Among Shaelyn's favorite shows, I think Curious George has emerged at the top. Yes, even above her beloved Super Why! So I decided to throw her a George-themed party this year. I got all the ideas for the party at amazingmoms.com, so please, no comments about what a creative genius I am. Ok, ok, if you can't help yourself, it's fine to leave them... And I guess there were some things I came up with on my own. So I take it back. If everyone of you doesn't say what a genius I am, I'm going to be majorly offended!!
With it being December, I decided to have Shaelyn's party on her actual birthday instead of taking up a precious Saturday during a busy holiday season. Last year, Shaelyn's party was totally for me - she had a blast, but of course had no idea the party was for her. This year, you can't tell me that girl didn't know it was her birthday and that her friends were there to celebrate with her. She came up with her guest list on her own (not hard - she walks around the house randomly naming off her friends all the time) and talked about her friends coming over for her party the whole week before her birthday. Friends and cake seemed to be the most anticipated things...
But of course, she threw a monkey wrench (George-style) into the whole thing when she woke up that morning with a fever. I really considered cancelling, but she was so excited about her friends coming over and was still acting happy in spite of not feeling well, so I made the executive decision to move ahead as planned. Michael and I had planned to decorate the downstairs and frost the cake during her nap, but of course, her nap only lasted 30 minutes. I think I had just finished mixing the frosting, much less dying and applying it to the cake... But she got up and ran into the blue room ready to play. Her party was supposed to start at 5:30, and about 4:00 she crashed and burned. Because she didn't feel so great and could hardly breath with her stuffy nose, Michael rocked her in the chair to keep her asleep. So our great plan of Michael decorating while I frosted went down the drain. So I speedily worked on the cake, and called in reinforcements to help set up the room/pick up the pizza for dinner (thanks Jermie and Erke for coming to the rescue!!). I didn't get the room set up quite the way I wanted - I had planned on hanging crepe paper from the ceiling to make a circus tent - but seriously, not a priority when you're guests are scheduled to arrive in 15 minutes!!
Shaelyn had invited 6 of her little friends, but only 3 were able to attend. It turned out great, though, because the chaos was contained and everyone had a blast. And Shaelyn was so happy her entire party, so even though she was sick, I was so glad we moved forward with our plans. And no, I did not bake a life-sized replica of George or sculpt a yellow hat or knit each kid their own costume, contrary to all of your comments and emails I had received. So HA!
Enjoy the 75 pictures (just kidding, but close...). And yes, I vow to put just as much work into Rachelle's 2nd birthday as I did Shaelyn's.
The food and present "tables" - You can see George out on the present table. He was a gift from Grandma and the guest of honor at the table. Shaelyn noticed him immediately.
While we waited for guests to arrive and get the pizza out, the girls colored George pictures I printed off from pbskids.org. We put a kids' sized table out in the middle of the room with a paint drop cloth under it and covered it with a plastic table cloth. Totally kid friendly and I didn't have to worry about messes!
Pizza time! Clara is showing her excitement level for pizza and juice by waving her hands. And Shaelyn ate that whole piece she is holding. All she needs is a little peer pressure from her friends to eat food.
Wanna know how brave I am? Brave enough to give young children paint at a birthday party. Shaelyn got art supplies from us for her birthday, and I decided to incorporate her new paints into the festivities. So each girl got a paper plate I had drawn George's face on, and a paint brush. They all started painting on their plates with the dry brushes immediately - I probably didn't even have to get the paints out!
I put the paints in a cleaned-out egg carton and let the girls go for it. They were naturals - even Shaelyn and Clara who had never painted before. And I was impressed with how creative they each were.
Shaelyn loved mixing the colors. Hers was the "impressionistic George".
Wanna know how brave I am? Brave enough to give young children paint at a birthday party. Shaelyn got art supplies from us for her birthday, and I decided to incorporate her new paints into the festivities. So each girl got a paper plate I had drawn George's face on, and a paint brush. They all started painting on their plates with the dry brushes immediately - I probably didn't even have to get the paints out!
I put the paints in a cleaned-out egg carton and let the girls go for it. They were naturals - even Shaelyn and Clara who had never painted before. And I was impressed with how creative they each were.
Shaelyn loved mixing the colors. Hers was the "impressionistic George".
And you're not an "arteest" unless you get the paint on your face...
After cleaning up the paints (with only minor complaints/tantrums from the girls), it was on to the next activity: hunting for monkeys. Each girl got a "man in the yellow hat" bag to collect their monkeys in. We hid "Barrel Full O' Monkeys" monkeys around the living room and the girls got to keep the monkeys they found.
Michael loves that every little girl knows to put anything with a handle on their arm like a purse. All four girls carried their scavenger bags around like this.
Then we all gathered for present opening. Michael was skeptical about whether or not she would be interested in ripping off the paper. She LOVED it. And kept saying "present".
Shaelyn wanted to play with each present after she opened it. I had to encourage her to put them aside so we could get through them quickly - toddler patience only lasts so long.
The guests were so patient while Shaelyn opened her gifts. Savannah occupied herself with one of Shaelyn's books she had opened, Brianna sat in her chair observing with her little hands folded (so cute!) and Clara helped Shaelyn open presents, but without being grabby about it. I was so impressed. Hopefully Shaelyn can act as well behaved when she goes to some of her little friends' parties.
Shaelyn got these fun Clipo blocks from Grammy for her birthday, so we opened them and let the girls play with them while I got the cake ready. Transition activities proved to be a life-saver at the party. 
The George cake. See, I am not that great at things that require real artistic talent, but hey, you know it's George, right? Plus, it tasted oh-so-good! It was a Duncan Hines chocolate cake, if you must know. Delicious.
Look at those big girls eating with real forks. So much less messy than last year...
We ended the party up in the blue room. The girls had a blast and it proved that the blue room is definitely the place to be. See how happy Shaelyn is! It turned into an all out dance party. I included three videos of the girls breaking it down. Watch Clara - she does some major break dancing moves taken straight from "So You Think You Can Dance." Impressive girl!
After cleaning up the paints (with only minor complaints/tantrums from the girls), it was on to the next activity: hunting for monkeys. Each girl got a "man in the yellow hat" bag to collect their monkeys in. We hid "Barrel Full O' Monkeys" monkeys around the living room and the girls got to keep the monkeys they found.
Michael loves that every little girl knows to put anything with a handle on their arm like a purse. All four girls carried their scavenger bags around like this.
Then we all gathered for present opening. Michael was skeptical about whether or not she would be interested in ripping off the paper. She LOVED it. And kept saying "present".
Shaelyn wanted to play with each present after she opened it. I had to encourage her to put them aside so we could get through them quickly - toddler patience only lasts so long.
The guests were so patient while Shaelyn opened her gifts. Savannah occupied herself with one of Shaelyn's books she had opened, Brianna sat in her chair observing with her little hands folded (so cute!) and Clara helped Shaelyn open presents, but without being grabby about it. I was so impressed. Hopefully Shaelyn can act as well behaved when she goes to some of her little friends' parties.
Shaelyn got these fun Clipo blocks from Grammy for her birthday, so we opened them and let the girls play with them while I got the cake ready. Transition activities proved to be a life-saver at the party.
Shaelyn and I had been practicing blowing out candles before her birthday to see if she was ready for a real live flame at her party. She learned that candles are hot (not from experience, but she did say "hot" every time I would light one) and that you blow on them. Her blowing is half spitting, but also adorable. She did a pretty good job with this one. (Although I did help her blow it out at the end. But I gave her the chance with a few blows on her own.)
The George cake. See, I am not that great at things that require real artistic talent, but hey, you know it's George, right? Plus, it tasted oh-so-good! It was a Duncan Hines chocolate cake, if you must know. Delicious.
Look at those big girls eating with real forks. So much less messy than last year...
We ended the party up in the blue room. The girls had a blast and it proved that the blue room is definitely the place to be. See how happy Shaelyn is! It turned into an all out dance party. I included three videos of the girls breaking it down. Watch Clara - she does some major break dancing moves taken straight from "So You Think You Can Dance." Impressive girl!
After all that dancing, the girls were pooped. Shaelyn put on her new George jammies she got for her birthday, clutched her George doll, and thanked her guests for coming to help her celebrate turning 2! Everyone went home with a balloon, a goody bag, and all the monkeys they found. The moms all told me their girls had a blast, so I think it was a success. I highly recommend any/all of the above activities if you are planning a 2-year-old party anytime soon.
