three

Happy birthday to my little man. I can just feel that *three* is going to be a fantastic age.

the day we brought him home from the hospital

at his 1st birthday party

right after he turned 2

at his 3rd birthday party

Last week when Lucas was standing in the middle of his play room, playing on his horn and singing into his play microphone, I did some reflecting. I started to wonder if we might have a different child without his cochlear implant(s). Would he have the same interests? Would he be as outgoing? Would he be bossy like he is? Would he have the same relationship as he does with his Nanny? I don't know for sure, but I really don't think so. I don't think he would enjoy his shows, or singing and dancing, and he certainly wouldn't be as bossy as he is. His life has been changed. Our lives have been changed. What an amazing journey the past 3 years have been.

At the freshly-turned age of 3, Lucas...

* started asking "why?" repeatedly, today, in addition to "what's that?"

* loves pretend play. Right now his green duck is "angel" and his yellow duck is "baby Jesus."

* likes a variety of toys, including his train table, his little people sets and puzzles

* likes to watch the Mickey Mouse Club

* often responds, "um, no thanks" when you ask him whether he wants something

* negotiates everything he does...

* doesn't like to get dressed in the morning

* loves to play at Gymboree

* likes a variety of food, including sushi, guacamole, and edamame, and especially Daddy's mac & cheese

* wears size 2T pants and 2T shirts

* weighs about 28 lbs

* is not yet potty-trained

* speaks as well as his age-equivalent hearing peers

* loves books, and doesn't like the sames books to be read to him all the time (that's fine with me!)

* recites his numbers 1-20 (sometimes skipping over a few...)

* sings the alphabet (with some parts missing) and recognizes the majority of his letters

* knows his shapes and colors

* still lets Mommy give him 500 kisses a day

* loves to play with his cousins and friends, and asks about them too

* still talks about his teachers and friends from JTC, as if we were just there yesterday...

* remembers everything I tell him right before bed the very next morning

* is my biggest inspiration, the reason I get up every morning, and my little hero

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LUCAS. WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU.

birthday festivities

I still have a 2-year-old for a few more days, but we celebrated him turning 3 this weekend. Last year it snowed heavily on the day of his party, so we had a birthday brunch instead. We liked it so much that we decided to do it again this year. Everyone in the family was able to attend, and it was a great day!

This picture is Lucas's birthday sentiment in a nutshell. "Happy Birthdaymas". It feels like Christmas, it looks like Christmas, it sounds like Christmas and it smells like Christmas. I guess that's the way it will always feel. It was especially fun to sing to him this year, because he sang along, with his own version: "happy cake to you..."

He asked for a brown cake... so he got one!

getting ready to sing...

family shot

Today Lucas was supposed to have his 3-year pictures taken, but that fell through, so we decided to continue the celebration at the Strasburg Railroad. It was chilly, but so much fun. His reactions to the big trains were absolutely priceless. He got to see Santa, and there were strolling carolers and musicians on the train too. He kept asking where Thomas was though...

pointing at the other big trains

trying to get the window open

getting tickled by Daddy

riding the cranky train

We also visited the Choo Choo Barn to see a huge indoor toy train display. That was quite impressive.

I can't believe he's all but 3. My how the time flies...

Geburtstagskind

Happy Birthday, baby boy! You're 2 today! Mommy's so proud of you! You've become such a big boy!

* You weigh about 24 pounds.
* You've just started to wear size 4 diapers.
* You wear size 12 month pants, although you're almost ready to wear 18 month ones.
* You wear size 18-24 months shirts.
* You love your blanket, although most of the time, if it's out of site, it's out of mind.
* You love Elmo!
* You can run now! (Mommy waited a long time for that...).
* You love the water, both during bath time and aquatic therapy.
* Your favorite toys are your play kitchen and your doll-, I mean play-house.
* You like to eat fun foods like sushi, egg rolls, enchiladas and anything with rice or pasta.
* Your favorite drink is milk, followed closely by yoohoo and caffeine free diet orange tea.
* You like to go bye-bye, pretty much anywhere, as long as we go bye-bye.
* Going home to "see the cats" gets you to leave almost anywhere.
* You have about 100 spoken words, but you can't make the /k/ sound yet (that's okay!).
* You refuse to say the word "cracker", and instead choose to sign it, in Lucas fashion, which looks like you're asking for drugs.
* You've started to play games, like hiding your spoon behind your back and saying "I don't know" until we find it.
* You're learning your colors, and can identify blue and yellow pretty consistently.
* You're willing to repeat almost anything we ask you to - my favorite is cocka-doodle-doo.
* You like to turn things on and off, especially the lights on the Christmas tree. But, everything is "off", and never "on" to you!
* You like to dump things and transfer items from one container to another.
* You think the word "ouch" is hilarious, including the action that causes the word "ouch". You like to repeat the action to hear the word "ouch" again.

* You have the most contagious laugh I have ever heard. I hope it never goes away!
* You still love to read books, but you don't insist on the same ones all the time, which is great!

* You still love to nap, and I hope it doesn't go away anytime soon.
* You continue to amaze me every.single.day with your determination and joyful personality. You will achieve great things one day!

I really look forward to watching you grow this next year! I hope that it is as memorable as this year.

Thanks for the post format idea, baby k!

snowy birthday party

Although Lucas's birthday is not for a few days, yesterday was supposed to be his birthday party, scheduled for 4:30 PM. Mother nature had other plans. Snow, and lots of it, was in the forecast, so we re-scheduled for 9:30 AM, hoping that a few might venture out. We still lost 5 adults and 2 kids in the count, but we had fun at Lucas's snowy birthday brunch! We liked it so much, we might do it again next year, minus the snow!

playing with his cousins...

getting ready to pin the tail on the donkey...

success!

trying to blow out the candle!

The best part of this year's party? Lucas got to hear us sing "happy birthday" to him! Priceless. Last year's party was a few days before implantation. Enjoy the video!