didn't need his coat then. Skip over the next photo quickly if you're of a nervous disposition...

A quick stop at the supermarket for speedy party food (mainly pizza, fried stuff and crab) and then back home just in time to greet H's parents, brother and his girlfriend. The crown came out again...

...and the food and drink went down well.

Unlike last year, K was very aware of the fact that his birthday was coming this year, and he specifically requested a chocolate cake (inspired by, yes, Maisy) with 3 candles. When I asked him what he wanted to do on his birthday, he replied 'blow' (as in '..out candles'). So H and I made this cake one evening a couple of days ago, and I quickly whipped up some cream to decorate it just before our guests arrived:

He was Very Excited when we turned down the lights and brought out the cake and, after I demonstrated by blowing out the first candle, he happily blew out the other 2. I think the cake (which he described as 'another present!') may have been the highlight of the day for K - even today I caught him telling someone that he had chocolate cake on his birthday...

Happy Birthday to me...

It was my birthday last Friday and I had a good day. It started with an unexpected Skype chat with insomniac Mum and Dad. To be honest, Skyping can be a bit of a pain at times, with poor connections making it difficult to talk to each other and K trying to disconnect stuff or play with the mouse. But this time it was all as it should be, and we were able to have a nice, relaxing chat; even K was on his best behaviour and performed well for the camera.

After an easy class with a private student, K and I joined Cian, Lisa, Vivian, Cally and Alex for a lovely birthday lunch. K was reasonably well-behaved and I had a special birthday dessert, complete with candles (luckily not the actual number of my age. That would have been a fire hazard) and everyone in the restaurant singing Happy Birthday.


Lately the cold weather definitely encourages baking, and K is keen too. One of his favourite books at the moment is Maisy Makes Gingerbread, in which 'Maisy needs flour, sugar, eggs, butter and ginger'. Therefore everything we make now is also declared to need those ingredients too. Well, we didn't make gingerbread, but we did make a cheesecake on Friday afternoon. Yum. H came home a bit early and we had a big one-pot nabe dinner, followed by a visit to H's mum and dad's (taking the cheesecake. Yum.)

It really was a lovely day and I had some nice cards and gifts too (as in 'I had some cards and gifts. They were nice' not 'I had cards and gifts. Some of them were nice'. Don't you just love the English language?). The birthday atmosphere carried over to Saturday night's Hallowe'en party too, where Cian presented me with a birthday cake. It was slightly battered where the box had been knocked over by a drunken guitarist, but it still tasted Very Good as a mid-afternoon snack yesterday.

So now that my birthday and Hallowe'en have passed, I suppose Christmas is next on the list. Gulp.