James' 3rd Birthday

James had a great birthday!! This was the first year that he really understood that it was a special day and had been talking about his birthday for weeks. The night before his birthday when I was lying down with him in his bed to tell stories, I told him the story of when he was born. He must have been really excited for his birthday to come, because he woke up extra early the next day at 7:30am (he usually gets up around 9am). I went and got him out of his room and the first thing he said was, "It's my burfday!!". I did a horrible job of hiding his stack of presents that I wrapped, so he knew exactly where they were and ran straight to them. I wanted him to open most of them with the rest of the family so I let him pick out one and open it on our bed with just me and Anthony.

Thank goodness he picked out the big thing that he wanted: a Jolly Roger!

This toy did not leave his side for a minute all day. He was in love! After everyone got up and dressed, we let James decide what we were going to do before Anthony's parents came for lunch around noon. He originally wanted to go to the pirate ship playground, but it was a little rainy and overcast, so I asked him if he wanted to go there or to this indoor playground we recently discovered. He voted for the indoor playground, so off we went. It is a really cool place, you can pay to play for the day, or for a monthly membership. If it weren't so expensive I would do it in a heartbeat! They have every imagination/pretend toy you can think off: play kitchen, washer and dryer, legos, trains, a ball pit, a tool bench, puppet theater, costume corner, etc..

He loved this little mixer, I think because it reminds him of power tools. He was making all kinds of things for us: eggs, pancakes, and pizza:

I got a picture of his concentrating face. He always sticks his tongue out and if he is really focusing, the tongue goes back and forth across his lips :)

 Serving me breakfast:

 Doing some laundry:

They have a little corner for babies and Rett spent about 10 minutes in this little seat. The rest of the two hours he just sat happily on our laps:

It was coming up on lunchtime, so we headed home to get ready for pizza, cupcakes, and presents! I brought his cupcake in the room and we sang happy birthday but he didn't really get that he was supposed to wait until the song was over to blow out the candle. We ended up relighting it and letting him blow it out a couple times in a row. It is hard to hear at the very end but we asked him what he wished for and he said, "A cupcake". Wish granted!

 He loved that cupcake!!

We took a group shot and we all tried to do the "James" face. I think he pulls it off the best :)

After cupcakes it was time for the presents. James was so excited about every single one that he got, it was so cute.

He got quite the haul! From Grandma he got three different sets of Jake and the Neverland pirates figurines.

 I love his face in this one, he gets so excited/surprised that his eyebrows move into his forehead :)

He also got a Hook battle boat that shoots cannons, a Jake the pirates storybook, and a check from Mimi and Papa to play at the indoor playground a few more times.

He has been wanting this telescope for forever since he saw it in Target. He loves the "clock" on the top of it. (It has a compass on the side)

 His last present was a play doctor set. It was a hit! He carries his bag of supplies around the house now and says he is "going work". He loves to fix us up and he will come up to you and say, "Uh oh! Your heart is broken!! Lemme fix you!" It came with a play clipboard and pen and sometimes he will come up to you with it in his hand like he is writing something down and will say, "Whas the prablem?"

 We had such a fun day with our little guy. The next morning he woke up and asked, "Is it my burfday again?" I was sad that I had to tell him that he has to wait an entire year until his next birthday. Maybe we can do a little half birthday celebration. I don't know if I can wait to have so much fun! :)