Nikki's Nurturance: R3's Superheroes Party: Avengers versus Justice League!

What Narra chose from R3's cupcake tower.

When I got the invite from RJ and Vanessa Ledesma (my good old friends from college days at DLSU) to attend their son R3's first birthday party, I found the theme quite exciting: Avengers versus Justice League! Costume parties are always fun, of course, but the timing of the party was just perfect! With Iron Man 3 still playing in theaters, and with The Avengers, Spiderman, Batman, and The Green Lantern playing on HBO, my kids (and their parents) are very much in super hero mode.

RJ in full costume, as Robin (with Super Girl Narra, and me)

I didn't come in costume, but I did make the effort to come in a super-hero-shade of red. But RJ was in full costume, dressed in green tights, complete with black briefs in keeping with his character as Robin - and his son R3, our celebrant, was dressed as Batman! Vanessa was gorgeous as Cat Woman, and their eldest child Fortune, was so pretty in her Wonder Woman costume.

The Super Ledesmas: RJ and R3, Vanessa and Fortune.

It was only in preparation for the party, when I asked Narra what Superhero she wanted to come as, did I realize that she doesn't know Wonder Woman! Or Supergirl! or Catwoman! She wanted to come as a Disney Princess! How could I blame her? She didn't grow up watching Linda Carter twirl the way I did. And could I blame her for thinking of Disney Princesses as heroes? They haven't been damsels in distress for quite some time now. With Narra, I had to invest some internet time, showing her photos of children wearing superhero costumes. At the store, she wanted to buy the Tinkerbell costume instead, and I had to explain to her that the theme of the party was Avengers versus Justice League. Good thing I got her to agree to forego Tinkerbell and go for Super Girl instead. When we got to the party - she fit right in with the rest of the kids, dozens of them in Spiderman, Batman, Captain America, and Superman costumes. By the end of the day, I couldn't get her out of her costume anymore.

Bouncing little heroes. Pure fun. Sheer chaos.

With Narra's Supergirl costume, we had the Justice League covered. So I figured Guijo can take care of the Avengers side. He came as the Incredible Hulk, in a kid-friendly padded t-shirt which he actually enjoyed wearing. He kept showing it off to his grandparents, aunts, and cousins, thumping on the foam on his chest. He's pretty sociable and at 20 months, he's easy to bring to a party - already old enough to walk around, and understand what's going on. There was a puppet show, magic show, and bubble show at the party, and Guijo was enthralled!

Guijo, attempting his Incredible Hulk look.

Narra loved getting her Face Painted. I was amazed at how detailed she was in giving instructions on what she wanted to have done: "May I have a butterfly please, a big one all over my face, with purple wings, and jewels in the middle" she said to the painter. I am astonished. I speak to Narra in Filipino. Oliver and I made this rule, that we will raise our kids to have Tagalog as their native tongue. But whenever Narra attends children's parties, or goes to school, she immediately switches to English, and it never fails to surprise me to hear her speak so comfortably in a language I do not use with her. I dared her to say the same instructions to the face painter, but in Filipino. She didn't do it. I wonder if she knows how to say the word "butterfly" in Tagalog? Or "jewels"? Uh-oh. It's time to reinforce her Tagalog vocabulary! Maybe I should have dressed her in Darna costume instead of Super Girl! Then I could've shaved Guijo's head, had his face painted green, then draped a rubber snake around his neck and turned him into Zuma! ... but that wouldn't have complied with the party's theme...

Narra's face paint.

...which was a great theme after all! I loved the fact that Iron Man arrived at the party! Guijo got to shake hands with him, and Narra too (along with the other kids) were completely in awe of the man in the suit. Narra too, walked up the stage, all by herself, eager to come close to Iron Man, so she could touch him.