And they're both 4 now

It's been a long two weeks with a lot of anticipation for today, filled with discussions as to the fact that E is already 4 and therefore bigger and older than A. And so A was so excited that she finally got her own birthday party in nursery today. 

The good thing for me was all the errors I made two weeks ago I made sure not to repeat. For example I bought the correct packaged cake complete with edible party stickers to go on top of the chocolate goo - E just got a plain marble cake two weeks ago. A got Dora balloons for her bundle of birthday balloons today where as E just got plain coloured ones. But most importantly they had the same games and same parachute spinning activity and fun snack time filled with chocolate cereal and chocolate sandwiches! 

The nicest part of having split their parties in nursery, apart from the ongoing celebration, has been to see how genuinely excited the other one has been for her sister. Apart from A's meltdown just before E's party they have been very excited for their sister at both parties. Sibling rivalry between them is so different to how it is between eldest daughter and boy in the middle - they don't really get jealous of each other (unless they are both tired and both only want to be held by me but that's for another blog entirely).

So now we have two 4 year olds and it's not even their actual birthday until next Thursday.  I know I could have got away with just these two parties in nursery, but next Wednesday we are throwing them a small party at home, which lets face it, is as much for me as for them. I can't let a birthday go by without some arts and crafts with a few of their friends, and the challenge of making two identical but completely individual princess cakes.

The celebrations' continue....

They are no longer the same age!

Thankfully E's party was a huge success whichever way we look at it

E had fun
A had fun
The two other birthday boys had fun
The food was great
The cake was great
The going home present was great
All the kids had fun
The nursery teacher took 60 photos of the party for us to see

The only difference now is that...

E firmly believes she is 4 and A is still 3 - how to explain that one to small kids and indeed to twins? Even though they know they are born on the same day, we have told them it's not actually their birthday yet but the fact remains that at this age once your friends have sung Happy Birthday and you have blown out your 4 candles (or 5 I should say as 1 more is added as luck for the coming year) then you are 4.

So I am in the bizarre position of having twins who aren't the same age any more.

E had a great time and the best thing is that now A is really excited for her party in 2 weeks time. She is busy deciding that she wants a different/better cake than the one I took in for A (it has to be a bought cake in a packet - how different can they be?) and different going home presents.

Here are some photos from yesterday's celebrations.

The party season continues....

It's time to party

As A and E approach their 4th birthday the conversation turns to parties, cakes, presents and more parties and it seems like we are going to be celebrating this year for a very long time.  The first party of the season will actually be taking place this Wednesday, a full 3 weeks and a day prior to their birthday.

A and E are in a nursery with two school years in the same class of 30 something kids and according to the nursery teacher 20 of the kids have birthdays in December and January. Not wanting to have a party every day, the teacher has wisely divided the parties up so that there is one party every two weeks celebrating 4 children's birthdays each time. 

A couple of weeks ago the teacher asked me if A and E would like to share a party together or celebrate separately with other kids. What to answer? I wasn't sure, so I decided to ask the girls themselves what they would like to do. I explained the situation and made it very clear and they both declared that they would like to have their party separately from each other with different children. DH was initially rather saddened that they didn't want to celebrate together but I was rather pleased that they were beginning to show signs of a tiny bit of independence from each other.

So far so good and the conversation continued with parties, presents and cakes until last Friday when the teacher informed me that the first party would be this coming Wednesday and which of the girls wanted their party first? I looked at the girls and asked them who wanted their party on Wednesday. Without so much as a thought, E jumped up and down and declared that she wanted her party this week. A seemed to be in agreement that this would be ok and so it was decided.

The excitement continued and chatter turned to the first nursery party and E has spent the whole weekend telling everyone that her party is going to be on Wednesday to which A replies that her party is going to be on Tuesday - no in 2 weeks time I keep reminding her. 

All was going well until last night as I was putting the girls to bed and one of the other mums called to discuss who was going to bring the pizza, the cut up vegetables and the going home presents for the party. A and E were within ear-shot of the conversation. When I got off the phone I told the girls the names of the other children who are also celebrating this week. E was very happy and jumped up and down on her bed and that is when A's world fell apart. She sobbed, she screamed, she declared how unjust it all was that "it will be too long until my party." I explained how fun it will be to be the birthday sister but I'm not sure she heard me through the sobs as she eventually fell asleep.  This morning, tears forgotten, there was one mention of the party which everyone seemed happy about so I am hoping all will go according to plan.

We have made our decision for this year to have seperate parties in nursery and we will wait and see how it works. And once the nursery parties are over conversation will then turn to whether or not we will throw a small party for them at home.  No doubt there will be more conversation about cakes and presents but one thing is for sure - any party at home will be for both of them at the same time with the same food and the same friends!
 

 

Updates to follow.....