Ireland is THREE!!!

Her official 3 year old photos. This one is my favorite.

Ireland had QUITE the third birthday celebration! She started the day opening her highly anticipated presents. Among them was the traditional piggy bank with rolls of quarters, dimes, nickles and pennies along with a $2 bill to celebrate leaving her "twos". She's actually needed that piggy bank for a while now as Ireland has a particular talent for finding change on the ground.

The tray was so high for Ireland we had to prop her up on pillows.

After presents, she had breakfast in bed. We took her menu order a few days earlier and she was adamant that she wanted Mac N Cheese and chocolate milk. While she noshed on that, we all said one thing we love about Ireland. I said I love her naked bum, Brent said he loves her smile and Liesel said she loves that Ireland gives her all her presents... Brent and I stifled laughter as best we could because Liesel was being totally sincere. Brigitta was still asleep but once she awoke we asked her what she loved about Ireland and her smiley face suddenly turned very serious. It's like she was thinking very, VERY hard about it.  

We then did our usual morning routine. While I did Ireland's hair we looked at old blog posts from past birthdays (I was floored by how much she's changed from one year ago) and then I found this video on YouTube:
Can you name all the songs weaved in with the traditional Happy Birthday? Here's a hint, there's some Mozart, Chopin, Debussy and Liszt. I love watching his fingers fly all over those ivories!

After dropping Liesel off at preschool, Ireland and I stopped by a bakery to put in our order. I'd hoped to get a pie since Ireland is a "Pi Baby" (ie born on 3/14) but they wouldn't have been able to make it in time. Next year. Ireland opted for a pretty strawberry cake and while they iced "Happy Birthday" on top, she nibbled on a chocolate petit-four. We then continued our hunt for the perfect preschool (our latest mission) and were pleasantly surprised to find one that will be about as perfect a fit as possible. More on that later...

Feeling triumphant and a little tired after lunch, I cuddled up and took a nap with my girl (not many of those are left in our future!). When we woke up, the whole family headed out for a few errands and then to Ireland's favorite restaurant for dinner- The Olive Garden. Our waitress was kind enough to bring TWO small bowls of black olives just for Ireland and kept the chocolate milk a plenty throughout the meal. The timing couldn't have been better; we were seated right away and when we finally left we passed tons of people waiting to be called for a table.

Finally we headed home to have cake and end the night with Charlotte's Web for movie night. It was a big day for this little girl and it made me a little sad to see how excited she is to grow up. A lot of parents bemoan the "terrible twos" but I have to say Ireland has been nothing short of a delight. Many thanks for all the text messages and phone calls wishing our little Ireland the best of birthdays!