James' Birthday Weekend - - the big 0-3!

You've had a birthday, shout hooRAY!

As I alluded to in a previous post, we recently celebrated James' third birthday. Can you believe it? Sweet Baby James is three!!

For Bethany's third birthday, JC and I took her out for a little date with us...lunch and Build-a-Bear...and it was really fun. So, we decided to make it tradition and do the same for James.

His birthday was on a Sunday, so the Friday before we left Bethany and Mr. Ben with my mom and headed out to enjoy the afternoon as Mom, Dad and Just James.

First matter of business - - eat!

Our little boy has a pretty serious tendency to be very specific about what he wants to eat and/or change his mind last minute (usually after preparations are already under way...usually doesn't fly at home...usually leads to a very large fit-throwing marathon...yeah, meal times are awesome at our house right now)...SO, we decided to hit a buffet. We usually avoid them like the plague because it is oh-so-hard to be good when confronted with aisles and aisles of the foods normally avoided. But, our occassion called for one...if we made a plate for him and he changed his mind, we could just go back and get something different!...so we found ourselves at the Golden Corral.  I have many a childhood memory of eating at this place...and now I am understanding why! Five kids to attempt to please, possibility of fits, refusal to eat and money wasted...my parents had it figured out all along...

James doesn't know what to do with himself...Mom and Dad to himself, a plateful of food he hand-selected and actually eating in public! (We NEVER take the kids out to eat...perhaps we should start now that they're getting older...but up till now, never.)

As a side note (as if it could be avoided), look at those EYES! Killer blue for sure.

(It's also worth noting that he was immensely proud of his water cup with a straw. The hostess got it for him herself and he felt very grown up, carrying it to our table.)

And here is the plateful he selected...I thought it would be fun to look back in years to come at what he chose to eat for his third birthday.

Raisins, ham, oranges, pineapple, peaches, corn, pickles and some form of french fry.

And for dessert, chocolate brownie. 

He LOVES chocolate. And hardly ever gets it. This was a grand moment for him!

He gave us some silly faces...

And then stuffed his mouth with ham just in time for a picture with Mom.

Next on the agenda - - Build-a-Bear!

We really have only gone here the once...for Bethany's birthday, so this was our second experience. The only thing I really have to say is that the people who work here must be really REALLY tired at the end of the day. I mean...really tired. I could never be that enthusiastic about anything for more than one hour. Tops. Well, unless it involved some sort of lifelong passion of mine. And I seriously doubt that stuffing bears is a lifelong passion of anyone's. 

Or, in James' case, stuffing Zebras.

He loves animals. The jungle kind especially. Elephants, Monkeys, Zebras. You all know by now that he carries his little plastic animals around in his hands and pockets all day...the little zebra is a favorite so as soon as I saw they had one I knew he's be smitten. As he was.

He helped stuff him.

Warmed the little heart between his hands before they put it in...

Then gave him a nice bath.

Next, it was time for acessories. Last year with Bethany we went through about five different and complete outfits before deciding.

James wanted a hat.

Just a hat.

Yep, looks good.

I'm not sure what happened, but we ended up with a jacket instead. Just as good. Just as simple.

We went through the whole naming/adopting your bear/zebra and thought some specific typing was required, James was convinced the assignment was to pound on the keyboard with his open hand as hard as possible. This is me, trying to keep him from doing so. JC thinks this picture is funny, like I'm trying to make it my own project and not letting James help. 

With some activities, I may be tempted. 

Build-a-Zebra is not one of them.

We gave him his own computer to mess with.

And then it was time to put our new friend in his home.

Who, by the way is named Bambingo.

Which is how James says Flamingo. 

(he can say Flamingo if he really thinks about it...just takes too much effort so usually it still comes out Bambingo)

I'm not sure why a zebra made him think of a flamingo except that they can reside in the same general climate.

We call him Bingo for short.

JC and I mostly just enjoyed the fact that there was this shirt available for purchase for your bear...or zebra.

Third on our to-do: playtime! We used to go to this little play area at the San Tan Mall all the time...until it got hot and Ben started walking...too many kids to run in too many directions at once. Plus, no shade.

Apparently, now there is shade and James had a blast. I want to take them back soon. Probably on the same day as the Farmers' Market. I love those.

Here, James give a special "attempt to smile against the fierce wind blowing this day" smile for his arrival at the park.

Then he just climbed.

And climbed some more.

(You'll notice he has a sticker on his back. He refused to wear his "I'm the birthday bear" sticker on his shirt so when he wasn't paying attention, I stuck it on his back. More for lack of other places to put it..but also because he WAS the birthday bear. And shouldn't everyone know it??

Last time we were here, he needed my help going down this slide. Big boy now.

Fourth item on the agenda: After some playtime, we visited the puppy store. These places break my heart and make it burst with joy at the same time.

We were super lucky and there were some puppies out in the little puppy play area for James to watch and giggle at.

He points out his favorite...

"Hi Puppy"

"Hi little boy."

And we made some more friends...

Last item of business for our afternoon-o-fun: Go to Target and spend some birthday money that was sent from JC's grandparents in Idaho. I believe this is his first attempt at shopping for himself. (Well, beside Bingo the Zebra.)

He was a very determined little James, walking the aisles, waiting for something to strike his fancy.

And then he saw it.

Dinosaurs!!!

And that was that.

A few minutes into the ride home, we had this:

And, upon arriving home, this:

I guess it was a good afternoon to inspire such determined napping!

Really, though, it was so fun to get out and enjoy some time with our middle child. Just him and us.  He was a very happy camper and we got lots of laughs and fun moments out of it.

That Sunday was his actual birthday and it was also...

Conference Weekend.

The kids loved the choir and spent time coloring bingo pages that Grandma Trudie had printed out for them. Bethany actually got the concept and was able to pick out topics mentioned. 

And I would like to proudly anounce that it was the first session we made it all the way through in the past couple of years, hearing much of it and actually being able to internalize some of it!

I can't wait for the Ensign to come out and I really can't wait for October...maybe we will make it through TWO sessions as a family!!

Later in the day, I did some prep work for dinner during which Ben took his usual approach to that time of day:

He hates when I cook.

Not enough attention on him.

He kept pointing at the avocado I was cutting up. So I tried to give him a piece. 

No go.

So, I tried giving him a whole one to hold. He bit into it.

Not such a great idea.

So, I cut one in half, pitted it and handed it to him.

Yep, that did it.

I won't even attempt a story on this one, but I will just say I made a birthday cake for James. Got a little too ambitious/creative and it was nearly a disaster.

Turned out decently. It looked like a huge chocolate donut.

Just about right for James.

Unfortunately, right before dinner was right when his fever showed up and he started feeling really really badly. So, he settled in on the couch with a soft blanket and a movie.  I was sad, offered him anything I could think of to make him happy or more comfortable but he just wanted to be left to his movie. So, we ate.

Oh yeah...it was our monthly Ballard Dinner, just happened to be our turn to host and on James' birthday!

Everyone got more than they bargained for when I tried to bring him in so we could sing Happy Birthday and everyone could have cake. I'll spare the details but I'm surprised anyone had appetites after James' lunch reappeared. I suppose everyone has family gatherings like that...right?

After I got him settled in comfortably again, I made sure everyone was happy and enjoying themselves in the kitchen.

Cousins, siblings, frozen chocolate-dipped bananas and homemade chocolate cake.

...and the boy it was all for, in the next room.

Soon, it was present time. I could barely get any acknowledgement out of him but thought it might cheer him up.

But it just wasn't the right time. Not even for presents.

So I promised him that soon it would be time for everyone to go to bed and I would sit with him until he felt better or went to sleep.

Which I did.

Which was nice.

P.S. The next day, he felt much better.

We love our James and celebrate him every day. He is most definitely coming into his own, discovering his independence and daring the world around him to have boundaries or limits of any sort. I love to watch his personality come out more and more...I love learning about who he is and though he will probably give me my fair share of worry-induced ulcers in his growing years, I know that life with him will always be a sweet and heart-warming adventure.

Happy Birthday, Baby James!