i'm three.

My little munchkin is officially three years old! While the day-to-day happenings don't seem to go by too quickly, looking back at the last three years I can see where time is just flying by. I did a birth and year-to-year comparison...goodness how this baby has grown into a little boy!

I sent cupcakes in with Nate to school on Thursday this week to celebrate with his friends, since I was going to keep him home on Friday. Nate, excited about his birthday, got up in the middle of nap time to sing himself "Happy Birthday". He also had a "terrible-three" moment when his friends did not finish their cupcakes and he wasn't allowed to eat the leftovers. The concept of germs does not yet compute, lol.

I've made it a little tradition that I take the day off from work and spend the time with my little man. Last year on his second birthday, we made a whole day of going bouncing, eating cake, and spending time with family because we celebrated his actual second birthday party several weeks later.

This year I still took the day off to spend with my little man, but we kept it a little more low-key since his party is tomorrow morning (this morning? posting after midnight....again). When Nate woke me up this morning, the first thing that he did was give me a kiss and said "I love you, Mommy". Talk about melting your heart first thing! We spent the morning cuddling on the couch and watching The Little Mermaid, had lunch at Panera ("I want da noodles, Mommy. And yogurt....but mostly noodles!), found a Justice League t-shirt to match his party theme, took a Mommy-Nate nap (oh how I miss taking naps!), and then Chris came home from work.

Chris took Nate to the pet store to return a fish who didn't make it and came back with four more (not sure what these are). While they did that, I ran some errands that are not Nate-friendly - like getting my eyebrows waxed. That could have a scary outcome :)  Nate also got to see all of his grandparents today, either via Skype or in person which is so sweet.

Once I got home and mowed the grass (which I have obsessed about this summer), we did a little cake for Nathan and sang him "Happy Birthday". Nothing makes this child happier than cake or ice cream. If it has sugar, he's there. This also was the first year that he blew out his own candle -- can you spot the photo where he just blew it out? There was a lot of determination that went into that huff and puff!

I can't wait for his party tomorrow! I love that he has little friends to invite this year and I'm really looking forward to watching them play. Everyone else is fast asleep and I've been making lists about things to remember, pre-loading the car, and folding laundry. A mom's work is never done :)