Birthdays can look different in our world.

Ellie’s milestones haven’t followed the usual timeline, and celebrations don’t always look the way we imagined when we first became parents. Plans shift, sensory things surprise us, and we never quite know what the day will bring.

But what we do know is that Ellie always finds her own way to enjoy it.

This year, it was the balloons.

Ellie sits on the floor holding a shiny blue balloon, looking off to the side with a soft, curious expression.

The thing we weren’t sure about ended up being her favourite part of the whole day, floating, moving, and making her laugh in that way only Ellie can. And the cake? Well… that never stood a chance.

Ellie teaches us that celebrations don’t have to look picture-perfect to be meaningful. Joy shows up in her world in its own way, on its own time, and when it does, it fills the whole room.

This year, we’re celebrating Ellie not for what she “should” be doing by now , but for who she is, how far she’s come, and the joy she brings into our lives every single day.

Different doesn’t mean less.

Different just means her story is uniquely hers.

Ellie sits in her high chair smiling with cake on her hands and face, while her big sister leans beside her, grinning and holding up a peace sign.

Ellie turned three.

Three years of learning the world in her own way.

Three years of strength, growth, and tiny victories that mean everything to us.

Three years of love that has reshaped our hearts forever.

Happy third birthday, Bugsy Bum.

However your days unfold, you meet them with strength, determination, and the most beautiful kind of resilience. And we are endlessly proud to walk through this world beside you.

Ellie sits on the floor with her hair in two little pigtails, smiling with both hands raised in the air, wearing a Bluey shirt.