A grrrrific third birthday: Henry's Daniel Tiger themed party

Our oldest son is three. WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?! It feels like just minutes ago he came rolling into our lives, and our world has been that much sweeter for it. And now, he's this spunky, funny, so, so, so active little man with thoughts and words (so many words!) and imagination, and I'm not even sure how it all happened. 

This past weekend, we celebrated little man in the midst of a giant snow storm! Luckily, with a winter birthday, we've always planned to be inside, so this year, our celebration took us to Fun-n-Fitness gymnastics. If you live in the Michiana area and have littles, they NEED to be going here. Miss Barb is truly incredible, and while I've seen Henry gain so much more coordination and agility, it's the independence he's gained here that I love even more. So, we decided to share the love and have his party at his favorite place. 

When I asked Henry what kind of birthday party he wanted to have, he informed me that he wanted yellow cake. So, we gave him some options, and he was quick to decide on Daniel Tiger. We try to limit his screen time, but I'll tell you, Daniel Tiger always gets a pass in our house. He loves Daniel and his lessons, and we love that we can bust out those catchy Daniel songs when he needs a reminder. 

"If you're feeling mad and you want to roar, take a deep breath, and count to four!" 

"When you have to go potty, stop and go right away!"

"When something seems bad, turn it around, and find something good!"

I could go on all day. But I won't. 

I was honestly surprised when I started looking at the lack of Daniel Tiger things available. I kind of thought for sure we'd be able to locate a bunch at big box stores, but it seemed like if we wanted anything cutesy, we were going to have to turn to Etsy. Instead, I did a quick Pinterest search and found some awesome freebies! These free printables were adorable, and made for a few cute decorations around the gymnastics center! 

We searched high and low locally for a Daniel Tiger birthday cake, but we couldn't find any! So we improvised! We went to our favorite supermarket, and we used their Princess Sophia walking down the road cake design to turn it into Daniel. We cut the Sophia items, flowers, and pink and purple, and I ordered these Daniel Tiger figures to put on the road. I think it turned out super cute, and Henry loved that the figures were his to play with afterward! 

And of course, we had to get some Daniel themed party favors! In addition to our to go car snacks (apple sauce packets, fruit snacks, and Goldfish packets), we also had a Daniel Tiger Activity Pack for each of our little attendees. I thought these were so cute because who doesn't love a little coloring?! 

Because we were limited on time and space, we didn't give Henry his presents at the party. Instead, we waited for his actual birthday, and we kept the Daniel Tiger theme going! In addition to his birthday cake figures, we also snagged him some Daniel Tiger DVDs (for those moments when we can't get it on On Demand!), and our friend Grace got him some AMAZING Daniel Tiger Colorforms (which totally make me think of my childhood!)! This little man received some super sweet gifts from friends and family, and he definitely won't be hurting for indoor activities the rest of the winter! Lucky little dude, this one. 

And now, life goes back to normal with our three-year-old. I can't wait to see what this year brings!