Weston is 3!

Oh sweet Westy boy. He had been looking forward to this birthday for weeks! (And coincidentally, Collin had been quite miffed about it for weeks. Still can't wrap his mind around the fact that Weston's birthday is "first", even though HE is older.)

Be careful when you start traditions.... your kids will hold you to them.

The day before, the boys started excitedly talking about how they would be eating donuts for breakfast on Weston's birthday. Oh yeah... donuts. Dang, now I gotta go get donuts! :)

Glenn's bakery wasn't so good when we tried their food a few weeks prior, but their donuts are worth buying!

I wanted Weston to feel special on his birthday, but wasn't really sure what I could do. Not much in Gallup to do for fun! So, I bit the bullet, and Weston got his first ever birthday party. He said he wanted a monkey cake, so I decided to make it an animal themed party. He was ecstatic, and told everyone he knew about it.

We had it at 12:30pm so Trav could join us for some of it over his lunch break.

Weston really has only one friend, Rubi. :) So when I asked who he wanted at his party, he said, "Uhhh, Rubi! And Collin. And Lilly. And Daddy. And Mommy. And Olive." 

Nice, Ok. Intimate party. Then I suggested, Creighton... the little boy his age that we spend a lot of time with because we're friends with his family and his dad works at the dental office. Weston's eyes went wide with dismay. "No, not Creighton! He HITS me!" Well, I felt bad talking him into it, but it made sense for Creighton to be there, so Weston finally came around to the idea. :)

When the kids came in, they went straight to the table to make their "safari binoculars". 

Megan was so sweet to take charge and grab my camera to take pictures. Love this one!

Yay! Daddy made it sooner than expected. 

Then we had some pizza.

Creighton's sister, Brielle, is home schooled, so she joined in on the fun.

They could not stop talking about the dang pinata! So that was next. The basement was perfect for it.

The next game was supposed to be an "Elephant Relay Race". Just carrying unshelled peanuts on a spoon from one bowl to the next. The teams were as follows: Team A: Collin, Weston and Rubi. Team B: Brielle, Lilly, and Creigton.

Team A kicked Team B's trash. I think Collin, Weston and Rubi only ran one or two peanuts each, across. 

Then, they decided this game was for the birds and directed their attention, instead, at their pinata candy. All the while, Brielle, Lilly and Creighton are energetically "winning". It was like a scene out of Little Giants.

Next was "Tiger, Tiger, Lion." in place of Duck, Duck, Goose. The "it" person had a lion tail clipped onto the back of their shirt that the other person was trying to grab.

Finally, cake and ice cream! The monkey cake was a sad affair. I don't know why I tried to make brown frosting with food coloring instead of just making chocolate frosting. I'm smart like that. Luckily, 3 year olds don't care much.

Love this sequence that Megan got!

                                             

Yup! A big 3 year old now!

He got a fun Fisher Price airplane, Spiderman and book from Lilly and Rubi and some puzzles from Creighton.

Mom and Dad got him a magnetic boy "doll" that you can change clothes on, a Boogie Board (drawing tablet), and for the big present.... a train set!

Aunt Rachel sent an electronic dinosaur that turns into a car and Grandma Dog sent clothes and some motorcycle toys.

We had also bought a basketball hoop that didn't show up for a couple weeks so that became a joint birthday present for the boys. 

Oh yeah, I also threw in a doll! :) Weston is such a nurturing soul, so I've wanted to buy a doll for ages for him! Well, he pulled that thing out, and with a sheepish (not wanting to be rude) sly, grin, said, "A doll?! I not want a doll!" Haha, his dad gave him a high five over that comment!

To finish up, the kids grabbed their safari binoculars and headed upstairs to go on an animal hunt! I had hidden animal crackers all over the toy room. The kid with the most animal crackers got a prize. I thought it was so cute when they actually used the binoculars to go find the animals.

What can I say about my sweet, sweet Weston boy?! He is a tender hearted kid. He is also quite emotional. The smallest bump and he is wailing. He is a lover, not a fighter, but when Collin has pushed him too far, he has been known to fight back with a bite or a hit. Then he's instantly contrite and upset because he knows he did something wrong. He loves to nuzzle on Olive. He is still a pretty good eater, but you'd never know it by how skinny he is! He loves his Pediasure a few times a week. He HAS to hold my hand every time we go up or down the stairs together. He loves watching Dora, Team Umi Zoomi, and Peppa Pig. He loves cars and trains. He really enjoys songs and singing and reading books with me. Right now, their favorite is Don't Push the Button! When we sing songs before bed he can join in and sing almost all the words to I'm a Child of God, and Families Can Be Together Forever. He still wears a diaper at night. If you give him a stuffed animal, he'll be your best friend. He is dang good at playing Temple Run on our phones. Not too proud of that one. :) When he finds out that I'm leaving somewhere, he's suddenly so sad and pulls a pouty lip and pitifully says, "But I'll miss you." Randomly throughout the day he'll say, "Mom." Pause. "I love you." If you ask him if he had good sleepers in the morning, he always says yes. Then we ask if he had any dreams and he always says, "Yes. About dinosaurs and lizards." He loves his brother and wants to be just like him.

For his birthday, I asked him what his favorite food was so I could make it for dinner. He said, "Pizza." I told him we were having that for lunch and what would be his next favorite. He paused for a second then said, "Um. Leftovers." Haha! I totally started giggling and he pulled that smirk/self conscious face that shows he realized he said something funny but has no idea why it's funny. After more prodding, he said his next favorite food was soup.

Weston is my easy going, love a bug. He is a principled child and has a strong sense of what is right or fair. I am so grateful for him and his personality. We really needed a Weston to come after our high strung/ high energy Collin! I can't imagine my life without him.