Yesterday was Shepard's third birthday! I can't believe my sweet little baby is now a three year old!
We started the day with funfetti birthday pancakes. Shepard was kind of in denial that it was his birthday at that point. When he woke up he asked what we were going to do today. I said, "It's your birthday! Happy birthday!" And he yelled, "NO IT NOT!!!" and ran back to his room whimpering. He seems to be in a stage right now where he's strongly against change. At any rate, he was happy to have some candles to blow out at breakfast.
For fun, here's a picture of the day he was born, his first birthday, and his second birthday.
And just for a little comparison, here's a picture of Caden on his third birthday.
Okay, back to yesterday. Birthday or not, they still needed their morning tv time. I was trying to let Shepard pick the shows, but Caden...well, Caden always finds a way to get what he wants instead. He was having a really hard time letting the day be about Shepard...
The last few times we've gone grocery shopping the boys have been asking me to buy limes. They're weird. But I figured Shepard's birthday was a good excuse to finally buy some. By the way, if you're wondering, Shepard has a black eye because he had a head on collision with Caden when they were jumping on the bed while I was in California. This happened three days after Shepard got a mild concussion from running into the tv stand. This kid has had a really rough few weeks with head injuries.
He seemed to like it. Both boys definitely got Daddy's sour loving taste buds. I LOATHE sour things.
Greg blew up a package of balloons the night before to surprise Shepard. We all spent a good hour playing with them in the morning. I wanted so badly to get a nice picture of Shepard surrounded with balloons, but he kept insisting on holding a balloon in front of his face instead.
Finally got a nice one!
Shepard has been really grabby with my phone lately. I don't think he has that same instilled sense of technology usage that Caden has, and I'm always so sure he's going to destroy something. Mostly he just takes pictures. Tons and tons of pictures.
During this balloon shoot I decided it was time I learned how to use the manual settings on my camera. I've had a DSLR for five years now and I've been using auto settings this entire time. Kind of ridiculous considering how many photography classes I took in college. While I was in CA I was greatly inspired by my brother's photos and camera. When I told Greg I wanted to get a new camera he said that no way, not when I don't even know how to use a camera manually. So...I was determined to learn. Yesterday. Probably not the best day for it!! I did get some great shots, but I got about four times more terrible shots. Literally. I took around 500 pictures yesterday and at least 400 of them are out of focus duds. The main thing I learned yesterday - manual focus is not for wild little boys! Anyway....back to the birthday...
Chicken nuggets are Shepard's favorite food, so I let him decide where he wanted to go for lunch. He picked Burger King.
While Caden was at school Shepard helped me make his birthday dessert. We decided to go with brownies because Shepard doesn't like cake.
He LOVES helping me in the kitchen. Usually way more than I'd like. But I try to let him since Caden was the same way and now wants nothing to do with helping me. :(
Proud of his sprinkle work.
I wanted to get some shots of the two of us, but Shepard was continuing his independent streak by insisting on pushing the shutter button. Which his arms are way too short for if we're both going to be in the picture. This is the only one we managed without a struggle!
After school it was WARM out! 45 degrees! For the first time in MONTHS, yes months, we were able to go play outside. Shepard picked "the park with no slides."
This winter has taught me to never take for granted the days that we can play outside. Even in the death heat of summer, which I absolutely hate, I plan on going outside this year. Boys need to run and I'm so sick of that running happening inside!
After an hour and a half of playing at the park we came home for hot cocoa. Soon after, Daddy came home. Which meant presents! I don't think Shepard even cared, but Caden was thrilled after begging me to let Shepard open them early all day long.
I thought I did pretty good with my gift giving this year. I normally have a really hard time with Shepard for some reason. We gave him a big Playmobil swimming pool, a small indoor sandbox, a shower stream bath toy, a Lightning McQueen keyboard game thingy, a board game, and a few books. Caden gave Shepard a Hot Wheels bath race track that he picked out completely on his own. Shepard opened that early during our snow day on Monday.
Finally time for birthday dinner. I had a hard time deciding what to make, but settled on steak. This was my first time making "real" thicker cut steaks inside.
Steak, chips and salsa (his favorite), and fruit.
After dinner the guys set up the swimming pool while I cleaned and got ready for dessert.
Time for brownies!
I think Shepard had a great third birthday! It was a fun and relaxed day for everybody. I'm so proud of my baby.
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