November: Blaise's 3rd Birthday

Writing this in March 2014, I can still hardly believe I have a 3-year-old, and Blaise has been three for four months now! Three just seems so old. Like a big kid. And he is.

The night before his birthday we put up a few more decorations. The kitchen was already decorated from our party with Grandpa, Grandma, and Uncle Greg, so we hung up more streamers and construction tape in the living room and on his door.

Growing up, Aaron and his siblings always got breakfast in bed on their birthday. We've decided to continue this tradition. I set up everything on the tray the night before, just in case Blaise woke up before me, so that all I needed to do was pour the milk!

  

He was so thrilled to have breakfast in bed…after I told him what it was. :) Having never done it before, he was a little confused as to why there was food on a tray in his room (we had been working on keep food in the kitchen). He checked out the spread, and upon seeing the pop tart he asked, "Is this cake?"

Pure delight over breakfast in bed.

He was especially excited about having his own pitcher of milk to pour. He started drinking out of it, and I wanted to correct him, telling him it was for his cereal, but I thought, "Does it really matter? It's his birthday. Let him do what he wants." It was fun to watch him just look at his food. I'm not quite sure when he even took his first bite.

           I can't remember why, but he wanted to move his tray, so we did. We put it in the big refrigerator box that we had been using as a cave. Breakfast in bed became breakfast in the cave. Eventually we ended up in the kitchen, and I think that was where everything was actually eaten.

When he saw the decorations in the living room, he immediately asked, "Where are the presents?" Smart boy. :) I told him we could open the present from Grandma Marilyn and Papa Neil after breakfast. He looked at me with a huge grin and said in a sing-songy voice, "Maybe it'll be another vestment!" Oh, the beloved Mass kit.

With the package from Grandparents Graham.

Inside wasn't a vestment, but it was a present that tickled this little boy's heart.

Another firefighting shirt, bringing the total count to three. This was when he was wearing one every day, so a third meant not having to make sure one was clean every night. Happy Birthday Blaise AND Mom!

Oh, yes. A right of passage for every boy: the shaving kit.

Look at that grin! Double chin and everything - he's excited.

It was 8 o'clock in the morning, but we immediately went to the tub to try it out.

The sad thing was after we got out of the tub, I let Zelie hold the razor, and she lost it! We looked all over for that razor and simply could not find it. I was convinced that she threw in in the trash, but two months later, it showed up again. It was wedged in the recliner somehow and even though the recliner had been moved several times in those two months, it wasn't enough to pop it out.

That night we celebrated with just our family. I made "dirt" - the yummy dessert with pudding, oreos, and whipped cream - and served it in a bucket. Blaise got to scoop out everyone's portions with a  shovel, which was a treat in and of itself.

I put gummy worms on top of and in the middle of the dirt. Blaise had no problem with the ones on top. He picked them off and ate them straight away. But as he discovered the worms below, he was freaked out. I'm talking legitimately scared of them! He kept nervously telling me to touch them and take them out. What would any good, sympathetic mother do? Take them out, of course….and chase him around the kitchen dangling the worm inches from his face. :) He was half way scared out of his mind, half way dying of laughter because Mom was being so goofy. We still talk about that scene often.

After a quick bath, it was time to open the present from Dad and Mom. After spending hours digging in the dirt in our flower beds with small, plastic shovels, we decided to get him the real deal. These are awesome kid tools: metal, durable, the perfect size, and only 5 bucks each at Lowe's! I highly recommend them.

It wasn't a surprise that he wanted to try them out right away, so we bundled up and went out the sandbox to see how they worked.

Someone was absolutely devastated that she didn't get to go.

My proud 3-year-old and his new tools.