Between the finished playroom with it's DISCO BALL! and the sour taste Santa still has in his mouth after the debacle with the American Girl Doll, there were plenty of reasons for the gifts to be light on Alexis' 5th birthday.
And they were.
There was a Barbie hot-air-balloon/chariot/carriage/thing-I-only-bought-because-it-was-cheap-on-Amazon toy (I'm not linking it because it's not cheap anymore. In fact, it's currently priced so high I think it HAS to be a joke.).
She likes it.
And there was a dress. It was a dress we had first spotted at Macy's months and months ago. Alexis wanted it. However, the price tag had far too many 5's in it, so I smooshed her hopes and dreams when I laughed louder than was probably appropriate. It was a pretty funny joke to think that someone actually thought people would pay $55 for a dress for a kid.
Through the magic of an internet black hole, I happened upon the same dress on eBay for $6. Even with shipping thrown in, it was still do-able. Alexis had long ago forgotten about the dress, but no matter, I bought it anyway.
I think maybe she liked it. That *is* what it means when a kid jumps up and down screeching and squealing and yelling, "THANK YOU!" right?