3rd Birthday

Invitation to Olivia's birthday party

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It started out so well. Olivia's 3rd birthday party was going to be great! Anna was in town from the US! Almost everyone we invited came! The food was great! The decorations were so cute- Anna helped with that! The cake was exactly as Olivia requested- a white cake with chocolate frosting with a horse, a dog, a puppy and a cat. The party started out great. As Olivia and I sat down to blow out her candles, she did not want to. She loves blowing out candles! I thought it was from all the pressure of all the people there. I blew them out for her.

Then we cut the cake and started just talking and playing and Olivia was sitting on the floor playing with some presents and all the sudden she started throwing up. A lot. Matthew was behind her on the couch and helped her throw up into her skirt. Everyone looked on in horror. I was hoping it was something she ate. I showered her off and put on her pajamas as she wanted (so much for the cute dress and cardigan I dressed her in) and then she wanted her pacifier and to get in bed.

So she went to bed and the party continued around her. The kids kept playing in her room while she was there in the bed- which she really liked. People ate cake and food. I was so appreciative to everyone for not bailing out right then and there in fear of whatever stomach ailment she might have. The party went on.

It was so good to see Lars and Ulrika and family from Sweden as well as Sarita

Helene and her family came from the magical farm they recently moved to. My good friend, Lene, and her boys came.

Olivia eventually asked to get out of bed. She did not look so good. She just kind of lazied around the party looking like this.

Emma and her daughter, Nora, came.

Anna directed the kids in a game of Pin the Tail on the Horse. It was cute!

The next morning Olivia was totally fine. It was only a 12 hour thing. She was all excited to play with her new toys when she woke up. When I ask her about her party she doesn't mention the throwing up or being sick but just talks about all her friends being there so I guess it was still a really good birthday party!

Kagemand, Kagemand, Kagemand!!!

This picture is sideways (the head of the little man is on the left. You can see he has pink eyes).

Today is Olivia's birthday. She is 3 years old and quite proud of it! She and Graham are both in bed now and one of the last things I heard her say as I put her in her room for bed was her asking me to sing the Kagemand song. Kagemand is Danish for Cake Man, essentially. It is a Danish tradition on a child's birthday to bake them a brunsviger in the shape of a man or woman with candy all over it. Brunsviger is a sweet bread with brown sugar and cinnamon spread over it, baked, and then topped with powdered sugar frosting. It is really good!

This morning when Olivia woke up, Matthew and I went into her room and dumped a lot of balloons on her head. I thought she would love it but she was mostly just confused and/or overwhelmed. She liked it but was so shy and quiet. Our downstairs neighbors can attest to the fact that she is never quiet or shy in the morning- she usually wakes up hopping and never really stops, but is particularly full of energy in the morning. Then Matthew presented her with the Kagemand he had made for her pictured above. She loved it! Matthew had candles on it and she blew them out. It was cut up and devoured throughout the day by all of us. It was excellent brunviger!

Next we gave O her presents.

Her favorite present by far was this bike we got for her. She was so excited about it and, as Matthew noticed, touched every square inch of it after opening it.

After opening presents and eating brunsviger for awhile and just lazying around, we went to a playground/ park area called Bondegården legeplads

This park has a lot of things to play with and look at. There are horses, ponies, rabbits, pigs, goats, chickens, zipline, castle, bridge, bikes, etc. We spent 3 hours or so wandering around and letting Olivia go nuts. Graham had some fun too.

Behind the play castle there was a little village of wood houses, some more dilapidated than others, that you could go in and play in.

Many of them were a lawsuit waiting to happen- like this one. They were all so cool and fun.

When we got home in the early evening Matthew took Olivia down to ride her new bike while I made dinner. She just loves that bike!

Last week I asked Olivia what she wanted for her birthday dinner and, without hesitation, she told me she wanted oatmeal. She eats oatmeal for breakfast most days and loves it. I think that is just great, but she would not be eating it for her birthday dinner! So I said- how about pizza?! She said no at first but eventually she came around to the idea. Her compromise was to have both pizza and oatmeal for dinner. My compromise was to have pizza for dinner and oatmeal for breakfast the next day. Done!

Kids

This is Olivia and Graham just before bed

Snow Days- Go Out/ Stay In

It was really cold in the beginning of February and we were excited by the cold so that we could go play in the snow. This is me and Olivia sledding at a park near us.

It was so cold for awhile and we did some hibernating- only going out for church or groceries or to friends' houses. So we built forts.