Happy Birthday, BIG Henry!

As of Saturday, May 14th, Henry is officially "this many."

Henry's birthday celebrations began on Friday when we took him to see Seussical the Musical at BYU followed by a trip to Spoon it Up for some frozen yogurt, "with cookies," as he always adds.

Suessical held his attention pretty well and he loved every second that "cat in the hat" was on the stage but overall this production seemed a little low budget or a bit too symbolic for kids. They really should have gone more literal and used actual feathers to represent the birds feathers rather than clothes tied together. I don't think many kids got or appreciated that. Either way he sat still the whole time and still likes to tell people how he saw the cat in the hat and had ice cream.

Henry with Spiderman on our way to see Suessical.

Spiderman and Henry going to bed after Friday's festivities. Yes, my son has a thing about pinatas which you may review here if you so wish.

Moving on. Saturday was a crazy day. I had a relief society activity to help with, left part way through for a bridal shower, all which Henry enjoyed and was spoiled when people learned it was his birthday. By midday he already had tons of sugar in him and a balloon from the shower to boot. After the shower I was able to drop him home with Johann, help clean up at the RS activity, run to a couple stores for last minute supplies, head home and finish decorating for the party. And this was all on 4 hours of sleep. Whew. So, scenes from the party day which was Batman/superhero themed per Henry's request:

We had just a couple of friends over. Johann and I are really bad at making friends with people who have kids Henry's age. We'll need to work on this. Anyway it did make life easier in that I only had 3 capes to make for the kiddos.

Henry seeing his party which he had been asking for all day and getting pretty excited.

Opening gifts at a kids party, always a communal thing.

He got great gifts this year too. Two books that he now asks to read each day so far for both nap and bedtime reading; robots in all forms-superhero, learning, dinosaur and space; Hi-Ho Cherry-0 and some new summer clothes. Which he'll be able to use someday, I hope, when Provo decides to get with the season! Anyhow, needless to say, he has been a content little player since this birthday weekend.

Cupcake and toy admiring time.

Time to bust open the pinata. Get your game face on.

*Thwack*

After all of the kids had multiple times bopping the pinata, Charlie broke it's neck and Bert decapitated it. We were happy to see that Henry didn't take it too hard, though he did ask later that night for Johann to put spiderman's head back on him.

Enjoy the candy and toy guts!!!

Which they did.

It was a crazy day and it's interesting to see how quickly your apartment becomes tiny when you squeeze a kids party into it. I am glad we did it though despite the time/effort and sleep deprivation because Henry still talks about 'my party' all the time and loves to see the pictures.

As far as turning three, "he's not a toddler anymore-he's a preschooler," seems to be the biggest thing to blow Johann's mind. I have to admit, it is strange that he is definitely no longer what can be deemed a 'baby'. A little sad, but all the same, it's exciting that he is learning and growing and since it's going to happen no matter what I do, I can just do my best to enjoy it.

I'm so happy that we have this 'big boy' in our family. He brings so much joy and I have learned more about the capacity to love and desire for another than I believe I could have otherwise. I hope I can be the kind of parent he needs and help him fulfill his potential. He is such a thoughtful, funny kid, I am happy to know he's in our family forever!