Yep, He's Three!

Here we are. We've survived another year. Grayson turned three on November 17th. He celebrated with a family party on the 15th and then he had his friends over for a playdate on the 17th. Because Grayson loves puzzles, we decided to go with a puzzle theme for his party. There are absolutely NO puzzle-themed decorations anywhere on the planet. At least not on the web. So this meant that I made my own. I used the large pieces from some of Grayson's puzzles and cut out the shapes to make "Happy 3rd Birthday!!" and then I also cut out a bunch of smaller pieces and taped them to the wall. Overall, I think they worked out. As for his cake, it was also a puzzle. It was a half of a sheet cake cut into puzzle pieces. The cake itself was chocolate and just melted in your mouth. You can see more pictures here.

Grayson had a blast at both parties. He got a little wound up, but it was nothing unusual. At the playdate party, I invited Grayson's friends from his school in addition to the friends he's had since he was a baby. It was weird to mix groups, but everyone seemed to have a good time. Each child was given a blank puzzle to color. They could then take those home to play with. We also gave them each a regular puzzle as a thank you gift for coming.

Thanks to wonderful friends and family, we now have new toys to play with and it's terrific!!! I could tell Grayson had gotten incredibly bored with the toys we have and the new toys have made a huge difference. I can also tell I'm enjoying them more. Now that he's three, the toys are so much more fun and engaging!! Definitely beats shaking a rattle at him, like when he was a baby.

Now that he's three, I'm preparing myself for a rough year ahead. Most everyone has told me that three's are worse than two's, so we'll see. He most certainly is strong-willed and I know that's not going to change, so I'm sure the older he gets and the more independent he becomes, the more fights we're going to have. With that being said, I'm enjoying the toddler years as well. The things that come out of his mouth are often a riot. For example, the other day he scolded our dog Sookie by yelling, "Sookie Jordan Paul!" Just like when I use his full name to scold him. I couldn't stop laughing! So even though I'm sure I'll be facing quite a few challenges with this coming year, I'm sure I'll have even more great things to enjoy!Oh, and let me share a few stats with you from his doctor's appointment. He's doing really well and now weighs 37 pounds and is 39.5 inches tall. That's 90th percentile for both. He's going to be a big boy!!