Is there a 3 year-old in the house?

On Sunday, October 3, 2010, Callie turned 3. And this year, she not only knew it was her birthday, but she was also very excited. For the last four months she was willing to tell everyone and anyone that she was going to be three years old on October 3. She was also quick to point out that she shared her birthday with Uncle Chris.

We started the festivities on the first day of October, the Friday before her big day. We felt like official parents when we met up at the daycare with cupcakes and a camera. Callie insisted on having pink cupcakes with sprinkles on top and they were a hit. Callie and her friends assembled at the table for snack time and John passed out the goodies.


Ever since the "Tony Penza" incident of Memorial Day 2010, John has been banned from camera duties in key situations. Sarah was on the mark, however, and captured Callie enjoying her cupcake. However, the best part of the experience was when one little boy asked John to help him with the wrapper, which then snowballed into five little kids holding up their cupcakes in a silent request for similar assistance. It is important to note that John successfully handled the requests without anyone, including himself, getting too frazzled.


Later that night the real birthday surprise arrived when Nana Banana and Sport got off the plane from Connecticut and prepared to celebrate all weekend with their granddaughter. It was great to have them in town and we certainly squeezed a lot in during the time they were here. Fortunately the weather cooperated for the most part on Saturday, and after a walk through the Farmer's Market we headed to good old Reed Valley Orchard for their Fall Festival.



Callie loved picking apples, listening to music, and spending time with her grandparents. We love the above picture and it is just a glimpse into the fun the three of them had over the weekend. Callie was a particularly big fan of Nana Banana's bedtime reading and she thought Sport was, and we quote, "pretty silly." All in all, it was clearly a good time.


As we mentioned earlier, Callie was very aware that it was her birthday. Apparently so were our respective families and friends. Day after day packages streamed into our house and Callie's was ready to burst from excitement. She could barely contain herself when the time came to sit down and open up some of the boxes. The smile in this picture says it all.


Her excitement only grew when she spotted her monkey cake. This is the first year that Sarah made the cake instead of buying it, and boy did she set a high standard for the years to come. It took a lot of time and effort, but Callie's response to it made the whole thing worthwhile.





The video was a bit too long to put on the blog, so we'll have to describe the actual presentation of the cake and Callie's response to the traditional birthday song. This has never been Callie's forte, and last year she cried when we sang to her while bringing out the cake. This year was an improvement, because there were no tears. But she did not want to blow out the candles and clearly was less than enthusiastic about the singing. One step at a time. Of course, once the singing stopped her smile returned, as you can see below. Then she was more than ready to sit down and dig in.



And just like that, Callie turned three. It happened so fast. But we all know that a birthday in the Bowes house means two things. First, in two days we head to John's favorite destination, Portrait Innovations. Get ready for some cute pictures. Second, Callie better have her file ready for her annual review. Based on what we've been dealing with over the past couple of months, this could be a tough one. (Note to other young children, limit the whining if you want good marks on your evaluation)

And yes, we only have two months before we really have to shift gears and welcome the fourth member of Team Bowes.

Girls Weekend

This Labor Day weekend was different than it has been over the past couple of years. John went off to Cape Cod for the annual reunion by himself while Sarah and Callie stayed back in Kentucky. But they were not alone. Indeed, the same day John left a plane from Los Angeles brought Lauren and Ashlyn in for a visit. Unfortunately, Kate, Lauren's oldest daughter, didn't make the trip. Understandably, Lauren is not ready to travel cross country with two little ones just yet.




The weekend was exactly what everyone needed. Not only did we see the sights throughout Lexington, but the two moms also had the chance to sit around and talk for hours after the girls went to sleep. The only missing element was the wine - most likely next time both moms will really need it if they have all four little girls in one place.


One day we went to Henry Clay's estate, also known as Ashland, to picnic and listen to jazz. Callie loved hanging out with Ashlyn. She was very attentive to her needs and especially enjoyed feeding her little puffs. Everything was going so well...



Then Callie learned some of the risks of feeding a young child. In this picture we witness the aftermath of Ashlyn literally biting the hand that was feeding her. Although Callie was pretty upset, she got over it relatively quickly, and soon renewed her efforts to help Ashlyn eat the puffs. At the very least, this was good training for when she has to deal with her soon to arrive little sister.


It was great to get to know Ashlyn a little better. Not only is she adorable like her sister, but she also has a personality bigger than life. And she is not even a year old yet. The combination of Kate and Ashlyn is sure to keep Lauren and JP busy in the years to come.



In the picture above you can see Callie sporting her new California t-shirt. She is always ready to tell you that she got this shirt from Kate and she loves to wear it. You also will see that Ashlyn has a matching onesie. But what you don't see is that Kate and Auntie Lo also have matching shirts. So if you see a bunch of flowers walking your way, you'll have a pretty good idea of who it is.


As with all visits, this one was too short and on Monday Lauren and Ashlyn took off for Los Angeles even as John flew back from the Cape. Hopefully next time we will be able to get the entire families together. There will be four girls three and under, two moms, and two very outnumbered dudes. Sounds like fun!