Daisy Suzanne Allen
Born Sunday 6th March 2011
3rd birthday
Her life: Birth ♥ Week 1 ♥ Weeks 2-3 ♥ Weeks 4-7 ♥ Weeks 8-13 ♥ Weeks 14-22 ♥ 5-7 months ♥ 7-8 months ♥ 8-10 months ♥ 1st Christmas ♥ 10-12 months ♥ 1st birthday party ♥ 12-15 months ♥ 15-18 months ♥ 18-21 months ♥ 21-24 months ♥ 2nd birthday ♥ 2-2½ years ♥ 2½-3 years ♥ 3rd birthday ♥ 3-3¼ years ♥ 3¼-3½ years ♥ 3½-3¾ years ♥ 3¾-4 years ♥ 4th birthday
In summary: Index ♥ From birth to four years old ♥ Four years old onwards
Special features: Daisy translator ♥ Daisy cookery ♥ Daisy phrases ♥ Golden Bear
And, lo, she was three. Where did those years go? Frankly, I've no idea. I had taken the day off, as usual, and the morning saw an excitable trip downstairs to a land of presents. Actually, there weren't too many on the morning itself, but there would be several days of present-opening as compensation. But what birthday isn't complete without a game of Old MacDonald Lotto? Well, most of them, otherwise it would get a bit repetitive.
Breakfast was yummy croissant time.
One of her presents was a Play-Doh ice-cream making machine, which she naturally wanted to play with almost immediately, i.e. whilst still wearing her pyjamas.
Mmmm, appetising! Who doesn't want to tuck in?
Not especially a treat for lunch, but Daisy does like a grated cheese-filled pocket pitta (with accompanying slices of cucumber and tomato). Lynne was 8 months pregnant in this shot.
I zipped over to Oldham to pick up Uncle Matt (you don't need to know the logistics - it was basically to enable him to have a beer), who soon engaged in drawing with Daisy.
He joined Denise and Tom, who were already here, passing on their birthday wishes.
Matt revelled in his role as electric drill-wielding maniac (reminiscent of Mike in the sitcom Spaced, one of our favourite programmes).
Daisy was keen to lend a hand. She didn't - she couldn't - but that didn't stop her being keen. Uncle Matt put up a shelf and a cupboard rail.
The arrival of Kate came as quite a shock. As far as we could recall, we had not sent out invitations for fancy dress attendance. But that didn't stop Kate coming as Puss in Boots. (It was all for World Book Day, apparently.)
As Matt and I generated dish after dish in the kitchen, the birthday girl and her entourage assembled for eating. In the foreground, you can see Matt's homemade sausage rolls. Other home-made dishes would include a heroically garlicky dip, pizzas (bases made by Matt, sauce made by me), egg mayo sandwiches, pulled pork sandwiches (both using Matt's home-baked bread), cheese & ham stuffed jacket potatoes, a variety of salads and a veritable cavalcade of party snacks (quiche, scotch eggs, crisps, cocktail sausages, stuffed peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, dips, etc - man, do I even need an etc?).
And this was the full spread in a picture, far more than we could ever eat in a single night of course, and just about too much to fit on the table (any less and you would be disappointed - well I certainly would); in fact, it lasted for several meals afterwards - we had leftovers of leftovers. This was the Allens (and accompaniers) in attendance - Matt (Sous Chef), Nic, Mum (Sue non-chef), Kate (Puss, sans boots), Jordan (looking smart, having rushed straight from work, rather than dressing up for a sit-down buffet), Lynne and Daisy (birthday girl).
Kate brought round the birthday cake, complete with Minion on the top, celebrating Daisy's obsession (at that time - any such obsession is generally temporary) with Despicable Me 1 & 2.
Daisy was ahead of us in courses and so was soon tucking into the Minion as Aunty Katie looked on enviously.
After a boring meal with the family, Daisy was soon getting herself ready for a birthday night on the town.
But we persuaded her to stay at home with the temptation of chocolate. It wasn't the hardest thing we've done.
Here it looks like Daisy wanted to read Uncle Matt's palm.
I can't remember the precise point of this game (that's if there was one), but it involved Kate and Matt staying as still as possible while Daisy, for whatever reason, lay across them.
Grandma Avis and Granddad Graham arrived the next day (Friday). This is Saturday morning, where Daisy gets to open yet more presents, including a book or two and a doll's bed...
...which she soon had in operation (it now has pride of place in her bedroom).
One of the presents from her Aunty Katie was a small selection of outdoor chalks, which Daisy tried out that afternoon. (Don't worry, it all washed off.)
That'll do for now.
And we're back on, just in time for Daisy's joint birthday party with her friend and next-door-but-one neighbour, Hannah (who had turned three a couple of weeks earlier). The venue was...
Hannah and Daisy anxiously waited for their guests to arrive...
...at least one young boy did...
...and there was much rejoicing.
We were trying to keep costs down for this party, hence the booking with an amateur security company. (I've only just noticed the amusing juxtaposition of Daisy's grandparents with the sign behind.)
It was such a posh party, even the horses had dressed up for the occasion.
Occasionally, the waiting around in the (glorious) sunshine got too much and Daisy went for a thumb-suck, standing near her Granddad, who was in charge of the huge sack of birthday presents.
Finally it was time to go in, led by a heavily pregnant Lynne, watched on by one of "de management" (if you're old enough to remember Hale and Pace).
Our first stop was in the petting barn, as the children obediently waited for their turn to stroke the animals. I don't think this is Daisy raising a particularly difficult question - she is probably just priming her stroking figure ready for action well in advance of it being required.
She certainly seemed very patient and content to sit there.
Not everyone seemed overly enamoured to be there.
I was slightly crowded out from many more shots in here, but I did manage to snap Daisy stroking a small mammal, possibly a rabbit or a guinea pig, I don't know (more because it is somewhat of a blur rather than having an extreme degree of ignorance for non-canine/feline pets).
Some ducks go for a very upright late morning stroll. They have somewhere to be.
And I have a chat with a llama or something.
Daisy was eager to milk the pretend cow.
Who are these two young gentlemen? (No, really, who are they?)
After her first stint, Daisy couldn't resist going back for another squeeze, which she is taking very seriously indeed. In the background, you can see Ellen...
...who is her bezzie mate, linked by an inseparable hand-hold (and partaking in a larger, triple-hand-hold).
"Now this is a horse. Do not approach it as it could eat you whole." She didn't say that of course, although she did have a good pair of lungs, which I found to my mild distress when I happened to be standing nearby one or twice and she bellowed the next set of orders without warning.
A small goat on a wall! Not something you see every day. (Although granted it is significantly more likely in a farm.)
Before lunch there was a brief period allowed in the children's playroom, including a go on the bouncy castle. Plenty of opportunity for tantrums and tears, as was proved to be the case (I seem to recall an almost impossibly steep climbing stage for the inflated slide claiming many casualties - Daisy somehow made it up once but could not do so again).
Some poor gentleman has to be in charge of the bags.
So, the birthday girls got a choice of activity. Hannah volunteered to feed the horse, although her participation in this seems to be not completely of her own volition.
Daisy chose the safe (provided I held on to her) sit on the wall and lob carrots towards the pigs routine. (She didn't want to do it at first, but once she realised I would be there she soon settled into it.)
Finally, lunchtime arrived and we could all have a rest and a sit down. The meal choice was pretty much something and chips (I don't have sandwiches and chips often enough at home). Daisy was glad to have Ellen sat next to her.
This was the entire table, taken with the flash on as NO-ONE WOULD KEEP STILL.
It was soon time for desserts and Hannah attacked one of the cakes, brought round on one of those multi-layered cake tray things (they probably have a name, but I'm damned if I can remember) with gusto.
To round off the lunch, the obligatory candle-blowing took place. First up, Daisy.
Then, Hannah, as her father, John, looked on in delight (he's so having a piece - he's doing all he can to stop salivating).
Next up, Daisy gets a drive of the ice cream van.
Eventually the party finishes and it's time for goodbyes, with Ellen and Daisy exchanging big hugs.
They inevitably had identical masks, which they soon put on.
They seemed to have concocted a devilish plot to do something mischievous. I know not of what.
Once her friends had mostly left (it was a public farm so we weren't for ushering people out), Daisy had a couple of goes on a tractor for good birthday measure.
With her birthday week thus complete (in photo terms; it's been long since over in your standard Earth time), you may move on to her fourth year. Or you can go back to the Secret Portal.