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We celebrated Harlow’s birthday on November 8th, a full week before her real birthday on November 15th, because Grammy wouldn’t have been able to come on the actual day. The party was small and perfect (photos to come), but I’m not entirely convinced Harlow understood the party was hers. She seemed way more excited in the days leading up to her actual birthday, which was worrisome, because she obviously expected a fabulous celebration of all things Harlow…. which had already happened.

I blame Grammy.

Although, it might be my fault for playing up her real birthday as well. On November 14th, I had the following conversation with Harlow about forty times:

ME: Harlow, do you know what tomorrow is?

HARLOW: What?

ME: Your birthday!

HARLOW: My birthday????

ME: Yes! Your birthday!

HARLOW: WOWWWWW!!!!!!!

It reminded me of 50 First Dates, that movie where Drew Barrymore has a short term memory and Adam Sandler has to tell her all the exciting details of her life each morning when she wakes up. “I have kids??? WOW!!!!” I guess I am Adam Sandler in this scenario.

Anyway, I found Harlow’s reaction so adorable, I kept telling her it was her birthday the next day, just to hear her scream, “WOWWWWWW!!!!”

On the eve of the big day (which wasn’t really going to be that big of a day) as I was putting the girls to bed, Mazzy reminded me of her 4th birthday last year when I hung balloons and a “Happy Birthday” sign outside their bedroom door, so it would be the first thing Mazzy saw when she woke up.

“You should do the same thing for Harlow.”

“Yes, of course!” (Then I scrounged around the closet after the kids fell asleep and thankfully pulled out four balloons leftover from something else.)

When Harlow woke up on the morning of her birthday, I walked in and shouted, “Happy Birthday, Harlow!”

Harlow: Is it my party soon?

Me: Ummmm….. we already had your party last week.

Harlow: Is it my party soon?

Me: Look! Do you see the balloons!

Harlow: Is that my party?

Me: Ummmm…. yes?

The plan for Saturday was to take the girls to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. I had never seen it before (being Jewish and all) and I thought it would be a great event to make Harlow’s birthday feel special. The girls both loved it, but when it was over, Harlow turned to me and said…

“Is it my party soon?”

Crap.

When we got home, I put her down for a late nap and took Mazzy out to buy gifts and a cake. FYI- Harlow got gifts at the first party so I wasn’t thinking she needed more gifts, but obviously I was wrong. Also, we had the first party at the house so we left the gifts there, which was probably a mistake.

After walking up and down the two aisles of our neighborhood toy store, Mazzy and I decided on a top that Harlow always plays with when we go there to buy other children gifts. Then we got a cake at the Italian bakery around the corner, pulled some party hats out of storage and waited for Harlow to wake up.

That’s when I remembered Sticky Bellies (the company known for their monthly milestone stickers) had sent me their new “Birthday Poster” a few days prior.

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The Birthday Poster is 24X36 inches and designed to look like a chalkboard. All the artsy stuff is already done for you— a growth chart on the side, a banner to write in your kid’s name, frames for pics of the past and present, etc.

FYI- bloggers get free stuff like this all the time and I have large pile of boxes siting in our front hallway that drive my husband CRAZY because he is not allowed to open them or move them until I photograph them. When I got the Birthday Poster, I was like— oh, this would make a fun photo shoot! But that day I realized— no, this will actually go a long way to jazz up my non-birthday birthday party for Harlow.

I opened up the poster and filled in all Harlow’s stats. How much she weighs, how tall she is, what her favorite foods are, her latest milestones, etc.

All while she was napping.

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As expected, Harlow’s first words when she woke up were:

“Is it my party now?”

“Yes, Harlow! It’s your party now!”

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Harlow put on her hat, played with the balloons, and we talked about all the details on the sign (she informed me her favorite color was pink, not purple). Plus, I even got some memorable photos with little to no work whatsoever. (And for people who don’t record every detail of their life on their mom blog, the Birthday Poster is great keepsake to remember who your kid was at a certain age.)

Then Harlow blew out her candles and we all ate some cake.

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Lastly, she opened her present.

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The top.

She was so excited, I almost felt bad it wasn’t something bigger.

But I guess that’s the point of being two. It doesn’t have to be a big deal to make a two-year-old feel special. All it takes is a cake, a party hat, a $15 gift and a poster.

Oh, and a handmade card from your big sister.

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Thank you Sticky Bellies for helping make Harlow’s actual birthday into something worthy of my very astute little kiddo. If you’d like to buy The Birthday Poster for your birthday boy or girl, use BIRTHDAYKID for 15% off.

I’m giving away three Birthday Posters in the comments. Just tell me your kid’s favorite color, food, book, toy and song in the comments below.

If you want a second entry, tweet the following and then write a second comment telling me you did so:

“Just entered to win The Birthday Poster from @StickyBellies http://bit.ly/1u6mM4x via @mommyshorts. #giveaway”

I’ll pick three winners randomly and announce them on November 28th. Good luck!

UPDATE: The winners are Emily (her daughter Katie loves milkshakes), Jessica (her daughter Kendall who always wants to read “There’s a Wocket in my Pocket”) and Ashleigh (her daughter Nora’s favorite song is Let It Go sung at the top of her lungs at the grocery store).

Congrats! Please email abby@mommyshorts.com with the subject “Sticky Bellies Winner” to claim your prize.

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This is a sponsored post by Sticky Bellies, but all thoughts, opinions and birthday events are my own.