My Baby Is Three!

Today is Parker's birthday, and I can hardly believe he is three years old. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was wondering when I would EVER have any kids, and look at me now! THis past year has been such a whirlwind of change in our house, and mostly all for the good. Parker has gone from my baby boy to such a big boy (but still always my baby!). He is so good and loving and full of positive energy, but as he has gotten closer to three, he has also definitely learned a thing or two about having his own opinion, flexing his own muscles, and in a nutshell, having a will of steel!
For his birthday, Parker had his favorite breakfast (waffles) and since he went to Mom's Day Out, got to have a little party at "school." I brought in cupcakes, and let me tell you, feeding seven three year olds chocolate cupcakes is a messy job! Later in the day, our friends the Kubals came over, who have three kids that are Parker's best friends, and we opened gifts and had cupcakes and ice cream. To top it off, we went to a High School Football game. Parker has been begging to go for weeks, ever since football season started, so we thought it would be a great birthday activity. Here is another photo of Parker playing with one of his birthday presents:

Here are some things to know about Parker on the day he turns three:

1. He still loves to hug and cuddle. Sometimes int he middle of the day he will just run to me with his arms outstretched and say, "Hug! Hug! Hug! Hug!" I love that.

2. He says the CUTEST and FUNNIEST things! One of his newest sayings is, when we tell him thank you for doing something, he says, "Well, it was MY PLEASURE!" Or, he will walk up to me and say, "Hey, Mom, how've you been?" He is also very observant of things. The first time he pooped in the potty by himself he said to me, "Look, Mom! I did it! And it looks just like a big potato!" (Sorry, for the visual, but it was hilarious!)

3. He loves all sports. Parker will play just about any sport possible and available to him. We play basketball, football, soccer, baseball, bowling, and golf on a daily basis at our house. We have trained him well too, and when there are sports on TV he always looks for the cougar or the jayhawk. And no matter who is playing, that is also who he cheers for. "Go Cougs!" "Go Jayhawks!"

4. Parker will not eat fruits or vegetables. It has been about 9 months now, and Parker refuses to eat them. Occasionally, he will eat corn, and once in a blue moon, he will take a miniscule bite of jello with fruit in it (one of my "great" but failed ideas for sneaking fruit into his diet). We have tried many different tactics to get him to take just ONE bite at dinnertime. None have worked yet. He will happily go throughout the evening with nothing more to eat or drink (except water). He will happily give up toys, movies, books, and privileges to avoid the one bite of fruit or veggies. We have tried everything short of forcing them down his throat, which sometimes I feel like doing when he flatout yells at me, "NO FRUIT!". Sometimes I sneak baby food veggies in with his mac and cheese, or mix some applesauce into his jelly. I think my mom has one word for me in this area: payback. :)

5. Parker is into trucks and cars in a very big way. When we drive in the car, we are constantly identifying the different kinds of trucks and diggers and tractors that we see. Parker knows the difference between a cement truck, a fuel tanker truck, a transporter truck and a dump truck. If I say, "look at that big truck!" He says, "No, Mom, that is a CEMENT truck." He loves to play with his Hot Wheels cars, too. Josh intorduced him to YouTube, and if you type in "rally car crashes" you get compilations of stunt drivers crashing their race cars, which Parker loves to watch while crashing HIS cars off the computer desk. He asks to watch "crashing cars" many times thorughout the day.

6. Parker is on Prayer Patrol at our house. He is the best reminder that we cannot take a bite to eat without saying a prayer first, and he won't go to bed without one either. Recently he has started saying the prayer again, too. (He had stopped for a while.) He is a great example in that way! Also, recently the twins were sick, and not eating, and Parker could tell I was concerned about it. He said to me, "Maybe we should say a prayer, Mom, so Wyatt and Brynley can eat." It was so sweet, so cool to see that he was actually understanding a little bit about how prayer works! He also lets Josh and I know that Wyatt and Brynley are not good at folding their arms and closing their eyes during the prayer. We're working on that....

7. Parker is a great big brother! Besides the occasional "push the babies over and see what happens" Parker is fabulous with the twins. He is so excited that they are actually starting to play and interact. He is usually good about sharing his toys, and he loves to tickle them and get in their cribs with them. He also talks to them in a "baby" voice the way he hears us do it. Since Brynley is our little princess, Parker refers to her as "princess" on a regular basis. "Mom, Princess is crawling on my cars!" Or, "Mom, Pretty Princess has a big booger on her nose!" Wyatt is known mostly as just "Wy" or "Wy-Wy" and Parker thinks it is funny when we get tot he letter "Y" in the ABC song, and he will sing "W, X, Wy-Wy and Z!" I know that it is inevitable that my kids will argue and fight sometimes, but I am also so thankful that I know that they love each other from the beginning.
Of course, ther is always more I could add, but for now, I will post a couple of Parker's more recent and cutest smiles....

First day of "school"....