Three!

Sam's third birthday has come and gone with much fanfare, encouraged mostly by me and received heartily by him! He is such a delight to have around, especially when he's enthusiastically looking forward to an upcoming event, particularly his birthday!

For a month or two prior to the big day, I had been coaching Sam on a series of birthday related questions and answers. Example:
Q: How old are you?
A: I'm 2.

Q: How old will you be on your birthday, which is August 19th?
A: THREE!!!!!

Q: How old is Elisabeth?
A: She's just 1.

We also practiced the art of holding up 3 fingers. It's pretty tricky when you're short! He has now mastered the "OK" sign style 3, which he proudly displays when requested.

On his birthday, Sam, Elisabeth, and I headed to Chick-fil-A for breakfast! We had a delicious meal and Sam brought his own "3" candle to show everyone how old he was, since he hadn't quite figure out the fingers yet. Then Sam and Elisabeth got to go play at their great grandmother's house. After naptime, Sam requested that we make chocolate chip cookies. He even helped make them, and not by just licking the beater! That night, the four of us had a simple birthday supper. We sang happy birthday with his "3" candle stuck on a cookie. We played puzzles and all watched WordWorld together. We followed that with some reading and snuggling before bedtime. We tried not to remind him that his birthday party was the next day because we wanted him to actually sleep!

His little shindig was a little bit last minute. We got home from a week at the beach on a Saturday. I made the invitations on a Sunday night with a cheesy poem, my specialty, printed out on computer paper, which James' sister helped me cut and assemble on construction paper. I mailed them first thing on a Monday. His birthday was on the upcoming Friday, and the party was Saturday! Although it was a quick pull together, it turned out quite fun! Almost everyone came, including one of my sweet sisters, and we had plenty to eat; what more could you ask for?

Well, since you asked... After the kids played and played inside, we headed outside to the pool. The camera didn't make it that far, but the crowd did! We swam and splashed until we were all waterlogged! One adventurous dad pulled a plastic toddler slide over to the edge of the pool. The kids thoroughly enjoyed sliding straight into the water! Elisabeth loved it! She went again and again and again! Safety Sam wouldn't go near it, but he enjoyed watching and laughing with everyone else!

It was such a special time for us all! It really is hard to believe that our sweet boy was just seven and a half pounds three years ago!