Happy Birthday Eliza!

So my baby has now turned three, as of 7:42 this morning.  So much has happened in the past year.  She is no longer wearing diapers except at night, she is feeding herself every day, she knows so much, and she converses like a child twice her age.  She is becoming a kind and empathetic little lady.  I am so proud.  Yesterday we went to a birthday party for Max, the son of some friends of ours in Easthampton Massachusetts.  Max turned two yesterday.  CJ and Eliza were so well behaved that I was astounded.  Even when we had to leave they handled it pretty well.  We had to explain that Max needed a nap, but what three and four year old wants to leave a place with a bouncy house and cotton candy machine?

On the long car ride yesterday Eliza got to plan the menu for her birthday.  She wanted toast and milk for breakfast.  I kept asking her, "Toast?  Are you sure you want toast?  I can make you something special."  "Toast IS special Mommy, and I like it.  You can put special birthday peanut butter on it."  Okay.  On to lunch.  "Macaroni and cheese with vegetables.  Because we are having mashed potatoes for dinner so we can't have them for lunch too."  Alrighty then.  What does she want for dinner you ask?  "Mommy I want mashed potatoes with butter in them."  (Picture her mashing potatoes in the air and cutting butter.)  "Yes I know how you like mashed potatoes.  What else do you want?"  "I told you, butter."  "No I mean with the potatoes and butter."  "OOOOHHHH.  I want chicken, and baby carrots, and a big salad with lots of teeny tiny sprouts.  And chocolate cake.  No ice cream, and no frosting."  "Really?  No ice cream or frosting?"  "No just chocolate cake.  I LOVE chocolate cake, Mommy!"  You got it baby girl!  I had to add a little bit of not exactly frosting, so I could turn her chocolate cake pink though.  More about that later.  While reading this encounter I want you to remember that Eliza speaks with her hands, A LOT!  Here she is with cake.

And a picture of her chosen dinner.

She even chose to add broccoli to the baby carrots, because she likes having two vegetables.  I asked isn't salad a vegetable, and she told me of course it is made from vegetables, but it is salad, and it doesn't count as a vegetable.

For her birthday she got two books, one she immediately identified as an Eric Carle book, a skirt and shirt, dry erase crayons for her alphabet whiteboard, a bouncy playground type ball with Abby Cadabby on it (she is from Sesame Street if you are unfamiliar with her), a new plate with butterflies, and a coloring book we made her.  We had to read the books before bed tonight.  And tomorrow she wants to use her new crayons.  I think she had a very happy birthday, even if it wasn't very eventful.  We are all sick, and my parents were too sick to come over.  We couldn't visit my grandparents, as we didn't want to share the germs.  Rich did stay home though, and that was nice.  We had a good day together, and look forward to many more happy birthdays.  CJ celebrates turning four in just three weeks!  Tomorrow we celebrate the letter M with M foods and M activities, and our weekly library class.

I have to tell you about the cake.  I made a bundt cake using the friendship starter and a recipe from a King Arthur Flour cookbook I have.  It makes a chocolate friendship cake.  I took that, adding a little espresso powder.  After it cooled I wanted to add a little something, so I found, again from King Arthur flour, a recipe for poured fondant.  I melted pink chocolate wafers, used to make candy, and mixed it with powdered sugar, corn syrup and hot water.  It makes this gorgeous pourable smooth thick icing that I then topped with colored candy coated mini chocolate chips.  As seen here:

Yummy!  Will be my go to cake recipe from now on!  Enjoy everyone!