Our sweet little Elijah turned 3 on the 29th. He requested to have "old McDonald's" for dinner. Then we had a fun, low key family party with an elephant theme, Elijah's favorite animal. I made a yummy homemade 3 layer chocolate cake with blue buttercream frosting, per Elijah's request. Cora and Elijah decorated it with skittles and we put an elephant on top for good measure. That's my new favorite way to decorate birthday cakes - candy border, plastic toy topper, maybe sprinkles and a name or age piped on (but not this time). Cute and easy and the kids can help!
Cora and Elijah stamped the elephant party hats - we originally planned on having them for all the guests but wound up only making two in the end. Elijah loves putting silly things on his head and saying "Look mommy, party hat!" so I figured we better make some real party hats for his birthday. (I think he learned about party hats from the book Go, Dog, Go!)
I made Elijah's elephant shirt for his birthday, as well as some cute red shorts that you can't see here. He loved it and refused to take it off while he was eating his cake, which made me a little nervous, but we avoided getting blue frosting on it. (I put a lot of food coloring in that frosting and was pretty sure it would stain if it touched his white shirt.) Of course after he finished eating his cake he decided he didn't want to wear it anymore and wouldn't let me put it back on him. Hopefully he will want to wear it again in the future - is it too crazy for church? A 3 year old can wear a button down elephant shirt to church, right?
Here he is attempting to blow out his candles; he eventually needed a little help to do it.
Trying on his new safari gear that was one of his birthday presents - I got the hat on Amazon and sewed the vest - finishing it up the morning of his birthday. He also got binoculars to go with it.
Another homemade gift - counting bean bags. I intended to make an alphabet set as well but didn't quite get around to it yet. I also made an alphabet themed I-spy bag for him for church that I didn't get a picture of.
Daddy with a tired Elijah at the end of the night under our traditional balloon-laden archway. Please ignore the outdated sign on the wall behind them.
I like to wrap presents in cheap brown kraft paper so Cora helped me draw pictures on Elijah's presents during his naptime to decorate them. This is one of her drawings that she insisted I write a very specific dictated caption on.
Elijah wore his safari gear all day long the day after his birthday.
He even wore it to town and got lots of comments at Costco, Walmart and the dentist. Sometimes I feel like going to Costco with these guys is quite the adventure too - maybe I should dress like this.
In just 3 short years we've gone from this little guy:
to our big 3 year old (who is still very small for his age and wearing 18 month to 2T clothes at the biggest). We thought when he was born he'd have dark hair and blue eyes, and now we've got a handsome little blondie with brown eyes who looks just like his Daddy. He makes us laugh every day with his cute little voice and quirks. He knows all his letters by sight and many numbers and shapes. Some of his loves include: learning, puzzles, books, "scary movies" (scary like Beauty and the Beast, Kung-Fu Panda, or Lion King), the color blue, superheroes, monsters, animals, clementines, trucks, cuddling in our bed, and teasing his big sister. He loves to nestle his head into my tummy and then tells me confidentially "I think the baby likes me, mommy." He loves telling Ryan "Daddy, watch this move" and then showing him how he can pop an orange segment into his mouth or do something else silly. He loves lifting things up and telling me "I'm strong like Daddy." We're still working on the potty training thing but that is about the last baby thing left about him. He loves picking out his own clothes with sometime humorous results. He loves looking at and pointing out every baby he sees and talking about being a big brother. One of my favorite things that he says is "actually." For example, I'll tell him to take another bite and he'll say "Actually, Mommy, I think my tummy is full." He still doesn't like sharing food, sitting down while eating, eating food that is mixed together (i.e. soups, casseroles, etc.), or being called a baby (except in rare moods, by me). He is a rather accident prone, busy little boy and always has scrapes and bruises on his knees and head. So far he's gotten his leg stuck in a stool, put a grape up his nose, and swallowed a penny. (Still waiting on a good resolution on that last incident, actually.) We thank the Lord every day for placing Elijah in our family and welcome the adventures that the next year will bring.
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