"HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY ELIJAH BROOKS"!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIJAH BROOKS!!   Well, my "baby" officially turned 3 years old this week.  He's been mistaken for 3 for nearly a year now because of his size, but now it's official.  Wonder if he will get mistaken for 4 now?  We had a low key day on his actual birthday (the 7th), and just did whatever he wanted to do. We woke up and I made him a birthday "star" pancake with sprinkles and 3 candles.  After breakfast, he opened 2 small gifts we had given him and then it was time to get ready for our day.  I asked him the night before what he wanted to do on his big day, and his response was, "go to the John Deere store, ride the train at the zoo, and get an icee at Nancy's Italian Ice"!  So after Jay went to work, Elijah Brooks and I headed out to do exactly what he wanted to do.  It was the perfect morning, and he and I made so many memories together.  He was exhausted after the morning out and took a good nap. After his nap, we surprised him with dinner at "Chuck E' Cheese" with his grandparents, Bebe and E-Daddy.  He was elated that he actually had some tokens to use for the games.  When we go to some kind of place like this with games, we usually just give him 2 or 3 tokens. Because it was his birthday, he got a cup full of tokens when we bought pizza. I guess that's just part of the birthday dinner package maybe.   He was so happy be able to play so many games and we just let him play until his little heart was content - and we ran out of birthday tokens!  It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

The next day, we went to the pediatrician for his 3 year well check.  He received a perfect bill of health, weighs 39 lbs, and is 41 inches tall! 

Today, the 12th, we had his birthday party. I was so pleased with how well it went.  He had so many sweet friends show up, and we were so humbled. I decided to go with a "wheel" theme this year, since he is still very much into wheels. He is still obsessed with John Deere, but we had a John Deere party last year, so I thought we would try something different. There is an indoor, roller-skating rink here in town that has what's called "toddler roll around" days during the week that Elijah Brooks and I have been attending for a few months now. He has really enjoyed getting to take his riding toys to the indoor rink and ride around for 2 hours until his heart is content. Good thing for us that they do birthday parties for the toddlers!  So today, we had 18 sweet kids bring their various riding toys (bikes, scooters, tractors, big wheels, plasma cars, etc...) out to the rink for a "roll around" party!  Ironically, this is the same rink that I had my 8th birthday party when I was a little girl!  The lights were dimmed, there were disco balls hanging from the ceiling, colored lights flashing on the floor, kid-friendly music playing loudly, 2 bouncy houses set up in the back of the rink for the kids to jump in, and 1 1/2 hours of sheer birthday delight!  I am so thankful that there were no major catastrophies. We had a few collisions, but nothing serious!  We did take a break to have cake and snacks, but not too long. The kids wanted to go back out on the rink after about a 10 minute break to ride their toys some more. It was so nice to be able to turn the kids loose in a big, wide-open space, and just let them be kids. They had all the space they needed to spread out, get some exercise, and just enjoy being kids.

I could not have been more pleased with the way the party turned out.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and that really made me happy. I just wanted everyone to come out and have a great time, and it appeared that they did.

What a fun, memory-filled week, watching my sweet boy cross yet another milestone. 

Talking to his Aunt Elliot, Uncle Chris, and cousins as soon as he woke up on his birthday

Blowing out the "birthday star pancake" candles

Riding some toy at Chuck  E' Cheese

Taking a break to eat pizza

My personal favorite!  Never seen "Skee Ball" played this way, but it worked!  I know, we shouldn't have let him stand on this, but hey, it made for a cute picture.

A total surprise for him and us too! My sister and her family, and my parents went in together to get this for him. He was estatic, although it took him a few minutes to realize that this was his, and not his cousin's. They have one at their house that he talks about constantly, so I think he thought they just brought theirs down. Once he realized it was his, and he didn't have to give it back, he was elated. We wanted him to learn how to pedal his bike before getting any kind of motorized toy, which he has. Thank you all so much for making this boy VERY happy!

The party favors - round sugar cookies that say, "Hope you had a 'wheely' good time at my party"!  Love, Elijah Brooks

The invitation

The cake - so delicious! And no, I did not attempt to make it this year. Too much going on this year. But, I need to give a "shout out" to Doris, the bakery lady at Costco!

Cousin Wyatt on his "scootch"

Aiden, his buddy from church riding his "Thomas bike". Cage and Kellen, also from church, were there but stayed in the bouncy houses most of the time so I didn't get a picture.  We were missing a few other special friends from church and beyond.

George Owen, on his plasma car

Charlie, friend from gymnastics and Ashton, playdate friend on bike and tricycle

Sweet Sophie - her mom and I went to school together kindergarten through 12th grade!

Joshua on his bike - friend from our neighborhood

Bramley and Bradford - cousins.  Ava was also there, but I didn't get a picture of her for some reason. She and Elijah Brooks go to Mother's Morning Out on Thursday mornings together, and have gotten to be good friends.

Cameron on scooter, Jack on plasma car, Elijah Brooks on Thomas big wheel, and George Owen on bike

Caroline on big wheel.  Her mom and I have gotten to be friends through various playdates and MOPS. Her sister Sophie was somewhere else on the floor - didn't get a picture of her for some reason.

Birthday boy blowing out the candles

Daddy, birthday boy, and Mommy

Who needs a fork?

Having fun with his E-Daddy

Wyatt and Uncle Chris