We have a 3 year old!!!

Our Mr. Blake turned 3 on May 19th!
Jared's birthday is 2 days before and it is a little hard planning 2 birthdays in 2 days and trying to make both feel special and loved!



I had debated doing a birthday party for Blake but May was such a busy month I just didn't feel like I could pull it off.


First thing in the morning we opened presents with Blake

and had a little family breakfast!





Blake was very excited about his presents and Landon was excited to help him open them!



Instead I invited friends to meet us at Krispy Kreme in the morning (because Blake wanted donuts)






and then we went to an indoor play space at Carl's Junior because the weather was cold and rainy! It was a great morning and Blake felt loved and special!

Later that night we went to Red Robin with both sets of grandparents and his Aunt and Uncle!

It was fun and we loved spoiling and celebrating our sweet boy!

Blake is a full of life!

Here's what you are up to these days!

* You are sweet and sour! When sweet there is none sweeter than you! When you are sour you have quite the temper and opinion!

* You are a runner, jumper and climber!  You are a daredevil in the sense of jumping off of things, but you are a little hesitant if something seems scary.  You like to try and do anything your brother is doing.  You can't ride a bike yet with training wheels but are getting a little bit better...we feel bad because we haven't given you a lot of practice yet! You are pretty good at throwing and catching a ball.

* You just finished up your 1st year of preschool.  It was only 1 day/week but you had fun and loved going with your friends! So thankful for your sweet teacher this year, who really worked through your separation anxiety with you and loved you dearly!

* You are a mama's boy and a major snuggler.  You always ask me to "hold you", love for us to lay with you, scratch your back, snuggle in bed, etc.

* You give the best hugs and kisses and will randomly lean over and say "I love you" and give us a kiss or a hug.  I love it when you say "I love you the mostest." You also tell me all the time "Mommy, you's a princess!" whenever I have a dress on...and you will ask me if you can wear one of my shirts so you can be a princess too :)

* You had a period this year of MAJOR separation anxiety.  It lasted about 2-3 months and happened at preschool and at Sunday School.  You would cry and cry and cry and there was quite a few weeks you didn't make it and we had to come pick you up.  

* You had your first hair cut this last year, saw your first movie in a theatre (Planes: Fire and Rescue)

 and moved into a big boy bed back in August.  You are sharing a bedroom with Landon.

* You still need a nap during the day but don't always take one.  Evening are hard when you don't nap but you go to sleep so much easier! Typically you sleep from about 8:30 or so (earlier if you don't nap) and are up by 7 am

* You aren't as interested in academic things as Landon was but that's okay :)  You know your colors (although still mix some up with red and blue), know some of your letters, know your shapes, can count to 12 (sometimes more), count backwards from 5 and only like to color for a couple of minutes at a time.

* You are VERY destructive! You seem to constantly break things, destroy things or take things apart!

* Over the last couple of months you have really started listening to stories more.  You will now sit for longer books while we read them to you.

* You like play-doh (although it is MESSY when you play with it), puzzles, cars, masks - Batman is your favorite, balls, and playing at the park

* You still love milk and ask for it multiple times a day...we have to have milk waiting for you to drink in the fridge in the mornings!

* You are a good little swimmer-as much as a 3 year old can be! At the end of last summer you were doing bobs in the water and holding your breath for 2-3 seconds at a time.  You like swimming around in your swim vest.

* You like to do everything your brother does! You are such a mimic and I love watching you watch him to see if you can make him laugh or to see what he is doing.

* You love your brother and sister but are very rough! You and Landon fight a lot but you love a lot too.  It drives me crazy how much you guys wrestle, fight and are physical with each other.

* You have the LOUDEST scream and are in a phase where you scream a lot, mostly when Landon is doing something you don't like.

* You are pushing the limits on independence...will tell us "no" a lot and we are working on obedience.  You have been tricky with punishment.  You don't like isolation, so that seems to work best, but are stubborn and won't stay in your room if we tell you to.

* You aren't necessarily a picky eater, but you aren't a real independent eater.  It usually requires us to feed you or keep reminding you to take bites and you are SO slow!

* You are stubborn and will really push buttons when we tell you not to do something.  If we tell you no more talking, you will almost always try to say one more thing.

*  You think potty talk is sooo funny and will laugh at or constantly talk about poop, pee, toots, etc.  You will especially say it if it makes your brother laugh.

* You LOVE music and are constantly dancing or asking us to play your favorite songs.  You also like to sing songs and have us make up songs

* Potty training was a breeze with you! You fully potty trained in about 4-5 days back in October and are dry at night about 3-4 times per week.  You spoiled us big time in this area!

* You are transitioning into size 4T clothes and love to wear Landon's pajamas to bed if he will let you. You are size 8 or 9 shoe

* You don't do well when tired or hungry...makes you get very temperamental and that's when the temper can appear most often

* You are 34 pounds (75th percentile), 39 inches tall (80th percentile) and BMI is 15.7 (45th percentile)

What a blessing you are to us! I love my lover and I love your spunk, sense of humor and personality.  You have the BEST smile and laugh and just have a love for us and life.  You are learning early truths about the Lord and have a basic understanding of who God is and how much He loves you! As with all our little ones, we hope you grow up following and loving the Lord.  We pray you will seek Him and find Him at an early age...committing your ways and trusting your life to Him.

Even though you are our middle child now, you hold such a special and important place in our hearts.  You are a rule stretcher and we thank God for the ways in which you stretch us and challenge us as parents! You are the PERFECT fit for our family of 5 and I'm so proud of you as you are growing, changing and developing!


And because I never did a last day of preschool post...here's Landon with his amazing preschool teacher (so amazing that he got to have a male teacher)

And here he is at his 5 year check up!