So Young Now...

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING, AND "THE HAT"

Talk about a birthday week!!! Nicole is trying to milk this birthday thing for as long as she can!! I am trying to tally up how many times Nicole has celebrated her birthday with candles and song this week. Hmm, one time at school...she brought in cupcakes on her actual birthday, and they sang happy birthday to her. Then, later on her actual birthday we went out for a birthday dinner to the place of her choice...her only request was for a place where all the waitstaff got together to sing happy birthday to the birthday girl. (Talk about needing to be the center of attention!)

Then, after we got home from dinner, we had to sing with daddy over a few left-over cupcakes, since he wasn't able to make it home in time for dinner.

Then, of course, we had to sing to her at her party a few days later!Not having had enough of this birthday bonanza, Nicole made certain that we sang to her AGAIN over leftover cake, when we were back at the house when the grandparents came over, since they didn't make it to the party!!Five times is enough for any little birthday girl!

I also have to pay a little tribute to "the hat." It has become a little bit of a tradition for Nicole to wear her "Birthday Princess" hat on every birthday celebration! I don't even know where it disappears to during the year, and I have no idea how I find it on her birthday, but there it is, every year, for just enough time to take a few pictures. Our dear friends "Hoags and Missy" bought Nicole her "Birthday Princess" hat for her first birthday. She didn't appreciate it much when she was one.

On birthday morning when she was two, we put it on her to open her gifts:

She still wasn't quite sure about the appeal of the hat at the ripe old age of two.

By the time of her third birthday, she was starting to feel like she could pose in this hat..it was pink and fluffy...everything a little girl dreams of!

On her fourth birthday, Nicole insisted on finding the hat, and bringing it with her so she could be the little birthday princess she wanted to be! On her fifth birthday, we had decided no party, but we went to NYC for a day out. Since it was her special day, she insisted on wearing the hat into, and all around NYC! She really didn't take it off the entire day. And quite a coincidence, when we took her to the American Girl store to choose her Bitty Baby doll, there was a Bitty Baby outfit with a very similar hat!! We knew she was meant to have the outfit (and of course, the doll!)

This year on her sixth birthday, I was a little sad because she didn't even ask for the hat, although she was quite happy when I brought it downstairs before her party. I don't know how much longer "the hat" will last in our traditions, but I am sure I will keep it safe, to pull out when she is 12, or 18, or 25. And come to think of it, as I look at these pictures, maybe time has flown by a little more quickly than I am comfortable with!