Baby K Turns 2!

I'm a bit behind on my blog entries, but thought I'd post something about my little girl's second birthday (other than the previous entry on what went wrong). We celebrated the actual day at home with a homemade cupcake (saved one from the two dozen we made for baby K's class at daycare).
After she blew out the candles, we all sang Happy Birthday again for about the umpteenth time (though I'm sure baby K's just wondering, "can i eat my cupcake yet?").

Unaccording to Plan

We had some friends over this past Saturday to celebrate S (our friend's daughter) and baby K's birthdays. Given how much baby K loves Elmo, I thought it would be a good idea to have him come perform for the kids. I called up a few party places, got some price quotes, and decided to rent the costume and have a friend of mine dress up in it (shout-out to TY for being such a trooper!). Unfortunately, my plan backfired since baby K (and about half the kids at the party) ended up being terrified of Elmo. I guess it's one thing to see him out in the open at Sesame Place, and it's another to see all seven feet of him standing in the confines of your living room. At least the older kids enjoyed dancing with him so it wasn't a complete waste.

As part of baby K's birthday treat, we decided to take her to the Rainforest Cafe tonight for dinner. M and I had gone to Menlo Park Mall yesterday to scope out the joint, check out the menu, and make reservations. I was excited and purposely left work early to pick her up today. We got to the restaurant, got seated, and all was fine until these giant mechanical apes stationed all around the restaurant began to move and growl. M made the mistake of pointing it out to baby K, who freaked out and latched on to me for dear life. I tried having the waiter re-seat us (away from the apes), but baby K kept crying and would not let go of me as long as we were inside the restaurant, so we ended up leaving and having dinner at the Cheesecake Factory instead (where baby K still spent the first 20 minutes clinging to my neck until the food came and she realized I had ordered pasta, her favorite). SIGH! I am hopeful that baby K won't wake up with nightmares tonight, but I have a feeling she will (just as she did after Elmo showed up in her living room this past Saturday).

Tomorrow M and I will be bringing cupcakes to baby K's class at daycare to celebrate her actual birthday. Then this coming Saturday, we have family coming over for another party. More presents to open and more cake to eat! The festivities continue, but I am through trying to plan something special for baby K. I understand things don't always go according to plan, but these two disappointments in a row at the expense of my little girl is just a bit hard to bear.

Fake Tantrums

As I was driving home yesterday, baby K requested for "Elmo's Song" (as she often does), so I played the song for her, but I told her I was only going to play it once. When the song ended, baby K goes "Elmo's Song" again, as expected. I refused to hit the repeat button and tried to coax her into listening to something else. When she realized she wasn't going to get her way, the screaming and water works display started up. I ignored her and kept on driving. After a few minutes, I could hear the crying taper down and all of a sudden, baby K goes "Sorry!" That came out of nowhere; I was so surprised I almost bursted out laughing. I said to her, "Are you all done now?" and she responded "Yah!" After that brief outburst, she was all happy again and started babbling away, with no more mention of her favorite Sesame Street character.