I’m a few days late, but this past Friday–March 12–Helen turned 3 years old! All the people who came to wish Portia well on Wednesday also mentioned how Helen’s birthday was coming up very shortly; and she seemed a little confused by it. When someone would ask her anything about her birthday (the date thereof or how old she would be turning) she would look slightly stressed and just say “Tell me.” But when she arose on Friday morning to singing and decorations and gifts all for her, she finally believed that the birthday phenomenon could, indeed, apply to her and she now enthusiastically declares that she is three!

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Helen decided last fall that she is a raccoon. She got a stuffed raccoon and a book about a raccoon for Christmas, and both the stuffie and the book character have been dubbed “Helen Raccoon” (Sorry, Chester). So, of course, raccoons had to feature prominently on her birthday. We are pretty last-minute when it comes to decorations, so her raccoons were just printed the night before. She still loved it!

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For her birthday foods, Helen chose coco puffs for breakfast, mac and cheese for lunch, and mac and cheese for dinner! We really did eat mac and cheese two meals in a row (thanks for lunch, Mom!) and Helen ate heartily at both meals! Then for her dessert she wanted strawberries, blueberries and chocolate ice-cream. Life doesn’t get much better than that.

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Some things that you ought to know about Helen include, but are not limited to:

• Her affinity for raccoons is rather appropriate, as I feel like she is very similar to a raccoon. Specifically she and raccoons are alike in that they are both outrageously adorable and very prone to mischief. Helen seems to always be into something, and yet is usually too cute to handle even in the act!
• She LOVES her siblings. She has a unique bond with each one.
• Helen is a remarkably good singer. She picks up tunes quickly and loves to sing them. Her favorite song is still Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
• If you ever ask her what she wants to eat she basically always says “pasta.” But apparently mac and cheese is the favorite variety.
• Along with raccoons, Helen loves books, swinging on the swings, helping in the kitchen, and being bigger than Bianca and the dog.
• Helen is our first kid to have somewhat curly hair! I am beyond obsessed with it! When we don’t do anything to it it is wavy and crazy; but when we put a little gel in there, her curls are the cutest things in the whole world!

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We love this sweet, sneaky girl of ours! And we’re excited to see how she continues to entertain us over the next year!

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Happy Birthday, Helen!

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Yesterday, Portia turned 5 years old! She is so excited to be five because she knows that she gets to go to kindergarten when she is five. We’re excited that she is five, because that means we have had her in our lives for five whole years!

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For Portia’s birthday she requested Reese’s Puffs for breakfast, pasta with red and white sauce for lunch, hot dogs for dinner, and strawberry cake with chocolate frosting for dessert. We drew a diagram beforehand of precisely what she wanted for that cake. She also wanted to make sure that we did some fun activities for her birthday, though she never really specified what those ought to be. Multiple times during the day she reminded me that we hadn’t done anything birthday worthy yet. Ultimately a trip to the “fish park” was deemed sufficient.

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Here is Portia on her birthday with her birthday dress and her birthday doll, Lily.

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Some things you should know about Portia include:

• She is getting to be quite good at reading! She is very proud to have read her first “chapter book” on her very birthday. It was Dick and Jane. 🙂
• She still loves snuggles and sucking her thumb.
• She is as enthusiastic as ever, only she has left the majority of the toddler drama behind her and is, most of the time, just fun fun fun to be around.
• She has a big, beautiful smile and bright blue eyes that reflect her inner sparkle!
• She loves playing outside and riding her bike. She can pump on the swings all by herself, but still likes a good under-doggie every now and again.
• She is SUCH a big helper to me while Fay and Carter are at school. She prides herself on being the oldest one (and the biggest helper) at home during the day.
• She is an excellent listener and picks up lots of things that Josh and I just say in passing. And she still astounds us with the caliber of words she is able to use.

We are SO grateful for this amazing girl! She is just every wonderful and happy thing! Happy Birthday, Portia!