Alva Turns 3!

Alva officially turned 3 at the end of July and let’s just say, while she had a great time and loved telling everyone it was her birthday, I was riddled with second child mama guilt for most of it.

To back things up, when Oskar was born and as he progressed through daycare and preschool I made an effort to meet the other moms and form friendships with the other families. These moms became my group of people and naturally the kids also became friends.  By the time Alva was in daycare, I had a full plate and for better or worse, I didn’t invest as much time or energy into this new group of moms.  Add Covid to the mix when Alva was just starting to engage with other kids, and well, I really don’t know any of Alva’s friends or their families.

So this year, when we decided to actually have a party for her, I picked a date that worked for our family, the weekend after our trip to Sonoma, but didn’t check in with any of her classmates. And of course, none but two could make the selected date.  Let’s call that Strike 1 against yours truly.

We spent Saturday, her actual birthday, up at Timber Cove with just our family and celebrated with cake for breakfast and afternoon snack.  The following day was spent in Sonoma with Oskar’s friend Neomi.  And while Neomi and Oskar are both great about including Alva in their games, she is still the younger sister.  So when Neomi handed Oskar a lollipop she had brought just for him followed by Alva's look of confusion like “it’s my birthday, where is my lollipop” my heart kind of broke.  Strike 2.

And then, well COVID hit their preschool, closing down Oskar’s classroom and sending us into a 10 day quarantine and we had to cancel Alva’s birthday party with her 2 friends that could actually make it. Strike 3.  Oh! And to top it off her Auntie Dana, Uncle Cody and Granny Fran and Grandpa Vic all forgot it was her birthday and didn't call to wish her a happy birthday.  Strikes 4, 5 and 6.  It's official, I am a failure. 

Thankfully my parents came over the Friday after Sonoma (to both assist with watching them while Martin and I worked and to celebrate her birthday with dinner) and all was forgotten and hopefully forgiven.

I promise to make it up to her next year and will make a huge effort to get to know her friends at German School!

Happy Birthday Alva!

Correction: Brenda and Cody did in fact remember Alva’s birthday and even called to sing her Happy Birthday.  Due to lack of cell reception up at Timber Cove we didn’t get the message until later.  Apologies to you both!