My Will the Three-Year-Old!

I cannot believe my son is 3 years old! That sounds much older than 2 to me. He's so much more grown up now--entirely potty trained, formulating thoughts and questions, much more able to express himself, great sense of humor, great at trying without giving up. There are so many upsides to being three, but sometimes the extreme need to be as independent as possible and white lies are enough to shadow all those positives! We had a five day celebration to mark this milestone. This may sound extreme to many of you, but when you have a couple sides of the family to celebrate with as well as daycare and special celbrations with mommy and daddy, it all adds up. Will deserves it all too. Sometimes I forget what he's been through this year. I remember the sentence he learned in January/February after seeing mommy cry a couple times, "What happened, mommy?" It makes me sad to go back there so I'm going to try to stay in the present... I'd like to tell you more about all our celebrations...
We went to Sesame Street Live last Wednesday. That was "just because" so I'm not counting that for his birthday. It was so fun though. He knew all the characters, danced, sang, etc. He was so great for the entire performance except for the time he tried to get on stage at intermission! Friday is when his celebrations started. Since my mom and dad were in town, we had Andy's family over too for an evening party. We had turkey and dressing sandwiches with some other fare. Will's favorite part was the Bob the Tomato cake that my mom and I teamed together to make. He got some great gifts that enjoyed playing with, but wasn't so keen on sharing them with his cousins. Good thing wrestling always trumps toys and they did plenty of that. Saturday saw us heading to my brother's house which is about an hour away. We were able to see both my brothers and parts or all of their families. It was nice to spend time with them. Will loved playing "cootball" with them. He ran around with his own football right in the middle of their game. No one seemed to mind and Will was able to keep right up with the big kids. He received some gifts there too. Sunday was a lazy day--no real celebrations there.
Monday, Nov. 30 was THE DAY!!! Will woke up around 8am. He had a breakfast of eggs and one of Grandma Haag's chocolate chip cookies (only because it was his birthday and his request). Then we made cookies for his daycare friends. Then we ran a couple errands. We returned in time to decorate the Christmas tree, which Will LOVED! His favorite part was putting the star on top of the tree. Now he goes by the tree saying ever so proudly, "I helped with the tree!" Then was lunch followed by a couple hour nap. I caught some z's also. I tried so hard to be awake at 2:56pm, the time at which he was born, but didn't succeed. Will woke very excited to go to the movie! He was asking about it. We took him to "Planet 51." It was a very fair movie, but Will really liked the whole movie theater experience. He didn't even need a potty break for the entire movie! After the movie, we headed to Happy Joe's, a local favorite for pizza and ice cream. The staff there sang the birthday song to Will and tooted the horn. There were 3 other 3-year-olds celebrating their birthday also and several more. After Happy Joe's, we took some birthday cake over to Grandma and Papa's to share. Will got one last gift from them then we headed home. Then Will was finally able to open our gifts. He enjoyed opening each one, but by the end of the gift opening, was ready for beddie bye! Then we both put our sweet three-year-old to bed. I can't believe he is three! He woke happy this morning as usual. I told him his birthday was over. Then Aunt Julie and the boys called to sing to him. Will sang back to them also! Then he went to daycare. He was able to share his special cookies with them. I also had him take a movie of his choice today. I had ok'd it with his daycare lady. It was "Cars." Andy said he was described as "possessive" for the first part of the morning today--I'm sure it had to do with his movie--not wanting anyone to touch it, etc. then was good after all that was cleared up.
Will is such a blessing.. I thank God for him several times daily. I wish him always what I say to him each night at bed time, "God bless you and keep you safe, my son." I love you soooooooooo much, Will--more than you will ever know...
Love,
Beth aka Will's mommy