Shook turned 3 May 20th! His party came down to deciding between trains and cars. He loves both and we could never get a really good answer from him! So, we went with trains this year. It was also our first birthday party at our new house.
I really wanted the cake to have a real train in the middle but apparently that would be impossible! :) But, it was a really good idea!
I was so worried that it was going to rain and ruin the whole party set-up that Michael and I went to Wal-Mart the night before and got a bunch of stuff to do inside. The wooden trains and paint were the party favors but I was afraid we were going to have to paint them at the party for something to do. (That would have been super fun with 3 year olds!) Ended up being a great day!
I made candy trains too just because I thought they were super cute!
We put the tables under our carport just in case it started raining. I thought they looked super cute!
We made a train track out of duct tape coming up from the garage so everyone would just meet us out back.
And, one of the main attractions....the bouncy house! I love it. I wasn't sure if Shook would go down a big slide just yet so I found this one (I won't tell you about how I thought I booked it through a different company than I actually had...genius!) You'll see that some of us got inside it later and it was super neat. It had a little car wash and a little slide in the engine part.
I took about a hundred pictures trying to get a good one. I just think he is the cutest kid ever!
Birthday hugs!
Sweet kids!
Birthday Chubby Cheeks!
BFFs!
These boys are always clowning around.
We had the party from 11-1 so that we could have brunch food - Shook's favorite. Honey made him pancakes and biscuits for his party...yummy to his tummy he said!
Leading the pack to the other main attraction...
He loved it!
Poor guy...his first candles got blown out by the wind so we had to do it again later on inside!
He got a ton of presents from his friends that he immediately got out and played with.
He got to make his wish.
He was a tired puppy after this party! It was really fun. I think he absolutely loved the bouncy house and the choo choo!
Let me not leave out the tantrum that ensued over balloons....we lost them in the sky after everyone had gone home and Shook wanted them back!
But, we quickly went from tantrums to silly head with M&Ms in his belly hole. It's one of his most favorite tricks! Sometimes he goes with raisins over M&Ms.
We went for his 3 year old check up soon after and he was 3' 2" (75%) and 37 pounds (90%). Both he and Jules just keep growing like weeds! I wish they would slow down. I didn't let him do my favorite things quiz because it would have gone something like this:
Me: "Shook, what's your favorite color?"
Shook: "Why?"
Me: "Because I need to know."
Shook: "Why?"
Me: "Because I want to write it down in a book so I don't forget"
Shook: "Why?"
Me: "Because"
Shook: "Btause why?"
Me: "Just because"
Shook: "Btause why?"
Me: "Just because"
Shook: "Otay, RED!"
And, we would be here all day taking a quiz to which I know all the answers because we would have to go through that scenario each time! He started asking "Why" to EVERYTHING about 4-5 months ago and it has progressively gotten worse. Jules never did that so it's just crazy. It gets a little frustrating after awhile but he and I can go back and forth for a LONG time with "Why" and "Btause". His "Btause" and "Otay" are two of my favorite words he says. He's talking really well now. Not nearly to the extent of what Jules talked at 3 but clearly that's because she got more practice with all the non-stop talking she does. He also sings with her some - esp on Frozen (the boy/Prince parts he says) and he breaks out in a version 5 Little Monkeys all the time which is also one of my favorite things he does. Oh, and especially when he does "Snap that monkey right outta that tree".
He is also getting pretty shy and will hide his head when you ask him something in front of others or he will hide behind my leg which is just like me when I was little. I was thinking that with Jules not being like that at all, maybe neither of them would be like that but no such luck! Maybe he will grow out of it. I always hated that I was that shy.
He loves anything with bread (see above pancakes and biscuits for example). He can make a meal out of Jim N Nicks cheese bread.
He (and us) still have a lot of work to do in the potty training arena. He hasn't been ready so we have kind of let it go at home but just in the last week or so he has at least become more aware of his 'parts' so maybe that is a sign that he is getting there. He will stand or sit but basically just says "I not know how" over and over while he is in the bathroom.
He sure is a sweet and cuddly little 3 year old. I couldn't ask for a sweeter kid!
Here are there pics from a recent mini-session we did about a month before his birthday.
