JD is 3!!

So, the wildebeest made it through the terrible twos.  Now what - the thunderous threes?! - he's been 3 for 6 days and I'm ready to lock him up!  He has been getting into so much trouble, its starting to make me a bit crazy.  But, we sure had a fun time celebrating his birthday!  Since his actual birthday was MLK day this year, we decided to have his party the next day, but he got to pick a special birthday dinner that night.  After asking for pizza and cake probably a bazillion times (he was a little confused cause this was already on the menu for the party) he finally decided on pancakes.  I made him lemon poppy seed pancakes, and he added the sausage, oranges, and his absolute favorite food: yogurt.  We sang as he sat there and grinned from ear to ear, then blew out his candles.            

I love this face!!

For his party, we invited all the Utah cousins to join us for some fun at a new place called Monkey Island Fun Center.  Its one of those bounce house places where the kids can just run wild.  He got his "cachow" cake that he's been asking for since this summer and got to jump to his little heart's content. 

Even baby Gavin got to try out the slides.

And it wouldn't be a party in true J.D. fashion without some sort of mischief.  I came back to the party room at one point and wondered what he'd gotten on his face.  Well, he just wanted some cake.  Ugh.  Good thing I got there when I did.  :)

He just leaned over and took a bite out of the cake. 

They had this cool chair for the birthday boy. 

And then a monkey showed up!  J.D. made monkey faces at him, and then gave him a big kiss.

Uncle Adam was the biggest kid at the party.  I wondered who was having more fun!  :)

J.D. loved his presents . . .

. . . and then enthusiastically said thank you.  Yep, that's a cousin!  haha.

So, my little guy is 3.  I can hardly believe it!  He is such a ham and so entertaining to be around.  As mischievous as he can be, he is still a total sweetheart always wanting a "huggy" and saying, "I love you so much."  Even though he usually uses it to get out of trouble, I still think its adorable (and it often works).  At his 3 year doctor visit, he weighed 30 lbs and was nearly 37 inches tall, both of which are in the 25th percentile - the closest to average size any of our kids have been.  There's a reason we call him beefy! 

He is such a crazy but amazing kid, and it sure is fun watching him grow up.