Big Girl Bed

The big news of this weekend is that Elizabeth has finally moved to a big girl bed.  On Saturday morning, Elizabeth and I met up with our friends Laura and Lena for breakfast and a few hours at the Smyrna Fall Jonquil Festival.  While we played and had fun, John was hard at work taking apart the crib and putting together the new bed.  By the time we got home from the festival, John had the new bed all ready for Elizabeth.  She was so excited!  My fears about her ability/willingness to stay in the bed appear to be unfounded.  So far, she seems to be treating it just like the crib and stays in her bed until we come to get her out.  We'll see if that lasts.

Today was our first really cold fall day, so we stayed inside and carved pumpkins.  We are notoriously lazy about carving pumpkins so I was really proud of our effort.  Again, John did most of the work.  Elizabeth and I roasted pumpkin seeds in the oven while John developed carpal tunnel syndrome at the kitchen table. 

We are excited for Halloween!

Back to the bungee swing

Super high

Lena and Elizabeth

Big girl bed

Snug as a bug

Pumpkins

Roasting seeds

Daddy/Daughter Time

John and Elizabeth have had a lot of daddy/daughter time over the past two weekends.  John is really good at thinking of fun activities for them to do together.  Last weekend, I was in Florida for a girls trip.  John took Elizabeth downtown to see Disney on Ice on Saturday morning.  Elizabeth was mesmerized by Mickey, Minnie and all of the Disney princesses.  As most parents are at these things, John was suckered into buying an outrageously expensive snow cone and light-up Minnie Mouse ears.

Minnie ears

Overpriced snow cone (but that expression is priceless)

Post-show lunch

Post-lunch ice cream

This Saturday, I had an all-day event at work so John and Elizabeth were on their own again.  Elizabeth has a new Curious George book that mentions riding on the subway train, so John took Elizabeth for a ride on MARTA (Atlanta's version of the subway).  They parked at John's office downtown and rode up to Buckhead and back.  Elizabeth loved sitting in her own seat and going through the tunnels.

On Sunday, all three of us went to Jake's birthday party at a bounce place in Decatur.  Here is our daredevil going head first down a huge slide:

Check Up

This morning we visited Dr. K for Elizabeth's three year-old well visit.  Elizabeth was very excited to go to a real doctor as she loves playing "Dr. Elizabeth" with her two doctor kits at home.  She even says she wants to be a doctor when she grows up, and she wants to wear a black coat (naturally). 

Here are the stats:
Height: 37 inches (50th percentile)
Weight: 29 pounds (25th percentile)

No shots were required at this visit, but we decided to do a flu shot.  Elizabeth was such a champ.  She calmly watched as the nurse put the needle into her arm and didn't flinch or cry.  She was very excited about the post-shot band-aid and lollipop.

Although unrelated to the doctor visit, here a video of Elizabeth that shows what a smart three year-old we have:

To the untrained ear that might sound like gibberish, but in fact she is reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. 

Birthday Festivites, Part 2

Elizabeth's birthday celebration continued on Monday with our first trip to Legoland at Phipps Plaza.  It worked out well that Elizabeth's school was closed for Columbus Day because it gave us a great excuse to have a "girls day out."  We arrived at Legoland before the gates were open and Elizabeth patiently waited outside.  She enjoyed the rides and loved the 4D movie.  She did a great job in the play areas where she was one of the younger kids, but she held her own.  After Legoland, we had lunch at Moe's in the mall before heading home. 

After a nap, we spent the rest of the afternoon playing with her many new toys until Dad came home.  Once he arrived, we opened presents from family.  Elizabeth is one lucky little girl!  She received many wonderful gifts.

 Tuesday was Elizabeth's actual birthday, so the festivities went on.  She brought cupcakes into her class and Jake, who shares the same birthday, brought in ice cream.  Elizabeth was very excited to have her classmates sing "Happy Birthday" to her. 

We had a great time celebrating Elizabeth's third birthday, and are so proud of our smart, funny, sweet three year-old.

Birthday Festivities, Part 1

We started off Elizabeth's birthday festivities on Saturday with her birthday party at Taylor Brawner park.  We had a beautiful day for a football-themed party, and Elizabeth had a great time playing and eating cupcakes with all of her friends. 

Cupcakes (via Publix) and cupcake toppers (via Brown Paper Goods)

Face painting with Miss Zooey

Elizabeth and Lyla

Birthday cupcake

Lyla, Ella and Elizabeth digging in

Party shirt

On Sunday morning, we headed to the pumpkin patch.  We went to the same one as last year, Berry Patch Farms, so some of these photos might look familiar.  Elizabeth picked out two big pumpkins and two baby pumpkins, but her favorite part of the trip was the hayride to and from the pumpkin patch. 

Second annual trip to Berry Patch Farms

When we got home from pumpkins, we went two doors down for Gavin's birthday party.  For the second time this year, we had a petting zoo out in the park behind our house.  Elizabeth held a chicken, petted a pig, and rode a pony around the park. 

Headed to Gavin's party

Gavin and his parents

Holding a chicken

Pony ride!

This weekend was action packed!  Stay tuned for Part 2 of the birthday celebration.