Birthdays with two so close in age

M's second birthday was in December. She seemed to really understand what was going on. She knew we were going to Chuck E. Cheese for her party (and she was so excited), she knew she was going to get presents, family was coming because it was HER DAY! She loved looking the different cakes and picking out which one that SHE wanted. This WAS HER DAY COMING UP, AND SHE KNEW IT!

L on the other hand (although she is older), it had been ten months since her birthday, so she didn't quite understand "get it". We did our best explaining that HER birthday was coming up, that she would have all of the same things happening! She would have her party, family would be coming to see her, she would get to pick her cake and what she wanted on it. I told her I was also going to give her two options and that she would be able to pick where she would have her party. She was getting excited for this! I think talking about her party at the same time was helping.

It was the day of M's party. Things couldn't have went any better! The party was suppose to be from 11-1:00, and it was over at one (but we still had tokens left, the girls and myself ended up walking out of the door at 3:00). Of course the fun wasn't over, at that point we were going home to the presents that M had unwrapped and now it was time to play.

Something we really haven't ever experienced was things being "MINE". L was excited about the presents as well and couldn't wait to play with everything and there were plenty of new things to go around! As excited as L was, I explained to her that it was M's birthday and when I would open something, I would hand it to M to get to play with it first, then they could share it. This was reasonable to us and seemed to be going okay. Until these words came out of M's mouth, "That's my present," she didn't want L playing with anything. I then explained to M that L was born before her and there were a lot of toys that are here that belonged to L before M was born and that L shares everything with her so nicely. I named some of her favorite toys, told her that they really belonged to L and how would she feel if she wanted to play with them and L wouldn't let her because they were initially L's presents. M then understood and things seemed to once again be okay.

Things were okay on the toy and sharing front, but off and on throughout the day and evening, L would bring up her party, she would tell me that she wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese, just like M did. She wanted a Tinkerbell cake, just like M had. I don't know if she just had a good time and wanted to "make sure" that her party was just as fun, or what the reasoning was. I told her, if those were the things she wanted for her party, that would be perfectly fine but we could make the final decisions once her birthday was getting closer.

Towards the middle of January we started talking about themes etc. She was getting excited that HER DAY was coming. She made the decision to go to Chuck E. Cheese and she chose a Madagascar theme for her cake and things. We talked about all of this often (she was excited and brought it up several times a week). With this, M started talking about it being her birthday. Explaining to a two year old that her birthday had past and now this was L's day, over and over, was tiring (and not always easy). She became territorial of her presents again, not wanting to share. I explained that L would be getting things for her birthday and asked her how she would feel if L didn't share things with her. We had this conversation often.

Daddy and I decided the girls didn't really "need" anymore toys. With Christmas and M's birthday having both just passed. We decided to get something BIG that they would be able to use for quite sometime! We decided on a 14' trampoline with a safety enclosure. We bought it and it was put away (waiting for warmer weather).

We were having L's birthday party on Sunday, February 17, 2013 and the Saturday night before, I started thinking... L is very smart and doesn't forget a thing! When it was M's birthday, she paid attention to EVERYTHING and pointed out many times that she wanted her party to be just like M's. I started talking to my husband, saying that M came home with all kinds of presents and L has a trampoline. A trampoline (that she knows she's getting). A trampoline that is sitting in the shed in the backyard, that she's not going to open at her party and she's not even going to see until the weather is warmer. I told him the presents that she was going to open from family (I knew what everything was) and what she would be bringing home. I'm not saying in the least that any of this is about the presents, but at the same time, I didn't want my baby to be disappointed with the few things she would be bringing home and remembering ALL THE THINGS that her sister came home with. She turning 3, she's not going to understand that trampoline is in the shed... He agreed and after I got the girls to bed that night I went power shopping. I did not go crazy. But I got several small things that I knew would make her happy! She had a good amount to open and she came home with presents, she was happy! Her party was so fun and a big success!!