Bradley's Birthday

I finally got around to taking Brad's 3 year old pictures, so now I can post about his birthday.

My handsome 3-year-old. I'm so glad he's finally 3, as that means he's no longer 2... 

He really is a sweet heart. He is my big cuddly teddy bear. He's soft and squishy and loves to snuggle, although it's a more wiggly and giggly cuddle than it used to be. It also often turns to wrestling, one of his favorite past-times. He is such a tough big guy that I'm sure he'll be a great football player, though I'd be much happier with a the safer (and more interesting) basketball. He is a pretty athletic kid and I'm sure he'll be good at whatever sport he chooses. 

Bradley Cracks Me Up! He is hilarious. He says the funniest things with the cutest expressions on his face. He also does such funny things with his little toddler movements. One example of him cracking me up was running around in a fountain outside in his underwear. He was sticking his head in the spray and laughing. I was laughing so hard that I had tears in my eyes. Another time, he was trying on his new goggles, but had squished his eyes together when I put them on. His face was hilarious. He kept telling me to stop laughing, which only made me laugh harder. Then he asked, "Are these my hurting goggles?" I told him to take them off if they hurt, but he refused.

I wish I could think of more examples, but he is truly hilarious!

We've been swimming a lot, lately. He surprised me by not even flinching when I got him a new vest for the pool, where he has to work to keep his face out of the water. He loves it and did not want to go back to the easier one. He is always excited to go to the pool or bathtub and spend as much time in the water as possible.

Brad loves to explore outside. He likes to search for bugs and find new and interesting things. He enjoys playgrounds, swinging, and sliding. He is such an active kid that we have to do something rowdy every day to get his energy out.

Brad is a smart boy. He is learning his letters and their sounds, numbers, and just about life. He picks up how to do new and different things very quickly. However, when he can't figure something out quickly, he gets frustrated and either gives up or shouts. There is a lot of convincing him to try again. When he does figure something out, he's very happy with himself. He loves to listen to most of the books that Abby likes, other than the long picture-less chapter books. He has been using her LeapReader a lot and is pretty good at figuring it out.

The toys he spends the most time with are still his cars, although his trains and duplos come in close second. He likes to sit on the floor with all of his cars lined up, or building train tracks across the floor. Poor guy gets very frustrated when his baby brother attacks his play-things. But, he's learning to play with them out of reach.

From his 3-year-old interview:

Favorite animal: "Giraffe and tiger and elephant. A lot of animals."

Favorite movie: "Legos."

Favorite toy: "Duplos."

Favorite book: Do you like Goodnight Moon? "Uh huh."

Favorite super hero: "Spider man"

Favorite food: "Cheerios. Goldfish. Peanut butter."

Favorite color: "Blue and green and purple."

Like to do outside: "Color. Play rice out there."

Favorite restaurant: "Ice cream." Do you like the Mexican restaurant? "Yes. A lot of mexican places."

What do you like to do with sissy? "Play with her nicely."

"Mom, now this interview is done."

On his birthday, he opened presents before Daddy left for work.

 Abby was excited to give him a card and gift from her.

 Playing with his new circus duplo set.

 I took them to the pool parking lot, where they rode their new bikes. Bradley actually got another new bike because his original one was a little too big and he fell off a few times, then he was nervous about it. We'll save it for his 4th birthday. This one is just right.

 Unfortunately, we didn't get pictures at the pool, but Luke joined us for a swim. Bradley and Abby loved having their daddy there, since he is usually at work when we go swimming.

Then, we headed to IHOP for dinner. This may well be his new favorite restaurant. He was a very happy boy with his meal.

 They were out of ice cream, so we headed to McDonald's for some birthday treats.