Happy 3rd Birthday Henry!!!

Hard to believe our baby boy is 3!!!  Where did the time go?!

Unfortunately, Jon had taken off the week before, so he had to work on Henry's big day, but we still had fun :)

Here is Henry's birthday loot.  I won't tell you how much time that silly tent took to set up.  My dad worked on it for about an hour, and then I had to get inside it and maneuver the stupid sticks for another hour or so.  Grrr :)

Meanwhile, there was a lot of baking going on in preparation for the party the next day...

…and some decorating too :)

Here is Henry seeing his goodies for the first time!

Not wasting any time…just tearing right into the presents

Clearly, he is excited :)

Saying, "oh my, oh my" haha.  Like a little old lady :)

Happy boy!

I asked him to smile for the camera :)

Trying to get all of the presents inside the tent

Thanking Charlotte for her present….awww

Construction site

It was raining, so it was a great day for arts & crafts!

Silly goose heinie dance!

All of that playing and dancing really tuckered him out! :)

I used nap time to prepare for Henry's farm party the next day…lots and lots and lots of cupcakes :)

The finished product

And this year's request was a "tractor cake", so I had my work cut out for me!  Here is the work in progress...

The finished product.  Not my finest work, but thank goodness he is only 3 and doesn't care haha

For his birthday dinner, Henry requested "hot dogs and hamburgers".  This from the kid who refused to taste a hot dog until the week before his birthday haha.  But he wanted a hot dog, so he got his hot dog (and hamburger)!

Interesting method.  Look at Charlotte's face…she is disgusted :)

Singing "Happy Birthday" to our big boy! :)

All shy all of a sudden haha.  Not Charlotte, of course!

Now he is being a ham :)

Mommy needed a cuddle with her big birthday boy!

My love :)

So that was pretty much his birthday in a nutshell…lots of great gifts, lots of playing, arts & crafts, and yummy food.  He was a happy boy.  All of this, and he still had a big birthday party to look forward to the next day! :)

Still can't believe Henry is 3 years old already.  Feels like just yesterday that he looked like this...

…and then this...

…then this...

…and here he is NOW!  Such a big boy.  (Of course I had to do the Picasa pic of his favorites!)

I know last year in my birthday post, I talked about the fact that Henry wasn't really speaking much, but that has certainly changed!  He still has some pronunciation issues, but the kid never shuts up now haha.  We were in Home Goods the other day and an elderly woman came up to me and said, "I have 6 grandchildren, and one of them is just like your son--he never stops talking". I guess she had overheard Henry's never-ending monologue :)

Henry is really a very good little boy…he loves playing trucks, and will gladly entertain himself for hours (Charlotte has yet to play by herself…ever!).  He is a very happy child, loves to laugh and is incredibly silly…he really enjoys knock-knock jokes and teasing his sister, and he has a great sense of humor (although he does throw in a lot of age-appropriate poopie, heinie and penis jokes…ugh).

The kids play really well together about 85% of the time, and there is nothing better than to see them playing and giggling with each other.  They truly are best friends.  The best part is when Charlotte is being cranky and not nice to Henry, he gets this serious look on his face, points his finger at her, and says, "you love me Chaditte, you love me, and that's not nice a be mean to me like that" haha.  Even Charlotte can't help but laugh :)

He still loves his sleep, and all summer long he went to bed around 8pm (and then proceeded to talk in his crib for a while) and slept until 8-8:30am--and he would take a nap from around 1-3:30pm too.  He is like his mommy in that respect :)

He is VERY strong-willed, and I feel like he definitely went through the terrible 2's this past year in a lot of ways (throwing himself around like a madman during diaper changes, lots of temper tantrums, screaming, crying, hitting, etc…the usual).  But I also remember that with Charlotte, 2 was nothing compared to 3, so I am a little bit worried :)

He is also very sensitive, and does not like being told "no" or being admonished in any way.  He immediately starts hysterically crying, and will run and hide under the dining room table (or behind the couch, or under a blanket, etc).  Worried this could be an issue in school, but just keep on telling myself, "it is just a stage".  Feel like I tell myself that a lot these days haha.

Henry is a great cuddler, too…if he is tired, or just wants to "relax" (he tells me that), he will gladly lay on the couch next to mommy or daddy and cuddle with us.  Love that.  Charlotte was never a cuddler when she was younger…she is now though :)

Food is starting to become an issue with Henry, as it was with Charlotte at this age as well.  All summer long I could count on him at least eating PB&J, but he has decided out of nowhere that he "hates peanut butter", and refuses to eat it.  He wants things he can eat on the go, so he doesn't have to stop playing…he always asks for protein bars these days haha.  I am just hoping that he becomes a good eater eventually…one can dream!

Henry still loves to be in his PJs, and would wear them 24 hours a day if I let him!  I do let him hang out in his PJs if we are home and have nothing to do, which makes him very happy :)

So, that is pretty much Henry these days.  He is such a sweet love, and we just can't imagine life without our little boy…we are so very blessed to be his parents, and love him to the moon and back!

Happy Birthday Henry James!

Xoxoxo