Reflections on Birthday Gifts

Reese was showered with many wonderful and thoughtful gifts at her birthday party...and they may be the only things getting me through the last few days of summer before she returns to school.

Some quick observations on a few gifts so far.

1. Because this is the most over-the-top outfit imaginable Reese is in love with it. Yes, my first reaction is "Toddlers and Tiaras," but since she's only wearing it in the house who can blame her for loving all of those bouncy tutu layers? Seriously, there have been days since her party when all she's worn is pajamas and this--we get up, pajamas come off, tutu goes on, tutu comes off for nap, pajamas go on, nap's over, tutu's back on...you get the gist.


2. Reese also got two gift cards to buy some new school clothes for fall. One of her must haves? Headbands. Don't ask me where this intrigue came from, but she HAD to have a package of three plastic headbands. She insists that she knows how to put them on herself. The results are comical.


3. Wow--we've finally reached an age where we can actually PLAY board games. And not just spin the spinner and move the pieces in all different directions while making up a story about going to grandma's house, actually play by the rules. Reese has shocked me with her skill at Memory, and Candyland is a thrill. They've redesigned the board since the last time I played and now ALL of the candy-people are intriguing, not just the ice-cream princess; or was that just me? Then there's Chutes and Ladders....I would now like to make a formal apology to all the babysitters and family members I made play that game as a child. It is essentially the Monopoly of toddler-gaming; and by that, I mean that the game takes FOREVER. I swear no one ever gets the ladder that takes you from space 4 to space 82, but I manage to hit EVERY chute I come across. Reese thinks it's particularly fun to slide down the chutes and the fact that the game takes an hour is no problem for her.

4. Daddy has gotten to watch Beauty and the Beast twice already in the past week. Is it possible to wear out DVDs? I think we may find out. I was surprised at how much Reese understood about the plot the first time she watched it and she wasn't scared by the Beast character at all. Now she likes to conjecture about Belle. Today in the car it was, "I think Belle is a grown up. Maybe she's 17." (She's really stuck on the number 17 lately, she even told Daddy that she thought he had just turned 17.)

I'll spare you the run down on every gift she received, she's enjoying them all and I can't thank you enough for all your generosity.