Last year, I was in Texas with Sylvie when Tess and Remy had their birthdays. We now have three birthdays in nine days for the rest of our lives. And that’s in addition to the half dozen or so close family or friends who also have birthdays in that window of time! March around here means a lot of cake.

We celebrated Sylvie’s first birthday with a quiet night at home and an angel food cake covered in whipped cream that she inhaled. That one is a huge sweets fan and definitely notices if we don’t give her a bite! She is still into presents, which I find hilarious given how young she is. I think she’s more into the paper ripping then what’s inside. This chattering, toddling, assertive and grinning girl continues to delight and entertain all of us.

Next step was Remy! We had our first kids birthday party that afternoon with just a few friends, and then ordered his favorite macaroni and cheese pizza, followed up with a chocolate cake. He was delighted with all of his presents, but really loved being the center of attention. As a surprise, he got a whole day with daddy at nerd fest playing with minis and swords. I’ve never seen a bigger smile.

And Tess rounded out the group! Our big girl acts like a snuggly little kid one day and a sassy teenager the next. She is thoughtful and demanding and hilarious, and could not love her birthday more. All she could talk about was buttered noodles and a peppermint ice cream cake. We followed through! I remembered disdainfully telling a friend that getting a little kid’s nails done was a waste of time and money, and set a terrible example. Well, that’s officially me. Tess loves nail polish, so I took her to get her nails done on her birthday. Her question? “There is a store where they paint your nails for you?!” She was in awe.

As parents, three birthdays so close feels like running a gauntlet. How do you make everyone feel special and not burn yourself out? I don’t know if will ever really know the answer to that, but we work together as a team and are quite appreciative when one of the kids decides to order them instead of having us make something complicated for their birthday dinner. 🙂 Still, watching three kids get older so quickly is like a band aid rip to the heart. We’ve got some time until the next one, but March will always be about too much cake, out of control socializing, and celebrating our big kids.