Gracin turns 3!

Gracin's birthday fell on a Sunday this year.  Sometimes that is hard I think.  You can't have a party, or go out for a fun desert or dinner.  Riley and I blew up a bunch of balloons and put them in the living room so that when Gracin woke up on his birthday, it would seem special.  He loved running through them kicking as he went, it took us a while to get him to focus and open his presents. (Later that night we had friends over for dinner and ice cream cones.)

Gracin enjoyed opening presents.  But, he was so excited to get each new toy, that he didn't want to open the next one. He couldn't imagine how he could love the next present more than the one he just opened:)

He got a dart gun... that didn't work.

I made him a Super Why mask and cape (he LOVES that show)

We also got him this racing toy... it seemed awesome but the cars didn't even make it to the bottom, they stop mid way.  Oh and you can only use the 2 cars it came with, matchbox size cars are too big.  We are returning it and getting him a Hot Wheeles Wall Track! 

He got the game Hungry Hungry Hippos.  Finally something that he liked and it worked!!

Hazel was intrigued.

Grammy Sue came through with his FAVORITE present!  This green plane.  It flies, the wings flap if you push a button, it shoots darts, and there is a removable guy that flies it.  He plays with it every day.  It came to church with us that day and breakfast for a couple days after that.

Gracin is getting much better at talking.  On his last birthday he only had about 5 words he could say!!! Yeah I was worried, then about a month or so later he just started spitting words out!  He knew almost all the letters already-total surprise! He is now doing better at speaking in small sentences-sometimes.  Knows the alphabet (uppercase and lower case) better than Rhylan, can count to 14, can sing some songs-but would rather not. So much improvement for 1 year. 

Some of my favorite things he say:  He say "too heavy"  if any thing is too hard for him to do.  If something is too heavy-"too heavy,"  If he can't reach something on the counter "too heavy!" If he is about to fall off the couch but is holding on for dear life "too heavy!"  If he can't put on his socks "too heavy!"  He say "help you" instead of help me.  He says "mama Waaa-diss" (watch this)  over and over and over again until I say "ok I watching."  He says  "count with me" -like Alpha Pig from Super Why- all the time.  I have to count his jumps, I have to count his candy, I have to count his toys, his cards, his books, his food... EVERYTHING!  He is always the first one to say "bless you" for a sneeze or a cough.  He pronounces Rhylan like "Ry-Yan" and Hazel like "Hay-sol"  He announces "Daddy home!" for us every evening.  He taps his finger on his chin and says "umm umm" when he is thinking.  He loves to jump, he calls it "super jump" or "brinka" that is sort of Spanish. He always asks "where Rhylan" when she goes to the bathroom.

 He loves to "read" books.  He will sit and read books for a while.  He does this with movie cases too. He knows that the triangle button plays movies, the square button stops them, the orange button turns on the TV, the green button turns off the Wii, and the A button turns on Netflix. He calls all the buttons those names and enjoys pushing them at the right time.  He love pancakes and waffles- he will usually eat more than me.  He NEVER  eats vegetables, never ever.  He also loves chips, cookies, crackers and candy.

I had a little interview with him and asked him some questions... there aren't many.  He didn't to do it any more.
What was your favorite part of your birthdya party? "BOOOOM a plane!!"- (he had a plane pinata)
Favorite color: "red"
Favorite animal: "elephant"
Favorite TV show: "Super Why"
Favorite food: "waffles"
Favorite drink: "milk" --not true he loves ice water or juice.