My Baby Turned Three

My Baby Tyler turned Three! Can you believe it?!
Me neither.



(you also won't believe how LONG this post will be!)
Before my baby Tyler turned three on TUESDAY, we took Lauren to dance class on MONDAY. Here is a partial of the two of us in the hallway waiting for Lauren's dance class to end. I really like her dance instructors and the price, but I really don't like the location (30 min. away from the house) and the parent's waiting room (which is non-existent execpt for a 3 foot wide hallway outside of the dance room.)

While Matt played poker Monday night I wrapped all of Tyler's birthday presents.
The next morning the kids ooh'd and aah'd over them before we took Lauren to school.

While Lauren was at school, Tyler and I met some friends at Jumping Jelly Beans. We enjoyed some good company and some good Jumps. Tyler had a blast. (not pictured are his friends, Annabelle, Daniel and Beth...all met through Crossroads Church) ...come visit us!

climbing up the slide

ready and set...

and GO!

Jumping Jelly Beans has 2 huge rooms to play in. In each room they have 4 different inflatable toys. This equals a TON of fun and for sure makes up for the $5 it costs to jump.

Back at home I decided it was time to get ready for the big guy's birthday party. I filled out his party invites.

This Saturday (barring any tornados...which are, unfortunately, on the forecast...) we will celebrate his 3rd birthday party at our house with some free play, a Thomas the Train cake and lots of fun.

Tuesday night, March 24, 2009, our family celebrated Tyler's 3rd birthday party. I just cannot believe that it has been a whole three years since I gave birth to my son. The time has flown by way too fast. On the other hand, I've made so many connections and good friends here that I cannot believe I've Only Been Here for 3 and a half years. (We moved to Atlanta when I was 20 weeks pregnant with Tyler.) Funny the way Time works, isn't it?

One of our good friends we've made --> since gracing the South with our presence <-- are our next door neighbor's, The Hancocks. The majority of them joined us for our family celebration of Tyler's birthday.

Tyler opened only a couple of presents before deciding he was DONE. (He's going through a very defiant stage right now. It's an indiscriminately defiant stage. He will rudely refuse a chocolate chip cookie just as he would a smack in the pants.)

When Tyler tired of opening presents we broke out the cake and ice-cream.

Tyler chose a "smiley face cake" for himself.

Shep and Tyler pose for a picture. Great job Shep...Tyler, hmm not so much.

Emma and Lauren enjoy their cake too.

Eventually we opened all of his presents. (Thank you Lauren for all your help un-wrapping the wrapping paper.)

Turns out Tyler's favorite toys were those I bought from last year's consignment sale.

The Little People School Bus and the Wooden Tool Box. (a grand total of about four dollars.)

This week hasn't been all about Tyler though. Lauren has had plenty of action herself. Tuesday after school she went over to Lea's house to play and on Wednesday we had Lea over to play at our house. Ms. Maria and I try to get the girls together a couple of times a week. This gives the girls some time to play but also gives us Mom's some time to Get Things Done Without Our Girls In Our Hair. Well, the Tuesday playdate started out just fine...but Lauren pretty much deteriorated an hour after Lea's arrival. She started to get snappy and grumpy so I sent her to her bedroom for a 15 min. time-out. After 15 min. I went to check on her and she was Out Cold. Poor girl just needed to nap. She ended up napping for an hour and a half but Tyler was More Than Happy to pick up where Lauren left off. He and Lea played and played. Afterall, now that Tyler just turned 3, him and Lea are the same age for a couple of months.

Here's a picture of the sweet and beautiful Lea.

Today, Thursday, Tyler had his First Ever Dentist Appointment. Since he is going through his indiscriminately defiant stage I was convinced it would not go well. Boy was I mistaken! I wish I had gotten her name but the dental assistant was WoNdErFuL! She was so kind and gentle that Tyler 100% latched on to her. He was talking to her, answering her questions and asking her questions right back.

She showed him all of her fancy dental tools. She squirted water in his hand and used "Mr. Thirsty" to suck the water back out of his hand.He even let her floss his teeth.

There was a slight aversion to sitting in the fancy dentist chair all by himself but he ageed to sit there if he was on my lap. So I accompanied him on the reclining chair and after that he was able to let her clean his teeth. He spent most of his time engrossed in the movie on the ceiling: Buzz Light Year.

After the cleaning was done I asked Tyler if he wanted to sit on the chair by himself. He said "yes." So with the speed of light I hopped out of the chair and plopped Tyler right back on it.

And here he is!

He cried a little when the (male) Dentist swooped in and performed his swift evaluation. (afterall Tyler had already put all his trust in the kind and sweet dental assistant. He even tried to tell the Dentist that he only wanted the "girl" to look at his teeth.) ...But all in all Tyler was just fine and I played up all of his bravery and good deeds all day long so hopefully that is all he will remember when we go back in 6 months.

Since he did so well on his check-up. They took his picture so we could hang it up on our fridge. And here it is.

My handsome (and forced smiley) little guy.

After Tyler's dentist appointment we picked up both Lauren and Kylie from school. Kylie is one of Lauren's good friends from her class and she has been begging me to invite Kylie on over.

The girls had a blast!

Kylie is a huge fan of Star Wars (thanks to her older brother.) Lauren and her play Star Wars quite often on the playground at school. Today I got to evesdrop on their Star Wars play and I got a kick out of it.

Kylie and Lauren playing Star Wars:

Kylie: Do you want to use the FORCE?

Lauren: the what? ...okay.
Kylie: Then stand like this and raise your arms up.

Lauren: I don't want to use the FORKS anymore.

"ha ha ha," I silently chuckled from the kitchen. I just may "Use the Forks" someday myself.

I should probably go and rent Star Wars so she knows what her and Kylie are actually playing. =)

After Kylie's Mom came to pick her up and Lauren's Daddy came home from work it was "Daddy Play Time." I made dinner while Matt played with the kiddos. His tummy has been upset for a couple of days so he really sacrificed some comfort to play "airplane" and also lead them in some artwork projects.

The dinner I made didn't really help him much. Although he said it tasted delicious he was just too uncomfortable to enjoy/finish it. I'd love to make this again when he's feeling better. I'm sure he'd DEVOUR IT. Tomorrow, however, I'll be making him the cure-all "chicken soup" while I go out to dinner with Dana.