Michael's Three!

This year, we were lucky to have both sets of grandparents at a birthday party for Michael, held on the Sunday before his birthday. We also had the Nelsons and the Englands there as well. Michael was sure spoiled by all!

 I like how Michael is reaching for the ball while hugging his Grandpa.

 My one regret is that I feel like I failed at Michael's cake. My mom always decorated a cake for us on our birthday. She's really good at decorating with frosting. I am not, so for Michael's past birthdays, I cheated a little using props and simple icing things. This year, with a pathetic lack of energy and creativity, I put sprinkles on his chocolate cake and made an "M" using blue m&ms that we happened to have on hand. And since Brian and Lea don't like chocolate (and I have been CRAVING a chocolate cake), I also made a rainbow chip cake with rainbow chip frosting. I put a blue m&m "3"  on that one. I don't think Michael cared at all, but I feel pretty pathetic about it. I guess next year will have to be extra cool to make up for it.

 It's amazing how his blowing skills have improved since his first birthday!

The next day, we took Michael to Corn Belly's to enjoy his last day of being 2 (aka the last day he won't be charged admission). 

We love going to Corn Belly's because there are so many fun things for Michael to do. There are all kinds of slides, bounce houses, pig races, hay rides, train rides, a bouncing pillow, swings, and who knows what else! We've never had enough time to do everything they have to offer!

 Hay Ride

 Like last year, we let Michael lead us through the maze. This year, their maze featured the presidential candidates' faces. They give you a sheet of clues to help you when you reach check-points. We started in Romney (he had check-points 1-5). We followed Michael, never seeing a check-point, never taking any illegal short-cut. After about 10 or 15 minutes of wandering, we spotted a check-point. We were surprised that it was check-point #10, the very last check-point in the maze and in the Obama side. So, once again, following Michael's stunning navigational instincts, we zipped through the maze in record time. It worked out since it was getting late and we were tired. Next year, we'll do the maze first instead of nearly last. 

 Michael trying to reach the pedals and steer the tractor. 

 Such a big tractor for such a little guy!

 Michael was wary of this guy at first, but once he warmed up to him, he thought he was cool and had to watch him walk by whenever we passed him later.

 I kept thinking, "This is his last day of being two." And then, I'd get a little choked up. I can't believe that my little boy is already three.

After putting Michael to bed, we blew up a ton of balloons and put them in the hall outside of his room for the big day. He was a little confused when he woke up. "It's my birthday again?" He didn't mind at all, however.

 Brian took the day off to spend the morning with Michael (he worked at BYU's Rocky Mountain marching band competition in the afternoon and evening), so we did presents in our room first thing.

 I love his face here. I found this toy when I was heading into Wal*Mart for something. It was way on clearance, and I thought, "Well, I wish this were a weed whacker toy instead of a leaf blower, but I'll get it anyway." It turned out being Michael's favorite thing he received for his birthday, the thing he tells EVERYONE about.

 Normally, I don't like licensed character shirts, but since Curious George is Michael's favorite book series, I made an exception.

 We saw this in the BYU Bookstore and COULDN'T resist. 

My mom would always say, "Boys need a place to dig in the dirt," and she let my brothers have free reign in this one section of our house, nicknamed "the playhouse", even though the "playhouse" was just a grouping of trees. Well, my yard isn't nearly as big as my mom's, and I'm tired of Michael digging in my flower beds, so we got him a sand box with a lid so he could have a place to dig.

Later that night, I took Michael to Rocky Mountain. Since Brian was working, we got VIP passes to the President's Loge and got to watch the show where it was nice and warm and where they served refreshments. Thanks to Lea for finding out I had a pass to the Loge. They forgot to tell me. Michael loved watching the bands. It's like my dad said, "It's in his blood."

Currently, here are a few of Michael's favorite things:

• Books
• Monkeys, especially Curious George and sock monkeys 
• Cars, Construction vehicles, Trains
• Color: Dark Blue
• Movies: Cars, Curious George, and Tangled
• Things to do: Play in the dirt, mow the lawn, blow the leaves of the lawn with his new blower, play with his cars, and color. 
• He also loves to sing and pretends to be in the marching band whenever he finds something to be his helmet. 
• He also enjoys squishing spiders, which is awesome because both his parents are a little spider squeamish

On September 29, Michael left the world of diapers behind. He's done amazingly well at potty-training. I'm actually stunned by how few his accidents have been. He loves wearing his big-boy underwear, and he's very proud of his Thomas the Tank Engine undies, monkey undies, and Cars undies. We are so proud of our little boy, and we're so grateful he came to our family three years ago. Happy Birthday, Handsome!