The past few days have been exciting ones for Gwendolyn. It started with Thursday's birthday celebration at her pre-school -- a lovely ritual that unfolds as follows (the description is borrowed from a recent school newsletter):
The children sit in a circle. The Directress lights a candle in the centre of the circle to represent the sun. The birthday child holds the globe and completes one cycle around the sun for each year they are old. While the child walks carefully around the circle, the children sing the birthday song:
The Earth goes 'round the sun
The Earth goes 'round the sun
The Earth goes 'round the sun, and Gwendolyn turns ____ (one, two three, four, etc.;
repeated until we reach the birthday age)
(Sung to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell")
If parents send photos of the child on the day, the Directress will show them to the class to demonstrate how much the child has grown and changed each year.
On Friday, Gwendolyn and her classmates attended a performance of "Suessical: The Musical" at
Carousel Theatre. Daddy came along as a parent helper. Though not an official part of Gwendolyn's birthday festivities, it was a perfect fit for the occasion. It was also a VERY long sit for an almost three year old -- 75 minutes without an intermission
-- but for the most part, Gwendolyn managed to keep still and enjoy the many songs, dances, and rhymes.
And Saturday, of course, was Gwendolyn's birthday. There were gifts to be opened, a surprise delivery of a bouquet of balloons, and in the afternoon, Gwendolyn's birthday party. All the usual suspects were there: Zoey, Benjamin and a nearly all of Gwendolyn's other pre-school classmates. There was a bit of crafting, an hour of songs and play with Jessica, our
Kindermusic guest, and... chocolate cupcakes! Gwendolyn clearly loved having her friends around her to play and laugh together.
Now we're hurtling toward Christmas at an alarming speed...
