Oliver's 3rd Birthday!

Our baby isn't a baby anymore. When we tell him he's 3 he answers with, "No, I'm 2!" I guess he's in denial.

Ollie has really been growing up the last several months. He's talking more than I ever imagined he would. He wasn't in any hurry to talk, and I sometimes wondered when he'd get around to it. It's fun to hear him speak his mind in complete sentences now. He is so good about saying please and thank you. I never really had to drill it into him, like I had to with the girls. They still need prompts sometimes. Even when I'm just giving him food, he responds with a resounding "Thanks, Mom!" It makes my job so much more rewarding knowing without question that he appreciates my efforts. =) And it's tough saying no to him when he follows every request with the sugariest "please?" he can muster.

Oliver's Birthday was Thursday, October 28th. Since Ryan had to work 2-10 that night, we celebrated on the evening before so he could be included. He met us at his parents' house after work for cake and ice cream, etc. My parents also came over. Ryan's sister Bethany and her kiddo, Royce, were there too. It was a jolly little gathering.



Here's the cake I made. I wasn't sure what I was going to do until I was doing it. I almost just made a generic brown cake with "Happy Birthday Ollie" on top, but after I put the cakes in the oven to bake I decided to use this new Thomas play set as cake toppers. I was going to give the set to him for his birthday anyway, why not make the presentation more fun? If I had come up with the idea before baking the batter, I would have done a rectangle cake so I could have made a better track. Since I was ill-prepared and couldn't go to get any other decorating materials, (I waited until Ollie was down for his nap to start on the cake) I was forced to work with what I had on hand. I used green-tinted coconut for grass; crushed mixed nuts for rocks between the tracks; and cut up Twix bars for the railroad ties. And just a few days earlier, Shirley had given me a tube of leftover black icing from her Halloween stuff, which came in very handy for the track! I would have been screwed without it! Whenever I try and make black frosting, it ends up kind of purplish.

It was a cinch to put together. Any old dummy could do it!



I set it in a box with a lid to transport it so Oliver wouldn't see it until it was cake time.

Soon enough, the time arrived.





It's hard to tell by the expression on his face, but I think he kind of liked it!


After we sang to him and he blew out the candle, he helped himself to the cute little trains. They don't have moving parts or anything, but they are still fun for him. He likes to line them up on the floor like he does all his other trains and trucks.


Cora holding (and singing to?) Royce, who is also a Thomas fan. He and Oliver are great at fighting over trains together. I like Ollie's expression as Jane is squeezing him. He's not buying it. He knows she's only after his new trains.


The whole fam.


I would have pushed for a group picture of everyone there, but I didn't think either of the grandpas would have been able to stop chatting for long enough to get in the shot before Oliver lost interest.

He lost interest pretty fast.



And then, the moment Jane had been waiting for... present time! She'd hopped around before, during and after cake time, asking if he could open his presents yet.

I got him a couple of boring shirts. He likes the train one.


Jane and Cora picked out an Emily train for him. Jane's just a tiny bit thrilled to show it off to him.


Notice Jane in the background. She likes . . . present time.


The other shirt I got him. I've persuaded him to wear it once already. He looks handsome in blue.


I got him a garbage truck because he gets so excited when he hears or sees a real one around the apartment complex or driving down the road. He calls them dump trucks. =)


Even the mini garbage cans open and close.

And here is Emily, the new addition to his fleet of trains.






-- The next day was his actual birthday, so I wanted to make it feel special for him. Before he woke up, I blew up a bunch of balloons and scattered them all over in front of the door. That made me a little light-headed.

Finally he woke up and came out. I had been waiting and ready with the camera for his initial reaction, but then I decided to grab something out of the kitchen, and of course it was during that moment when he came out.

He still wears a diaper at night, but most mornings he is dry. The one night I left him in his undies as a test, he wet all over the place. I should have at least bothered to put some pants on him before photographing him. Oh well.



Happy Birthday to our super little guy.