B's Third Birthday

This year, Bailey's birthday felt a little like Christmas.  It was the first year she really knew what was coming and in her typical fashion, she was so charmingly excited that she was actually going to get to celebrate her own birthday.  Perhaps the longest, most complete sentence she has ever said to me was last week when she announced: "Mama, I want cupcakes on my birthday."  What, now?  Who replaced my two-year-old with a big kid?  Needless to say, cupcakes became top priority...especially since there are really only two places in the entire city that specifically make cupcakes...and my muffin tins are in The States.  So, a few days before Bailey's birthday, we went on a pilgrimage to Cupcakes Wien to ensure their confections would be fit for our Bear's celebration. If I could've bottled the happiness oozing out of that kid when she realized she was about to eat a cupcake...well, we could probably create world peace is what I'm saying.  My red velvet cupcake could've tasted like saw dust (far from it!) and I still would've considered it the best cupcake I've ever had in my life.  

The next day our big project was making sure the house was turned out for our festivities.  This included a lot less cleaning than usual and a lot more pulling paper lanterns out of their storage space and hanging movie posters and twinkle lights on the walls.  Our place was rocking.  I'm sure anyone fortunate enough to pass on the street was jealous of whatever fantastic party was about to go down.

We were all giddy when we went to sleep, reminding Bailey that she'd be three when she woke up in the morning and that there would be lots of birthday treats.  The big day didn't disappoint.  We were up bright and early eating birthday cake pancakes (Complete with an entire bottle of sprinkles dumped in the batter--what kid doesn't want permission to do that?) lots of berries and bacon and free-flowing refills on the orange juice (the likes of which never are permitted by this stick-in-the-mud mama).  After getting ready and picking out birthday dresses (a must!) we were out the door to go visit Bailey's horses.  The good people at the Hofburg Palace are good enough to house the Lipizzaners in the royal stables for her.  We had tickets to view their morning exercises...and since no one under the age of three is permitted to do this, we figured it was a fitting right-of-passage for our horse-loving girl.  In the end, the morning exercises were really just that--horses being exercised.  But it was really cool to see how fancy their arena was (there was no picture-taking allowed) and to spend some time chatting about all the different horses, the charming noises they make and the giggle-inducing way they are trained to "tip toe".  

The day outside was snowy and really cold, so we decided to warm ourselves up at Cafe Mozart--a fancy old-school cafe just around the corner from the Sacher Hotel.  Bailey got some hot chocolate while sister sipped on hand-squeezed orange juice and we all lingered about our second breakfast like minor royalty.  Bailey only spilled a little hot chocolate on her dirndl (and even more on her papa), but it was a really nice break to sit and enjoy a little Viennese opulence.  After that, it was back to the cold on our quest for more cupcakes to celebrate with that evening...and a tour through the ice skating rink outside city hall, which had conveniently opened on Bailey's birthday.  

After schmoozing with the polar bears at the ice rink, we were pretty well frozen and decided it was time to defrost in front of a new movie Bailey had gotten for her birthday; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was a big hit with the girls, but not so much with their father who I'm pretty sure fell asleep out of self-preservation half way through.

After our lazy afternoon, it was time to gear up for some more celebrating.  We invited Bailey's friend, Jack, over for pizza and he brought his mom and baby brother...who coincidentally are really awesome too.  I'm amazed we got any pizza into those kids.  They were so excited to see each other that they ran non-stop laps around the house for twenty minutes.  That did mean the adults got to sit and eat their own food without pausing every few seconds to answer questions or demands, so in the end it worked out for everyone but our downstairs neighbor.  

The cupcakes did not disappoint for the second time and the Bear was in absolute awe that it was her turn to blow out the birthday candles.  Everyone enjoyed what would be fantastic cupcakes by any country's standards and then we adjourned to the living room where the rest of the night was spent in a parade of kids through the ball pit tent we got Bailey for her birthday.    A top day in any book.  

And as an encore, Bailey spent the entirety of her first day being a three-year-old....in her pajamas.  Meaning, the first time she changed clothes that day was to get into different pajamas for the night.  

Something tells me she'll be spending this year living the dream.