Max turns 3 years old

Maxwell turned 3 on August 19th!  I can't believe he's that old.  He is such a great kid.

Big girl sitting in a bumbo  (We will see if she likes it.  It wasn't a big hit for Maxwell.)

We moved the bookcase that was under Maxwell's bed so now they can go under his bed.  The boys are having so much fun with that!

Playing his new Candyland game

Painting the letters for his upcoming 3 years old photoshoot

He got a lunchbox since he is going to start pre-school.  He's pretty excited.  (I think it's a pretty cool lunchbox!)

All painting done by Maxwell

I made Maxwell muffins for his actual birthday since he loves them.

Starting his morning out right with a little time watching shows on the iPad with Cereal and Milk to enjoy.

video - How old are you? (working on that "TH" sound)

Enjoying his birthday muffin with candles, of course!

He was a little confused, understandably, because he thought he was already 3 because of his birthday party.  I knew he would probably be confused but I didn't want to lie to him and tell him he was already three at his party.  He didn't fret about it too long.

I let him eat lunch out of his lunchbox for fun

Silly boy

She's all dressed up for his birthday.  I am totally smitten with her.

Emmalyn and her favorite Aunt Brittany

We took Maxwell out for pizza for his birthday dinner since he loves pizza.  He was pretty happy about it.

Cuddling with daddy

...and quickly we go back to silly

...and just as quickly back to sweet

We finished off his birthday with some swim lessons.  (Note the sign - Happy birthday!)

Video - Maxwell's doing great at swimming lessons!

Video - Maxwell's Birthday Interview

This is such a cute video, it captures Maxwell and his personality!  I am going to transcribe part of it though so I'll have it written down below.

All about Max at 3 years old!

• If you say he's little he'll correct you and say, "No, I'm not.  I'm short."
• He's a "terror" - lots of time on timeout for not listening lately
• He frequently tries to negotiate
• He won't try new foods
• Typical breakfast foods he eats are - oatmeal, eggs/toast, yogurt/applesauce, pancakes
• Typical lunch foods are - pb & j, mac n cheese, slices of turkey and cheese
• Typical dinner foods are - spaghetti, pizza, asparagus, broccoli, tilapia and quinoa, (he does not like hamburgers!)
• I feel like it's a struggle to get him to eat anything even the stuff he likes
• He's got lots of moves.  He does ninja moves, loves to dance to music, and mime punching while saying "punch punch"
• Nighttime Routine- PJs, brush teeth, few minutes on the ipad, read a couple books (he reads one sight book), then cuddles with Momma and Daddy and Emmalyn and singing.  Since I've gone back to work actually wants me to put him to bed which is nice.  So after we finish the routine in our bedroom, I carry him to his room and turn on the sound machine, put some covers on him and sing a song to him about how much I love him.
• He loves new shoes!!
• When we are singing at night, he sometimes requests songs by the track number on the c.d.  He are always listening to a kindermusik cd n the car which we refer to as "maxwell's music"
• He's a great swimmer.  He is in a class with boys double his age and more than a head taller than him and he's the most skilled.
• He can ride a trike or his scooter, but still a little short for the push bike we have for him
• He loves anything that involves a ball - basketball, soccer, baseball, football
• He will tidy up if he's in the mood and will sing "clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere..." while he does it
• He can put his clothes on and take them off for the most part
• He still goes on the little training potty except poop - that always happens in the big toilet but we have to life him up there... he is still working on wiping himself.  At night time and nap time he's in a PullUp since he still has accidents then.
• He lays at the head of his bed, the wrong way, with blankets on top of him and sometimes with his stuffed animals when he's sleeping
• He calls for us to get him out of bed in the morning and after nap time - peter or momma.  But he never gets up on his own.
• He loves play doh
• He has such a great memory and is so inquisitive - why why why
• He loves Emmalynn, wants to kiss her or hold her hand or burp her, and will help grab a burp cloth or binky if we ask him to.
• He's funny and so endearing.  People are drawn to him and quickly like him.

Some of the questions from his 3 year old interview:
How are you today? 3
What is your favorite color? red
What is your favorite fruit? banana
What is your favorite vegetable? Strawberry
What is your favorite animal? Horse
What is your favorite sport? Football
Do you like being a big brother? Yes
What is your favorite movie?  Ninja Colby (???? I have no idea what this is)
What is your favorite tv show? Veggie Tales
Who are your friends?  Emma and David (have no idea who they could be) and Hayden
Favorite food is Banana and he also like peanut butter and apple

Maxwell's 3 Yr Old Birthday Party!

When it came time to plan Maxwell's party, I struggled with what the theme should be.  He isn't really crazy passionate about anything specific like Dora, Toy Story, Legos, Trucks, etc.  Plus, I didn't aspire to doing something really complicated.  I decided to do a "circle" party and just have everything be focused on circles.  I was really happy with how it turned out.

The e-invitations I sent out

The decorations weren't complicated but still took awhile to get up.  We decorated the night before the party after Maxwell went to sleep.  I appreciated having Brittany's help - I am so lucky to have her as a partner in so many things!

When Max woke up and saw the decorations, he was SO EXCITED!  The first thing he said was, "Wow. It's my party. Can we get the cake now?"  :)  I explained he'd have to wait a couple hours.

Instead of a traditional cake we did a doughnut cake.  I thought it turned out really cute.

Caterpillar (or as Max corrects us -not "Caterpiller" instead it's "Catapillah".  Say it with a British accent like the show Pokoyo)

I love the birthday banner my cousin Michelle made for me.  It's absolutely perfect and I can't wait to use it for every birthday!

"Maxwell is three"

Our party favors were mini peanut butter flavored oreos, circle dot markers, and a drawing pad

I had some outside activities planned but the day ended up being rainy so we did most everything inside.  We ate food, blew bubbles on the covered patio, played with beach balls and round swimming tubes, and made fruit loop necklaces.

Max was territorial over this cooler with water in it and sat on it when Ian was standing there.  It was pretty funny since clearly Ian wasn't going to get into it.

Maxwell and Sam

Landen and Sadie

Pretty baby in her circle party dress

Making the necklaces

Evan enjoying his hard work

Three!!

All the kids in the media room playing with toys  (it was quite loud!).  We had 4 friends over and 2 cousins.

Time for "cake"

So excited to finally get cake and to sing Happy Birthday

I **LOVE** this picture and the pure joy on his face when he blew out all the candles.  It makes my heart so incredibly happy.

Video - Max looked up at me this is what he said.  (I made him say it again so I could get it on video.  It was so incredibly cute.)

Evan and Jessica

Andrea and Sadie

Playing trains

Blake, Leah, Ian, Maxwell

Sam and Brad

His birthday balloons

Trying to take a nap after the party but her sneaky hand made its way up to her mouth

I thought the party went great.  I was so appreciative of Brittany and Peter's help to keep everything taken care of.  I was glad I had a few things planned because these kids have short attention spans!  Parties are so stressful to me because I just feel so out of my element.  I just haven't been to enough kid parties to feel confident that I know how they should be run.  Everyone seemed to have fun and there were no big hiccups.  

We opened presents after all the kids left.  This isn't what I grew up doing but it's pretty common here (any maybe everywhere now?) to not open presents in front of the other kids so that the other kids don't get jealous of all the presents (I guess that's the reason)

Our friends Erika and Jake came over after to help us continue to eat all the food (which I'm bummed I didn't get a good picture of!  It was all circle foods like circle PB and J sandwiches, bagel bites, chicken salad on round rolls, carrot rounds, cucumbers, tomatoes, round chips, vanilla wafers, etc.

Ecstatically opening presents

Family picture!  I wish they were better and both kids were smiling but oh well.

Miss Erika got to make a necklace too

Max wanted to show her how to eat it.  :)

I sure love this handsome boy and his fun personality

Silly face with dimples

Trying out Emmalyn's bumbo.  His legs fit better than her chubby legs.  :)