I intended to buy her some pink hair. I really did.

I was not about to dye her hair pink, but I had visions of finding some little clip-on thing that would give her a cascade of glorious pink curls for her birthday.

But somehow between work and kids and everything else in life, I never found time to get over to the beauty supply store at the mall during a time when she wasn't *with* me. In fact, I ended up doing almost all my birthday shopping in a last, desperate, after-the-kids-are-in-bed mad dash, far after that beauty supply store was closed. And I couldn't find any other pink hair.

I thought I could do the other stuff though. I was sure I'd be able to find a toy mail truck. I could have sworn I'd seen them, both hot wheels varieties from the chain toy stores and more educational, wooden ones from the upscale toy stores.

Neither of them had one.

I ordered a crocodile shirt. It arrived in time for her birthday. It was, alas, not "just her size." Though it claimed to be a size 2-4, it is far, far, far, too big. (Maybe it was a size 2-4 in womens???)

I'm feeling a little bit like a birthday failure.

I did, at least, come through on the crocodile cake (though I won't mention how late I had to stay up the night before the party in order to get it done).



And we found other things, things not on her list, things that she seems to like just as well.



And today, regardless of how prepared or unprepared I was, or how well I did at finding the presents she thought she wanted, she is 3. She's beautiful and articulate and completely original. She never, never fails to make me smile.

We have a birthday tradition of allowing the birthday person to pick whatever they want to eat for dinner. Evie's choices for tonight:

oranges
crackers
potato soup
cake
life savers

So that's what we're having for dinner tonight. Oranges, crackers, potato soup, cake, and life savers.

You know what's amazing? Potato soup was what I was already planning to make for dinner tonight before I remembered about the birthday dinner thing! (Another mom fail: forgetting to plan the birthday dinner until the morning of). But I hadn't mentioned it to her. I hadn't mentioned it to anyone. I just wrote it down on a sticky note. And then remembered about birthday dinner, and prepared to chuck my potato soup plans and run to the store for ingredients to make whatever her little heart desired.

And instead she picked what I was already going to make anyway (well, I was going to couple the soup with salad and bread, but oranges and crackers are fine too). Birthday dinner couldn't get any easier than that.

I just love this kid.