Jordan had a great birthday! She got to see The Princess and The Frog with her friends… And it really was a sweet movie. She and I danced and grooved throughout the movie. Jordan clearly likes jazz music. How cool is that? I had a gut feeling that she’d groove on the movie, so I ordered her a Princess Tiana birthday cake. And it was a HUGE hit.

Jordan had a great time getting to do close to anything she wanted – she got to watch an Elmo movie about birthdays, she got to watch Nick Jr., she got to eat movie popcorn for lunch. It was a happy time in between traditionally stubborn, “pretending not to hear” four-year-old stuff.

It seems like we’ve been celebrating for weeks, but today is the big day. Jordan and I plan to spend the day together. I’m going to take her to see Princess and the Frog. Her two closest friends might join her (the girls who attended her princess tea party 10 days ago). I even got her a Princess and the Frog birthday cake. Very exciting stuff.

To be honest… I love birthdays. I loved them before I had kids. But I love them even more now that I know all the effort that comes with making babies. And to be even more honest, I love celebrating how Jordan completed our family. One boy, one girl, two dogs and two happy (and often exhausted) parents. I also love how she brought us into a world where we’ve met so many wonderful families who are connected to us just because Jordan was born with one hand. Yes, we’ve had highs and lows. But most of those highs and lows were totally worth the extra effort of life with a child who doesn’t conform with the physical expectations we envision before our baby is born.

I love birthdays and I love how Jordan changed our lives and our perspective about so many things in this world.

I just took all of the video pieces I had from Saturday’s party and put it together quickly – it’s sweet – very little of it is lit well. But I’m picky since I work in TV and criticize people for their video shooting all the time. Good or bad video, you can tell what a cute experience Jordan and her friends got to have.