Ian

Ian

Monday, October 22, 2012

Party Time!

Dear Ian,

Yesterday was your birthday party, and if I must say so myself, it was pretty much a success.  You were a bit confused, though, on whether or not you were three or four.  You turned three on the day we took snack to your class on your actual birthday, so I guess it makes sense to think you were four on Sunday, when we celebrated with your party.  But no, Bear.  You are still three, and I am thankful for it.  It only feels like you grow up that fast to your Daddy and me.

This year, we hosted a Tricycle Rally themed birthday party.  And once again, Mother Nature loved us enough to be able to host it outside.  Thank goodness!  With all the friends that came, I don't think everyone could have fit in our house!  Let's see...  There was you, me and Daddy.  Grandma and Grandpa Brooks, Grandma and Papa Davis made it home from New York and Uncle Gary, Aunt Megan, Payton and Taylor, and even Uncle Ryan and Aunt Andrea.  Then there were your friends from school: Keelie, Joe, Julia and Ben.  Finally, our baby-friends group that you've known from week one:  Chase, Tyler, Issa and Graham.   Everyone one  brought their trikes, and we had races and games set up.  Grandpa Brooks even brought his bike, as promised!  It was a lot of fun.  And as usual, Mommy took a ton of pictures.  It's best to let them tell the story, so here we go...

 Here's a table with the party favors and such on it.  And your three-year-old portrait by Miss Dina.
 Close-up of the party favors.  Polka Dot Press made your invitations, cupcake toppers and favor bag toppers.  Inside each bag was a traffic sign lollypop, a checkered flag pencil with eraser, a red, yellow or green notebook and bubbles. 
 As usual, Miss Dina's work is perfect!
 More party favors.  Traffic sign lollypops, thanks to Oriental Trading Co.
 Your Mommy went on a nutty cleaning spree getting our garage ready for this party!
 Your birthday banner, made by me.
 I had a little too much fun with the themed food.  These fruit kabobs were stoplights!  See?!  Red, yellow and green!
 Snort.  Veggie "handle bars."  I have a sickness...
 You helped me make your cupcakes.  You did the sprinkles, and before that, you cracked all the eggs for the batter.  We had a good time cooking together.
 Another cupcake picture.  Toppers by Polka Dot Press.
 Thank goodness for these premade little sandwiches.  Awesome "tires!"
 And because I am a raging case of OCD, I covered your water bottles with checked flag duct tape.  That stuff is cool!
 Your Grandpa Brooks brought his bike to join in the fun!
 Your friend Ben.
 Keelie and Issa
 Holy Moly.  Look at all the kids and trikes.  A few days before your party, I warned all the neighbors of this impending invasion.  And after the party, I gave them all cupcakes.  They seemed appeased. 
 My birthday Bear
 We played "Pin The Wheel on the Trike!"
 Daddy directing traffic
 Hahaha!!  Love this one
 Singing "Happy Birthday" to you
 You on your bike
I love this grin.  Such a big smile on my big boy.  And love that new birthday hat!

It was such a great day, and a fantastic way to celebrate your third year.  Predictably, this is where I will get all sappy and say that I can't believe how quickly it has gone by.  And I really do feel that way.  But man!  After all that partying, I am worn out.  It was so worth it, though, to see you having such a good time with your friends and family.  Cant wait for next year and all the changes it will bring!

Daddy and I love you so much!
Love,
Mommy

* Birthday Portrait by: Dina Ivory Photography
* Birthday Invitations, Cake Toppers, Favor Bags and Thank-you Notes by: The Polka Dot Press
* Birthday Decorations by: Oriental Trading Company

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Friday, October 19, 2012

Birthday Interview

Dear Ian,

Found this on Pinterest (what DID we do before that site?!), and thought it would be a neat way to preserve your three-year-old self on your birthday.  Some of these answers were a little... interesting, but they are all your answers.  It will be really neat to see them change as you get older and older. 

Love today and always,
Mommy
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Three Times the Fun!

Dear Ian,

Happy Birthday Baby Bear!!

I just cant believe that you are already three years old.  Where in the world did the time go?  But without getting too sappy, it does blow my mind at how fast the time has gone from October 19, 2009 to today, October 19, 2012.

To make your third birthday extra special, Daddy and I did some fun stuff.  And of course I took pictures.  I'm predictable and consistent; what can I say.  Here we go:

The night before your birthday, Mommy made brownies for you to take to your class for special snack.  Daddy helped by being a taste tester.  As you can see in this picture, he had to make sure they tasted good enough for your friends.
 Then we blew up 10 purple balloons, your favorite color...
 ... and we tossed them on the floor of your bedroom.  That way when you woke up this morning, you woke up to a party!  I heard you when you turned on your light, and it was so funny. You said, "Wow, look at all these balloons.  I do not know they were in here."  Love that grammar, kiddo.
Here you are with your purple balloons.  
 Since you are the birthday boy of honor, you got to put your cereal bowl on the special birthday plate.  To keep it nice, we kinda use it like a charger plate.  It works; we get the gist.  You were excited about it either way.
Ready to go to school!  We got you a special Birthday Boy pin to wear on your shirt.  You also decorated your shirt with water from brushing your teeth apparently.  

Your teachers also helped you celebrate your special day, too.  They served your special snack, and according to you, all the friends in your class sang "Happy Birthday" to you.  Miss Mallory made this neat poster for you, and it was on the door of your classroom.  So cute.  You're such a lucky little boy.
 Your teachers rock.  They know you so well.  Purple candle :)
 Blowing out your purple candle.
 Happy little birthday boy.
 Saying your blessing before snack.  Love this!  So cute.  
 Some of your friends enjoying your snack.  L to R: Conor, Ben, Lauren and Avery
Special thanks to Ms. Katie for sending me these pictures.  She's awesome!

So, now we're getting ready to head off to your birthday dinner.  You've chosen for your celebratory meal, of all places, Golden Corral.  So, since it's your day, that's what you'll get.  Should be interesting!  

Happy Birthday Ian!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy!
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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Ian-isms

Took you to Red Elephant for dinner tonight, and you ordered your own meal.

Ian: I want a hamburger, please.
Waitress:  Do you want cheese on it?
Ian:  No, just ham.

She sure got a kick out of that response.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Ian-isms

Just a quick dose of Ian-isms today.

The other day you and I were driving down the road and passed this billboard for a fancy-ish restaurant here in town.
You spotted it and shouted: "Look Mommy!  Green Eggs and Ham!"

So much for that fancy restaurant seeming fancy to you...


A few days later, you and I were getting out of the car when you poked yourself in the eye with your book or something.  You stood there for a second, holding your hand over your eye and doing your "man breathing" to tough through the pain.  Then you said, in a disgusted tone:

"Great.  Now I'm going to have to be a pirate."

Hahaha!!!

Perspective.


And now, the rest of the story...

Dear Ian,

First, a quick explanation of the line above is in order.  There was this great radio personality when Mommy was growing up named Paul Harvey.  He broadcast news stories that weren't typical news stories of politicians and world events.  His stories were about small towns and funny, quirky events, and for one of his segments, he always started with that line you read above.  I used to love listening to him, and I'm sad you wont get that experience.  Hopefully I can share it with you...

But anyhoo.  The reason I chose that sentence is because this post is all about Disney through your eyes.  Last post I told about our day at the park and what a blast it was.  I mentioned that you received your very own camera as a gift, and you used it to document your version of Disney.  Here, I'm going to post a few of these pictures and your descriptions of why you took them.

Without any further ado, here is Disney through your eyes and the rest of the story.
 Here's a funny self portrait of you and Daddy right after you opened your camera.  The lens has this neat feature of being able to turn over so you can do self portraits.  Neat!
 A picture of the parade that we stumbled into by accident when we first entered the park.
 Your photo of the castle.  Came out great!
 An interesting shot of Mommy in the Baby Care center.  We stopped there to fill up your water bottle and get all sunscreened for the day.
 Daddy and Issa outside the Baby Care Center.
 A fountain near the Baby Center. 
 Here's part of the line queue for the Jungle Cruise.
 And here is a photo of my foot as we stood in line for something.  My new sneakers look nice...
 Maybe we were waiting in line for this ride?  Aladdin's Magic Carpets in Adventureland.
 I asked you why you took a picture of this man, as he was someone we didn't know.  Your response: "I liked his balloons."
 You took A LOT of pictures of various strollers.  Not really sure what the fascination was.  Comparison shopping, maybe?
 Here's a chair at the Pinocchio house, where we ate lunch.
 And a nice shot of Lovey in your stroller. 
 This nice lady came over and entertained you and Issa for a few minutes with her Pinocchio puppet. 
 Random people walking past the carousel.
 Here's a good shot of Issa and Lorelei in their stroller.
 Ooooh.  You found a crane.  They are still working on the new Fantasyland park. 
 Ok, Magic Kingdom trash cans.   When asked why you photographed them, you stated that you liked the purple on them.
 A self portrait of a little boy getting very, very sleepy from all the fun.
 According to you, you liked this man's wheel chair. 
A neat shot of the Astro Orbiter in Tomorrowland.
And finally, this one was too good not to share.  You, in your car seat on the way back to Tallahassee.  Maybe being strapped in the car for four hours made you a little stir-crazy.  Cute, though!
You took quite a few more pictures this trip, and a lot of them were the backsides of people or strollers or self portraits...  I couldn't post all of them to this blog entry, but I do have them on the laptop.  You really enjoy looking at your photographic work.  I'm thrilled that you seem to enjoy taking pictures as much as I do.  And now you can take pictures and make memories for any and every other trip we take!  What a neat gift.  

You are a lucky little bear, and I am a lucky Mommy to have you.

Love always,
Mommy
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