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.
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.
As expected, Harlow’s first words when she woke up were:
“Is it my party now?”
“Yes, Harlow! It’s your party now!”
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.
Lastly, she opened her present.
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.
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.
Mason’s favorites:
Color: gold
Food: watermelon
Book: any of the Pigeon books
Toy: iron man Hot Wheels car
Song: ABCs
Hadley’s favorites:
Color – purple
Food – pancakes
Book – Madeline in London
Toy – kitchen
Song – Let It Go
Maia’s Favorites
Color: Pink
Food: Blueberries
Book: Pinkalicious
Toy: Mimi(her build-a-bear)
Song: Do you want to build a snowman
Carson’s favorites are…
Color: Green
Food: meatballs
Book: his Tomy family photo album
Toy: balls
Song: Shake It Off (Taylor Swift)
I tweeted too!
Axel’s Favorite:
Color- orange
Food- pizza
Book- Go Dog Go
Toy- the dust buster
Song- the jello song (sing the directions on the jello box)
L’s
Favorite Color: Red
Food: Pasta wheels with Butter & Grated parm
Book: The Little Blue Truck Leads the Way
Toy: any cars, trucks and buses
Song: Let the Groove Get In by Justin Timberlake
Sweetinsahmnity at gmail
Henry’s favorites:
Color: blue or red or green, he’s not picky
Food: chicken nuggets
Book: Mr. Brown Can Moo Can You?
Toy: Cozy truck
Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider
Just made this for my family. It was so damn goooood. I didn’t use green beans or corn (I put in another type of bean though). The mixture of spices works extremely well. There was plenty left, so I might use it to make some #SWAGhetti #YOLOgnese tomorrow.
Kit, turning 2 on Jan 15
Color: yellow (aka “lello”)
Food: Cheerios (aka “yoyos”)
Book: Knuffle Bunny
Toy: blocks
Song: Mr Rabbit
Vada’s favorites:
Color- pink
Food- yogurt with raspberries
Book- The Little Blue Truck
Toy- cookie baking set
Song- Bucky the Bucking Bull
My nephew’s favorite color: navy blue, favorite food is milk, favorite book: Good Night Moon, Favorite toy; Baby Swing, favorite song: Hush Little Baby
Lydia’s Faves:
Color: Pink & purple
Food: brownies
Book: Pinkalicious books
Toy: Lalaloopsy Mini Dolls
Song: “Let It Go” (Idina Menzel’s version)
Josephine’s favorites:
Color — Purple
Food — Carrots
Book — Disney’s Beauty and the Beast
Toy — xylophone
Song — This little light of mine
If I’m being honest, the almost birthday girl’s favorites are anything that her older sister says is a favorite. Very cute sister stuff. But the soon to be 2 yr old does like lellow (yellow), eating 4 hot dogs per sitting, reading Pete the Cat, playing with her doll baby Gaby and singing Fancy (no need to tell me it is not appropriate, already been told:), if we need toddler stuff I will go with You Are My Sunshine.
Nora’s favorite:
Color: ? She’s 16 months! I’ll say yellow
Food: avocados and spaghetti
Book: noisy Nora
Toy: bubble guppies school bus
Song: if you’re happy and you know it
Elliott, age 21 months:
color – blue (at least that’s the only color word he knows. He points to everything blue and says it!)
Food – bread.
Book – Little Owl Lost
Toy – balls, any.
Song – I Like to Move it (move it)
Carlos’s
Yellow
Pizza
Corduroy
Anything related to disney cars
Abc song
Catherine’s Favorites:
Color: Blue
Food: Bananas
Book: The Belly Button Book by Sandra Boynton
Toy: Er…the button that lights up on Daddy’s Xbox…or her talking teapot
Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider
Alexis’ Favorite…
Color: pink
Food: bread (any form of it- toast, bagel, etc)
Toy: talking Elmo doll
Book: Disney’s Cinderella
Song: a Greek children’s song about a wolf
Luna’s favorite:
Color: pink
Food: cheese
Book: how do I love you
Toy: drum set
Song: the itsy bitsy spider
Alice
1/3/2012 at 11:21 am
color: blue and orange
food: guacamole, pasta
book: Curious George
toy: Ella the Cabbage Patch doll
song: Wheels on the Bus
Caleb’s Favorite:
color: red
food: grilled cheese
book: Good Night Martha’s Vineyard
toy: blocks
song: Itsy Bitsy Spider
My daughter Addison’s 3rd birthday is in January! Her favorite color is pink (everything is pink!), favorite food is quesadillas, favorite book is Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?, favorite toy is a Ty beanie baby giraffe that I bought for myself right before I got pregnant with her (but of course now it belongs to her!), and her favorite song is “For the First Time in Forever” from Frozen (or “Sing Anna” as she calls it), which I’ve been singing to her at bedtime every night for the past 6ish months….
Milo
Color: Orange
Food: Meatballs, cauliflower
Book: First Big Book of Dinosaurs
Toy: Legos
Song: Puff the Magic Dragon
Teo
Color: Orange
Food: Crepes with ricotta and honey
Book: Hooper Humperdink
Toy: Dinosaurs, Duplos
Song: Puff the Magic Dragon
Yonah’s favorite:
Color: yellow
Food: banana
Book: barnyard dance (Sandra Boynton)
Toy: full-length mirror
Song: Rubber Ducky (Sesame Street song, by Ernie)
He’s turning 1 on the 25th, a poster would be SO perfect!!
I have twins so I’ll list X/X:
Color: Pink/Purple
Food: Nachos/Pineapple which she calls Peaches
Book: Finding Nemo/Are You My Mother
Toy: Christmas Wrapping Paper
Song: Hey, Brother-Avicii/Anything Imagine Dragons
Kelly will be 2 in April! Favorites are:
color – anything, really….she’s only 19 months old right now!
food – apples.
book – anything w/animals.
toy – BABY DOLLS. All the baby dolls.
song: “Baah Baah Blacksheep” (“Baa baa” as it’s said by her!)
Efrain will be two in January. He doesn’t have a favorite color because he hasn’t figured them out yet. Possible color blindness? Anyways here are the rest of his favorites:
Food: berries
Book: Grand Canyon Animal Babies
Toy: Camel or little ride or neighneigh or army truck or….
Song: warthog rhapsody by timon & pumbaa
Olive
Color: red
Food: noodles with butter and Parmesan
Book: fancy Nancy and the ooh la la spa
Toy: makeup
Song: away in a manger
Paul
Color: blue
Food: bacon!!!!!
Book: bright Stanley
Toy: cars
Song: hush little baby
Emma’s favorite:
Color – purple
Food – popcorn
Book – Cookies Week
Toy – play kitchen
Song – Old McDonald
Kiras Favorite:
COLOR: Purple
FOOD: Sun Butter
BOOK: The Artic
TOY: MLP figures
SONG: Frozen…
Jace’s Favorite:
Color: Black and White
Food: Squash
Book: Touch and Feel Halloween
Toy: (actually) Spoons!
Song: Intro to Gilmore Girls
Marin’s favorites:
Pink
Cheese puffs
The little mermaid
My pal violet
Let it go
Nicholas’s favorites:
Green
Cheese puffs
Any Star Wars
Anything Star Wars
Anything Star Wars
Oliver’s (20 months old) Favorites:
Color : Blue (at least that’s the color he usually has all over his hands)
Food : Dips and Minion shaped graham crackers
Book : “The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat”
Toy : Gloves from a hardware store and his brother’s Playmobile Police Helicopter
Song : Wheels on the bus
Justin’s favorites:
Color…Orange
Food…Ham, Turkey and Cheese sammiches
Book…Three Billy Goats Gruff
Toy…Monster Trucks
Song… Paw Patrol these song
Isaac’s favorites:
Color: Blue or green
Food: Bananas
Book: Are you my mother?
Toy: Sophie the giraffe
Song: I love you a bushel and a peck
I tweeted!
My son, Frank, will be 2 on Sunday. Here are his faves:
COLOR: Blue
FOOD: Mac and cheese! He really says it with enthusiasm every time.
BOOK: “Big Frank’s Fire Truck” I could recite it from memory at this point.
TOY: Currently a tractor or monster truck, but really any kind of car, truck, etc.
SONG: The Dump Truck Song – Thank you youtube for providing songs about any and everything you could imagine.
Elliot’s favorite…
Color- pink
Food- yogurt
Book- Dinosaur Versus Bedtime
Toy- choo choos
Song- I Will by the Beatles
Color – green
Food – chicken wings
Book – Go, Dog. Go!
Toy – puzzles
Song – American Pie
KID’S FAVORITE COLOR: yellow
FOOD: pizza
BOOK: Pete the Cat and his white shoes
TOY: babydoll and stroller or guitar
SONG: Baby Beluga
Pop’s faves:
COLOR – PINK
FOOD – DUMPLINGS,
BOOK – HUGGY KISSY
TOY – STUFFED PENGUIN
SONG – I SEE THE LIGHT FROM TANGLED
And because I may not win (and that’s ok) – where is that poster from? I’ve got a baby girl about a month younger than Harlow who needs a sign like this for her upcoming birthday (because like you did, I’ve planned her party for the week before . . . whoops.)
Jaxon’s favorites:
COLOR: Red
FOOD: Fish sticks
BOOK: The Dangerous Book For Boys
TOY: Any monster truck (he has 50)
SONG: You Can’t Touch This by MC Hammer
Color- purple
Food-cheese sticks
Toy- mr potato head
Book- Beep Beep
Song- eieeoooooo aka Old MacDonald
Jason’s Fav’s
Color: green
Food: mango
Book: “Pajama Time”
Toy: the cats feathers and mice
Song: the Itsy Bitsy Spider
I tweeted !!!!
color: bright anything, pink frequently
Food: peas and pretzels
Book: Penguin & Pinecone
Toy: iPad /moms pots and pans
Song: patty cake and Gilmore Girls theme song (it’s a toss up)
color: blue
food: mac & cheese
book: Corduroy
toy: are bubbles a toy?
song: Let It Go
Jed is 4.5 years old
Color: Red. Or blue. Or red. Or blue.
Food: sausages (or whatever I DIDN’T make for dinner)
Book: whichever one I just brought him when I return from a work trip. Right now it’s “Listen Up, Larry”
Toy: all his Thomas trains in rotation. Today it’s Percy.
Song: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
Zac is 2.5 years old.
Color: hasn’t told me yet
Food: banana-sweet potato ice cream
Book: a little dinky book about firemen
Toy: if it is a ball, it is his!
Song: anything with a good beat. He loves to dance!
Happy Birthday, Harlow! 🙂
Audriana’s favorite – 3 years old:
Color: BRIGHT pink…the more obnoxious, and brighter the better
Food: White rice from the Chinese place and Goldfish crackers
Book: Anything Pinkalicious – did you see that coming?
Toy: Elsa costume, her play kitchen with play food (she LOVES to play house)
Song: Do you want to build a snowman? …Yes, still…
Alex”s Favorites:
Color: Orange
Food: Macaroni with butter
Book: Captain Underpants
Toy: Dragons 2 dragons
Song: Smells like Teen Spirit
Cameron’s Favorites:
Color: Brown
Food: Chocolate Chip Mini Mufins
Book: Star Wars and Dad
Toy: Ninja Turtles
Song: Where them Girls At?
Will!
FAVORITE COLOR: Red (even though he is about to be a year old…not sure he really has one 🙂 )
FOOD: MEAT!
BOOK: 8 Little Ladybugs
TOY: Anything his older sister is playing with
SONG: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
I tweeted about the giveaway
https://twitter.com/amyschlott/status/535558226193170433
My son Benjamin’s favorite color is green (its the only one he knows), his favorite food is raisins. With anything. And his favorite book changes but right now it is Good Night Gorilla. His favorite toy is a ball. Any ball. And his favorite song is Old McDonald because he gets to shout EIEIO!
COLOR – pink
FOOD – chocolate
BOOK – Is Your Mama a Lhama?
TOY – baby doll from grammy
SONG – anything Taylor Swift sings (yikes!)
Railroad Alaska S02E02 Mountain Danger 720p Hdtv X264-DHD
I’m fifteen years old and don’t have kids, so I really don’t know what I’m doing reading this blog, but I just wanted to say that I’ve been reading Mommy Shorts every week for almost three years and I can’t believe Harlow’s two! She is the most adorable little cheese potato I’ve ever seen in my life, and Mazzy, with her incredible hairstyles and cute stuff and fabulous personality, is exactly the person I wanted to be when I was in kindergarten. I never comment on anything, but in honor of Harlow’s birthday I figured I would comment and tell you how much I appreciate your blog.
Marlowe’s favorites
Color: Yellow (Or, he just likes saying it because it rhymes with his name)
Food: Vidos. (That’s raisins to you and me.)
Book: “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?”
Toy: Duplos
Song: “Baby Beluga”
Selah’s Favorites:
Color: Pink
Food: Cheese
Book: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Toy: Her Doctor’s kit
Song: Let It Go… Ugh
where did you buy this marvelous dress for your daughter?
thanks!
Thanks! I just ordered a poster for my daughter’s 1st birthday coming up. She will love the colorful poster and my 3 year old will love decorating it. Thanks again for the great idea!
Aiden’s Favorites
Color-purple
Food-Mac and cheese
Book-brown bear
Toy-Minnie Mouse
Song-Cruise
Blake’s Favorites
Color-red
Food-pb&j
Book-Tickle the duck
Toy-giraffy
Song-all about that Bass
You really make it appear so easy with your presentation however I in finding this matter to be actually one thing that I feel I would by no means understand. It kind of feels too complicated and very broad for me. I’m looking ahead in your next post, I’ll attempt to get the cling of it!
Jane’s favorite things
Color: Lime Green
Food: Soup
Toy: Her stuffed bear wearing mittens, of course named Mittens.
Song: When Christmas comes to Town (From the Polar Express)