Happy 3rd Birthday, Peter!

Peter, oh, Peter. I have not the words to describe you, little man! I absolutely adore you. You are a bundle of energy and passion, and smarter than I know what to do with. We love your exuberance, and your constant singing brings joy and a song to our hearts, too. You can hardly keep still if there is music playing but just have to dance and wiggle! You adore your big sister, Cora, and get so frustrated when you can't run as fast as her; you're sweet and attentive to your little sister, Addie. We are so blessed to have you in our lives! Thank you, Lord, for our Peter!

Peter helped me bake and decorate his cupcakes for his playdate birthday party. He chose chocolate cupcakes, blue frosting and M&M's as decoration. This boy knows what he likes!

We had a few friends over Friday morning: Alex, Tatyanna, Josiah and Owen. 

Yum!!! Peter ended up mostly just eating the frosting off the cupcakes. Hey, it's his birthday!

This is so sweet: Cora found this toy version of a car ferry on the SS Badger and asked if she could get it for Peter for his birthday. So we secretly bought it and kept it hidden till his birthday and she gave it to him. He loves it!

Peter has been riding hand-me-down bikes his whole life and his little plastic tricycle is on it's last legs (or wheels). He was so excited to uncover this cool boy bike on his birthday and he loves riding it around the basement. We've been working on getting used to breaking so he can ride it more confidently outside on the hills and he's really getting the hang of it.

Peter's Birthday Cake! Just what he wanted. :)

Reading a book with Grandpa S. and Elena while waiting for birthday dinner.

I think one of his favorite parts of birthday (besides the frosting) is the birthday song! He loved watching everyone singing to him.

Peter is growing big and strong! He weighs in at a solid 37 lbs and is 38 1/4 inches tall. He still loves his teddy and paci (I know, I know: we'll give paci a few more months). He often refers to teddy as his baby and puts him down for a nap or puts him on his shoulder and pats his back gently. He loves to sing "I love you, Lord", "Now unto Him who is able", "ABC's", "Jesus Loves Me", "Jesus loves the Little Children" and many others. We sometimes joke about the playlist that runs constantly in his head. We often hear him humming himself to sleep, or when he wakes up in the morning before getting out of bed. Speaking of that, he's still an early bird, but we now use the "OK to Wake" Clock and he has to wait till the green light goes on before getting out of bed. Wonderful! He is a decent eater but has a strong sweet tooth. He prefers to eat grains and fruits and vegetables over meat. 

Some of the funny things he often says: "Once upon a time ago", "I spy with my doo-doo eye" ("doo-doo" is how he pronounces "little", he's not trying to sound dirty, but sometimes he and Cora get goofy and say "poopoo peepee" and crack each other up over it...), "Lookit at dat". He likes to tell knock-knock jokes that often go like this: Peter - "knock, knock", Me - "who's there?", Peter - "Banana. Ha ha ha ha" and that's the end of the joke. I can't help but laugh with him. :) 

Peter is expressive, not only about his frustrations and disappointments, but also about his endearments. He often tells us he loves us, or he takes my hand when we're walking somewhere and says "You're my dest dend" (best friend)! and when one of us returns from being gone he says, "I missed you so much!" It's so sweet to see how happy he and Cora are to see each other when she gets off the school bus. They often hug and he says he missed her and she tells him about some picture she drew for him.

What a blessing this little boy is to our family!