Eli’s 3rd Birthday

I can’t believe I’m blogging this three weeks later, but better late than never. So… I’ll dive right in :) It’s a lot, but I wanted this all down for our memory – feel free to skim!

Eli was thrilled to wake up on his birthday and open some presents before Ben left for work. I was up late the night before, so you can hear my tired voice in this dark video at 6:30 a.m. Here he is opening the scooter that he wanted -

Eli's 3rd Birthday - he gets a scooter from Sarah on Vimeo.

The other big present was a wooden play house (a gender neutral doll house) that I found on craigslist for a really good deal. He loves pretend play and I thought he would have a lot of fun with this. Of course, the balloons were just as exciting (or more so).

Eli's 3rd Birthday - his little play house from Sarah on Vimeo.

That morning he had a special birthday breakfast of… Cocoa Crispies! (gross, right??) He always wants to get chocolate cereal when we’re at the grocery store, but I’ve told him he could have some for his birthday for the last few months now.

The funny thing is that after a few bites, he said he felt sick and switched to a bowl of Cheerios instead. Hopefully that cured him of his need for chocolate cereal for at least another year.

After breakfast, he had a call from the Christensens in Denver. Here they are singing to him (Eli was using the potty when the phone rang, so I brought the phone into the bathroom). I love hearing Eli describe his presents to the boys on the phone. He was VERY excited about them.

Eli's 3rd Birthday - talking to Alex and Sam Christensen on the phone from Sarah on Vimeo.

Eli had preschool on his birthday, so I went early and enjoyed the end of snack with the kids when they celebrated his birthday and ate cupcakes.

Here’s his class singing to him (Eli had a really hard time blowing the candles out for some reason):

Eli's 3rd Birthday - preschool class sings to him from Sarah on Vimeo.

Eli loooves chocolate, so I had to bring chocolate cupcakes. He liked them more than the Cocoa Crispies.

Eli with Nancy, one of his teachers. He loves Nancy and has had a great year! (Rebekeh was out of town, so I didn’t get a picture of her)

Later, we played outside in the back yard. Here’s Eli showing his rope ladder climbing skills. His climbing has really impressed me lately! It’s fun to see him growing and getting stronger.

In the early afternoon, Eli was tired from the fun morning he’d had. Rebekeh and family called from their vacation in Hawaii to sing a fun Happy Birthday song (that goes to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It”). Eli was a total stinker and not very nice on the phone. Not one of his finer moments, but I tried to keep in mind that he is three after all. I’m including the video so you can hear the cute song! (please ignore his sour response). It didn’t help that I had paused his tv show when they called.. he wasn’t in the mood to be interrupted :)

Eli's 3rd Birthday - Stinker on the Phone from Sarah on Vimeo.

Here’s Charlie watching his big brother rule the roost :) Poor Charlie starts running when Eli charges toward him with the intention to ram into him and knock Charlie down. I’ve told Eli 1,000 times not to push his brother down, but he still does it when I’m not looking.

Eli making a silly face -

Eli had a fun surprise visit by his favorite babysitter, Grace and her fun sister Maggie. They dropped off a darling present (rocket popsicle molds) and I thought it was so thoughtful and sweet. We’re going to miss Grace when she heads off to college at the end of the summer!!

Here’s a video of Eli opening a few more presents (I swear my house isn’t usually this messy). He REALLY wanted the game Bingo and I’m not sure that this version was what he had in mind, but that’s okay. I got him a book called, I Love It When You Smile, which fits him really well (sometimes Eli can be such a grump!).

Eli Opening Presents - 3rd Birthday (May 2010) from Sarah on Vimeo.

This last video is for his California grandparents, who made this birthday banner, which Eli pretends is a car wash! They also sent a cool wooden transformer, which he absolutely loves.

Eli's 3rd Birthday - running through the birthday banner/car wash (May 2010) from Sarah on Vimeo.

At age 3, Eli is a storyteller, using lots of vivid details and funny characters. He loves to play tag, race, ride his bike and scooter, play games like Candyland, Zingo, Chutes and Ladders, Go Fish, and Bingo. He’s still doing physical therapy once/week with the fabulous therapist Lisa to work on his gross motor skills, but he’s made great progress in the couple of months that he’s worked with her. He has had preschool twice/week, but school is almost over. This summer we have plans to go to the pool, beach, and parks as often as possible.

Here are some of his current favorites:

Breakfast food: Honey Nut Cheerios

Lunch foods: Turkey, apple slices, yogurt

Dinner food: Tortilla soup

Color: Blue

Stuffed animal: Froggy (but he loves his dolphin and some other stuffed animals too)

Indoor activities: Climbing on the couches (much to my dismay), building with legos, playing with trains or cars, and racing from the front of the house to the back of the house

Outdoor activities: Climbing on the playset, throwing balls around the yard, playing with the sand table and watering the plants.

Times when he tortures Charlie: In the mornings when I’m in the shower – Eli will boss Charlie around, and if words don’t work, he resorts to pushing. It will be interesting to see what happens when Charlie is a little bigger and pushes back. And also in the back yard, like I mentioned earlier.

At night, his favorite routine is: Read one book, say a prayer, read a second book. Climb into bed, then we cover him with his blankie and say, “Snug as a bug, loose as a goose, and now just normal.” In the last month or so, we’ve added new variations, mostly coming from Eli. I’ll say, “Snug as a bug… in a mug.” and he’ll say, “Snug as a bug… in a cozy helicopter.” And then I’ll say, “Loose as a goose… or a moose in a caboose.” And he’ll come up with some other rhyme. I love snuggling with this sweet boy. He is growing right up.