Buzz Birthday

Today was Zach's birthday. We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then opened presents when Spense came home from a morning meeting. He was pretty excited with all of the toy story related gifts he got. 

Zach loved his new Buzz Lightyear

Olivia also loved the Buzz and was sad

that Zach got it and not her!

The older two kids told me that they thought that since they had been allowed to have friend parties when they were 3 it was only fair that we did it for Zach. I was a little worried about how it would turn out since Zach isn't always great with kids his own age. He loves 'babies' and he loves to play with older kids, but I think that he sees kids his own age as a threat. They want to play with the same toys as you and that would mean having to share (which can be pretty tough when you are awful at doing that!) I mean this is the kid who shuts the front door when his friend Luke comes over to play because he doesn't want him to have his toys, and Luke also previously hit him on the head when he had had enough of Zach's meanness. That kid never forgets a thing.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well Zach acted when everyone came over and how well he shared the new toys that he had received only a couple of hours earlier. We let the kids play for a while and then they came down and enjoyed some carnival games that Spense and I had worked together on setting up.

There was pin the tail on Rex

Here is Zach getting ready to pin that tail

We worked together to defeat the evil Emperor Zurg. We had the kids take it in turns to throw darts at the balloons to pop them. Unfortunately, since I thought it wise for a bunch of 3 year olds to use blunt tip darts that didn't work out too well and I just ended up popping the balloons with a pin when they managed to hit the 'Z'

 We had a shooting gallery set up and we

shot at the green army men

There was a "Stuff Mr Potato Head's" face station too.

After all the playing it was time for cake and ice cream. Zach enjoyed everyone singing to him.

We got to enjoy these pretty fun alien cupcakes.

 Blowing out the candles

 Olivia and Zach's friend Luke

 Thomas and Olivia were sure to help

out with opening the presents

At the end of the party everyone got to take a fun favor home

Later in the evening we went out for dinner to celebrate the day. Since Dusty was in town for some dental work he got to come along too, which worked out especially well since it was his birthday only a few days earlier.

Desert was pretty much the most enjoyed part of the meal

Thomas and Dusty

What do you say about a kid like Zach? He challenges me almost every day. He has a strong personality. He never forgets things. The other night he wanted to read another book before he went to bed and I told him that it was time to lay down and go 'night night.' He was pretty insistent that we read, but since he was so tired he feel asleep pretty quickly. I chuckled to myself though when the first thing that came out of his mouth the next morning was that he wanted to read his Toy Story book. I hope that we will be able to channel his determination in the right way as he grows up! 

He loves to be around his brother and sister. He loves his 'olila' and will always go into her room and wake her up in the morning if he gets up before her. He loves his 'money' a lot too, but dad is becoming a much better option (thank goodness!) It has been fun to see his personality grow this year. He thinks that he's pretty funny and will often do things to try and make you laugh. He has a wide cheeky grin too, which he uses to try and get himself out of trouble. When he has done something he knows he shouldn't have he always tries to turn it into a joke by telling me 'that's funny!'

His speech is still a little delayed, but he has made huge improvements over the past month or so and has finally started to enjoy having stories read to him. I hope that his increased exposure to language will start to show in his communication.

We love this boy. You kind of have too!