This is 3! A wonderful age full of adventure, dreams and dancing. Our Zinnia Delphine is 3, seriously where did the time go?
What a little firecracker she is. Full of life, energy, smiles, laughter and cheek. She is the ruler of the household and has all of us (grandparents included) wrapped around her little finger! Still adored by her big sister and brother but far better at getting under their skin these days. Never a dull day with Miss Zinnia. She is thrilled to be 3 and officially (in her mind at least) a ‘big girl’. I’m fairly sure she was a newborn 5 seconds ago and is still a toddler, despite her protests.
Three has seemed to come around very quickly. Perhaps because the last 2 years have been a blur of lockdowns and Covid. The poor kid hasn’t been to nearly as many countries as her older sibs had at the same age and is desperate for more plane trips and holidays (soon, hopefully, soon!).
Zinnia was lucky enough to have a non-lockdown birthday but we kept it small, and as usual the celebrations stretched over the course of a week or so 🙂
She started with an amazing ‘Bluey’ parcel arriving in the mail for her WA great aunt and uncle. What 3 year old doesn’t love bluey?
Before long the big day had arrived! Spring had abandoned us and it was freezing (well at only 9 degrees) and pouring rain all day. That didn’t dampen the spirit of the new 3 year old who bounded down the stairs with her big sister to open her loot, way too early for a Saturday morning!
The rain meant no athletics for the big kids so there was no rush to get through the exciting bit of the day. Zinnia had plenty of cards, presents and opening to keep her busy before it was time for breakfast……
The breakfast of choice was sourdough pancakes with cream and her favourite blueberries! Perfect for a cool Saturday morning.
The party girl was all dressed in her big sister’s favourite dress from the same age, and matching her Granny purchased, big bunch of birthday balloons. Naturally bigger than her!
As the guests arrived there were plenty more presents to open and eating to do! Luckily our Covid restrictions had eased enough that we were allowed unlimited household visitors as it was definitely not a day to be outside……
The much longed for bike gear was a hit and had to be tried on immediately! She will definitely go faster now 🙂
The presents were pretty awesome but having family and friends to help celebrate was the best! After months of restrictions it was great seeing friends and fun uncles!
The three of them may fight a lot but they can be cute when they want to be… I’m not sure they’ll be able to lift Zinnia for all that much longer 🙂
One of the hit presents from Mum and Dad was the ‘Frozen’ lipgloss. It tastes disgusting but is 3 year old approved. She had to apply it to herself and use hourly!!! The best for photo-pouts too I believe…..
It can’t be a party without food! Plenty of snacks, salad, a BBQ lunch (in the rain of course) and some sweet stuff to finish off. The kids may have eaten plenty of macarons and meringue before anything sensible…..
Of course there had to be cake! Miss Zinnia had requested a number 3, with plenty of sugar, flowers and strawberries and blueberries.
I think we nailed the brief…… one three-layered number 3 almond tart-cake with lemon marscapone cream filling lovingly baked late at night and decorated to perfection the next morning. Featuring plenty of flowers from the garden and macarons and berries.
It almost looked too pretty to cut, but I don’t think Zinnia was going to let us get away with not eating it. She’d been patiently waiting all day and was pretty excited to blow out her 3 candles…..
She may have somehow cut herself the biggest piece, cheeky minx!
The cake was definitely Zinnia approved!
The rain never stopped, but it didn’t dampen Zinnia’s spirits. Despite looking like she was going to face-plant her birthday cake due to tiredness, she kept on keeping on until bedtime, declaring it a ‘very fun day’.
I’m not sure how we got to 3 so fast, but it’s such a fun-filled age and Zinnia is definitely Miss Personality. The questions never stop and she is determined to grow up too fast. Surely she was only a baby for mere seconds….Her goals for the next few months are to get a pink road bike and ride it to cafes (on the road) for a coffee, wearing her newly acquired bib shorts and jersey
She also informs us she is excellent at swimming now and will be in squads soon like her big sis. We do have to stop her from throwing herself in the pool and doing laps at club nights! She loves dancing and music classes and has missed them during lockdown. Luckily she practices with the big kids and has self-declared she is excellent at cha-cha and waltz. Of course she is determined to go to preschool next year and asks every day how long until she gets to go (sorry kid, another year!).
She has hijacked every zoom music and school lesson with the big kids during lockdown and would fit right in. As she says ‘me not a tobbler anymore, me a big girl!
She loves her gardening, her pets and books. Reading to herself and keeping us amused with her endless stories. She has reminded us how she went to space the other week and how she had to go to hospital when she was a teenager and hurt her leg! Apparently being a teenager was hard work….She has unfortunately learnt grunting, stomping and door slamming from her older sister, and rough and tumble fighting from her older brother!
Lucky she’s cute as the attitude is fierce with this one…..Her true love is ‘Teddy’ the comforter toy she is way too attached to. Teddy may be worse for wear, and we spend most of our day looking for him (and at 3am too) but when some days Mum and Dad rate above Teddy we know we are doing ok.
If she could just bless us with a little more sleep now she is a ‘big girl’ life would be grand. Happy 3rd birthday, our Zinnia in Wonderland. We hope the year ahead is wonderful, you certainly bring lots of joy and laughter to our house!