Carl is THREE

I can't believe that three years ago this little man came into our lives.  What a blessing he brings!  Quite literally, this boy makes me laugh, cry (Ü), and smile every day. 

Well, the day started off by going to church.  He brought little treats to his nursery class (which he loves).  Then we came home and opened gifts.  We were so fortunate to receive gifts and cards from so many of his loved ones.  This boy opened every gift and wanted to play with it immediately. 

 Well, Carl was born on the lucky day of the Irish.  Yep, that's right!  We like to refer to it as St. Carl's Day!  Ü  So a few friends of our were doing a little service by bringing some Irish cheer to an assisted living center nearby.  Afterwards, everyone came over to our house for some dinner and birthday cake.  We also were fortunate to have Emily, the Flints and our neighbors, the Sadhu's come over.  Let's just say, it was a houseful!  We counted about 34 people.  Ü  

 We had lots of green food including green soup (three different kinds), green grapes, green jalepenio jelly, green fruit salad, green salad, sprite, green jello, green cookies... Mmmm.....  Truthfully, I'm not a big fan of St. Patrick's Day, but I'm trying to embrace it!   

Well, here is the cake.  Yep, I have been contemplating this cake for a long time.  Originally, I was going to do a Cars party, but didn't have the energy for it! ;)  Oh, and don't you worry, I put a little green clover on the side with Carl's name!

 

Then came the fun part of singing Happy Birthday.  You would have thought this boy was on cloud nine.  He was so giddy and excited!   

 The funniest part about the birthday cake, was after he blew out the candles... all the kids were so intrigued about how it felt... so all the kids started touching the whole cake!  Hilarious.  Good thing no one ever eats the fondant! 

 Carl opened a few gifts (they were WAY too sweet!)
After everyone left, we started cleaning up and received a phone call from our neighbor.  At first, I was nervous because they share the same wall as us and I figured that we were maybe too loud.  Oh no, our adorable Indian neighbors called to say that they had remembered me mentioning that it was my little boy's birthday today.  They had written it down and wanted to bring him a little gift.  How sweet are they?
So they came over with their daughter who just finished her bachelors.  They got Carl a new Blu-Ray video and they bought James a sa-weet car doorway bouncer complete with music and a teether!  

Oh Carl!  So much to say and so few words for me to express my love for you.  

I can't believe that these three years have flown by so quickly.  I remember the special day that you were born into our family.  You have a way of bringing happiness into all those lives that you touch.  I am so fortunate to be your mother.  I look forward to so many more birthdays in the future.  I love you!

Growth at three years old:

38.2 inches

34 lbs

Questions to Carl: (In the words of Carl)
Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Movie: Mater Tales
Favorite Food: Chips
Favorite Sport: Basketball
What to you want to be when you grow up: Big
Favorite Animal: Pig
Favorite Game: Kick Ball
Favorite Letter: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Favorite Number: 10
Favorite Joke: Knock Know, Who's there? Bicycle. Bicycle who? Bicycle Daddy!
Who's your best friend? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Favorite Song: If your happy and you know it.
What's your favorite game to play with Daddy? Ring around the rosies
Favorite State: "Indinana"
Favorite Mom: "That" (points at me...yes!)

Things you should know about Carl at three years old:

1. He is such a smart kid.  I am continually impressed by how quickly he picks up on things.  He knows: all of his letters, sounds, counts to 30, starting to write his letters and shapes, and is even starting to recognize words.

2. He is genuinely kind.  For instance, I have been under the weather for the past week. The other day, I was completely drained and turned to Carl and said, "Carl, will you take care of me?"  He said, "Sure, Mom!  I take care of you." and put his arm around my shoulders and held me tight (just like I do when I put him to bed at night).  It made me kind of choke up with tears.

3. Carl is such a sweet big brother.  Though he is scared to death of holding James, he is always the first one to respond to him when he is crying and always is trying to make him happy.  

4. He loves sweets just as much as Preston and I do!

5. He is hilarious!  Carl makes me laugh ALL the time. He tells jokes and he makes a fool of himself trying to get a smile out of people around him.

6. He loves his family!  I love it when Preston comes home because Carl is immediately at the top of the stairs waiting for his daddy to come and wrestle him.

7. He loves to snuggle.  I love that this boy will wake up every morning and want to cuddle in my arms.  It makes me feel like I can make everything better.

8.  He loves his friends and family!  Carl has so many friends that he adores. We are also constantly calling family because he misses them so much.

9.  I love his dancing and singing.  Carl went to comfort James the other day and made up a song by singing, "James stop cryyying.  James stop cryyying."  Well, then he got to dancing with his new song and even asked me to contribute the "beat."  Yea, we party together a lot.

10. Carl is my dear little friend.  Though I may be his mother, I get to spend ALL day with him and we have developed quite a friendship. Carl I love you through and through!  Thanks for being my little buddy.

With love, Mom