3rd Birthday Party!

This year we had a friend birthday "party" and a family birthday party for Landon.

We decided to just do a low key friend party at a bounce place, no cake, no singing, just a lot of little boys running around and having fun.  

 

Landon loves these indoor type play places.  

It worked out perfect to have his friends come there since it was cold outside and I didn't have to think of a bunch of games to entertain 10 little boys for 2 hours! 

I think Landon was a little overwhelmed by his birthday weekend.  We had a bit more tears and meltdowns than normal.  My guess is that he didn't quite know how to handle all the excitement going on!

He also got to upgrade to a booster seat in the car...he seriously looked so old sitting in his new seat instead of a carseat!  And he was thrilled because it has activity lights on it, so he can see in the dark (he is always asking us to turn on the car light when it gets dark out).

My parents came out again for his birthday and we did a family party on his actual birthday!

Landon wanted a dinosaur theme. 

 

A little confession is that I kind of pushed a dinosaur party since I found a super cute cake online that I thought would be easy enough to make :)  

Anxiously awaiting the birthday cake!

And for the record...I think these pics with my dad are just priceless!

Landon did request a blue chocolate cake, I think it was a success!

He really seemed to understand that it was his birthday this year which made it really fun!

He was very excited to see his Uncle Barrett and Uncle Rhonda (what he has decided to call his Aunt Rhonda for now :) 

 

He was excited about cake and presents and requested that everyone wear party hats!

Blakey even got into the spirit of things!

Unfortunately, no cake for him...just peas and carrots!

  

Of course he got spoiled with lots of fun things...clothes, a miniature golf set and toys!

Our future golfer!

Overall, the day was a big success with lots of food, fun, and family!

Happy Birthday sweet boy!

3 Years Old!

Just as a forewarning....this is a LONG blog post all about Landon.  I wanted to remember as much as I could about him at 3 years old, so it isn't very exciting I'm sure!

How did it happen that our little baby boy that made us a mom and dad just turned 3 on March 3rd?!?! I've kind of put off putting this post up because I want to capture and write about all that Landon is and does but that doesn't seem possible.  He is so full of life and energy and joy and 3 year oldisms that it seems an impossible task!  Just for the record he is no longer a baby boy or little boy...he is a BIG boy! This happened when Blake was born and Landon is adamant that he be referred to nothing but a big boy :)

Here is my best attempt to let you know all that Landon is up to:

2 was a big year of change for you.  You gave up your pacifier, gave up your bottle (which caused you to give up milk), went to a big boy bed, went to a big boy booster seat in the car and were potty trained!  Wow...lots of changes for you!

Physically:  You are running, climbing, jumping, hanging, and riding every chance you get.  You are a pro at riding your tricycle and are actually very talented at going fast and making quick turns and stops to avoid running into people and furniture (yes, you get to ride your bike in the house because our entire downstairs is tile...it definitely saved us this winter when we were cooped up because of the cold!)  You are able to climb on everything and have quite the daredevil personality.  You have recently started climbing up the outside of our stairs banister...yikes!  You are constantly climbing up on furniture and our counters.  Jumping off things kind of goes along with climbing and you are a pro at jumping as well!  You are starting to hop on one foot.  You are great at throwing a ball, kicking a ball and are starting to catch better.  You are somewhat of a perfectionist and if something is hard (like shooting a basket) you will ask us to do it.  You recently got roller skates for your birthday and are learning those as well.  You also like FAST...oh my, I think we are in trouble!

Communication:  You are chatty and I love having conversations with you.  You can't say your /l/'s, or /th/'s.  I think it is cute and love that you say Wandon, Bwake and I wuv you!  You have quite the vocabulary and opinions.  Your sentences are becoming quite grown up and abstract as well.  Some of my favorite grammar mistakes you make are saying "my's" for "mine" and putting -ded on a lot of things past tense "I stompded, it zoomded".  You are obsessed with talking about "poop" and will fit it into any song, phrase or sentence if you get the chance.  You can answer all sorts of "wh" and abstract questions are are able to come up with some very clever questions of your own.  Overall, you have a fully developed unique personality and sense of humor that really comes across in your communication with others.

Personality:  You are full of life and full of personality!  You are joyful, funny, smart, enthusiastic, a bit sassy, independent, and loving!  You are really testing the waters right now with how much independence you can have and will argue or constantly ask to "do it yourself"!  In the same day, however, you will also wrap yourself up in a blanket and ask me to snuggle you like my baby!  You keep us on our toes and make us laugh daily!





Academics:  You know all your letters (mostly uppercase, learning some lowercase), know about 3/4 of the letter sounds, know your colors and shapes, you can count to 13 by yourself, you can count backwards from 5 and can identify numbers 0-9.  You are really into telling "knock knock" jokes (although, you have no idea what they mean)!  You are just getting into 12-15 piece puzzles.  You don't really have a huge interest in coloring or painting (lose interest after about 10 minutes of so).  You are a very bright little boy and it is a joy to watch you learn!





You love to help me cook and also love to help out!  You are constantly asking to help me whether it be cleaning, cooking or picking up.  It is fun to have you in the kitchen with me, maybe you will be a famous chef someday :)  You have the most infectious laugh and smile.  You can still light up a room!  It is a joy to watch you learn, play with your toys and play with your friends!  You love going to other people's houses to play and also love to go with us on errands.  One of you favorite things is going on a daddy date to Maverick!  You have a real sweet tooth.  You are not a very independent eater.  You will sit for about 10-15 minutes, but then get antsy and it is a struggle to get you to finish your meal!  You can also be a bit picky.  As in you won't drink anything that is milk (chocolate, strawberry, milkshakes, hot chocolate, etc.).  You eat good things though too, so it isn't just being picky on healthy food.  You have recently really begun to like made up stories and ask to hear one every night!  You still really like being read to.



You are very particular about how you like things (you want to open the door, you want to choose your cup, etc.) and it can cause a big meltdown if your independence is taken away!  You also do not handle overly tired well and get very whiny and fussy if this happens.  You have the loudest cry, seriously ear splitting, when you are upset or hurt.  You still need a nap in the afternoon but we have to time it right because if it happens too late you will be up until 10:00 that night.  You typically go to bed about 8:30ish and will get up about 7-7:30.  You come down every morning with your hair a mess, dragging your blue blanket behind you and climb into bed with us (it is a sight that I know I will long for and miss someday).  I LOVE our morning cuddle sessions.



You are tall and lean.  You are 33 lbs (70th percentile), 40 1/4 inches tall (95th percentile) and 14.3 BMI (5th percentile). You are wearing size 4T clothing.  You are about 80-90% potty trained (that is an entirely different post...I swear the Lord has used potty training to teach me great patience and understanding)!







You also love going to church, bible study and school.  It thrills me that you enjoy Sunday School so much right now and you are learning early truths about God.  You remind us to pray before bed and are able to sing all the Bible songs we have sung to you since you were a baby.  Our ultimate prayer is still that you will choose to follow the Lord and you will choose to accept Him as your Savior.





Overall, I could never come close to summing up all that you are and do in a short (relatively) blog post.  I'm hoping that this will allow us to reflect back later on and remember what you were like as a crazy, loving and rambunctious 3 year old!



We are so thankful that the Lord used you to make us a mom and dad!!!  I know it should go without saying, but I can't help myself...we LOVE you so much and couldn't be prouder to be your parents!