
Today was my birthday party! I woke up early because I was so excited and found a huge Ice Bat balloon in my room. Whoa! When it was time for the party to start, I scampered down the stairs to stand in our courtyard with my balloon. I was worried my friend Ksenia wouldn't be able to find our building. (Addresses in Queens work in a kind of unique system that shows each building's cross street.)
Finally, all of my friends arrived. Nell and Sonali live in the neighborhood, so they made it first. Then, Coral came from Brooklyn. Finally, Ksenia arrived after her two hour subway ride from Brighton Beach! (I decided to take your advice and invite Coral and Ksenia, even though they don't know Nell and Sonali.)

Soon we were gathered around my cake, with my friends singing the birthday song. I couldn't decide between cake and cupcakes, so I had both! Plus, my Mom found these great birthday candles that say my name. Awesome!

Then it was time to open my big pile of presents. Not only did my guests bring gifts, but my friend Maiki sent a package, and my parents saved their gifts for the party.

Coral gave me a pair of Sansha ballet soft shoes with criss-cross straps- just as I'd wanted!

Ksenia gave me a set of colored pencils, a sketchbook, and a Chococat calendar. Nice!

Another awesome present was from my friend Maiki- she stood in line at a book signing and got both Meet Cécile and Meet Marie-Grace signed for me by their authors! Holy Hotdogs, thank you Mike!

All of my gifts were wonderful, but I'd have to say my favorites were the soft ballet shoes and the Calico Critters red panda family! Piper has the hedgehog family and I've really wanted a red panda family of my own. They were only on sale for a few months in the UK and Japan, but my Auntie Liz in London managed to get a set for me!
It was a great birthday party. Thank you all for your kind birthday wishes! Now I'm 11!