A birthday party

Our girlie.  She's a big five month baby in 9 month clothes.  Look at those sparkling eyes.
(And self-inflicted scratches--boo.  Poor baby has dry skin and I am only slowly learning how to care for it.)

But not for this girl.  She turns 5 months in just a few days, but you don't get a party for everything, big girl.  This party is for our big three year-old.  When I am able to step back and reflect for a minute (maybe ten if the kids' naps overlap for that long), my primary emotion at Benjamin's three year birthday is awe.  In the last year Benjamin has blossomed from a toddler into a little boy.  

I'm not so good with manual focus yet. 

His imagination has grown by leaps and bounds.  He can easily pass twenty minutes at a time wrapped up in little worlds that I cannot enter with him:  as a fireman going to work at the newspaper and pick up milk at the store, with his bear and sock monkey (and heather!)  going to the lighthouse to catch some fish or with his national geographic animal cards that jump off the bed and bump their heads (like the song five little monkeys).

s'mores cake.  Mmmm...

His imagination does have its limits though.  He doesn't yet understand food and water scarcity.  We are collecting coins in a jar for a church program to help dig wells for people who don't have enough water around the world.  Anyway, when I asked Benjamin if he knew why we were collecting the coins, he said so that people who don't have water can put the coins in slots in their faucets so the water will come out.

make-your-own trail mix 

Benjamin can now hold conversations with us and ask many questions about this confusing world.  Our friend and midwife Christy throws a big party for all of the babies she has delivered in Waco every year and this year the theme was "Rock Star Baby."  Benjamin's response was, "What are we going to do with rocks?"  This from a boy whose father plays the UKULELE to him at bed time.  Imagine that.

At three Benjamin is also a good big brother.  He surprises me with his patience sometimes when Eliza is being needy (as a baby will be) and I can't pay as much attention to him.  On a particularly long car ride recently, Benjamin asked if we had a button to turn off Eliza Jane's crying, but other than that, he was a good sport as we all tried to make it through the drive.  More than his patience though, Benjamin loves to make Eliza Jane laugh and to give her hugs and kisses.  

back yard campout with s'mores ...

And most of all, his three year birthday cannot be assessed without mentioning his love of books and rhymes.  Of all his toys, Benjamin picks out books to play with the most, and delights us constantly with his repetition of mother goose rhymes and very silly little poems from a book called Whiskers and Rhymes by Arnold Lobel (of Frog and Toad fame).  If you have a kid who likes rhymes, this is a GREAT book.  He has them all memorized.  And now I leave you with one of our favorites:  

Although he did not like the taste

George brushed his teeth with pickle paste 

Not ever was his mouth so clean 

Not ever were his teeth so green. 

... and leaf-printing