Jude is 3!

Jude turned the much anticipated 3 years old last week. He has been talking about turning 3 for ages. He was convinced that when he was 3, he would be a big boy, able to do all sorts of things such as "surfing" and "using adult knives." I think he thinks 3 is the maximum age you can turn :)

It was also anticipated because for months he was putting in his birthday present requests. "I am going to ask for one of those for my birthday." Much to my dismay, when he was finished opening his presents (more magnaformers, science experiment kit, t-ball set, photo album from Nana, and teepee that I made him), he said, "where are the rest of my presents." I guess we need to work harder to humble him and lower his expectations. No spoiled brats allowed in this household! His best gift of all was probably having Oma there to celebrate with him. Jude had Oma all to himself the whole time Maeve and I were away.

It felt strange sending him off to school on his birthday and not spending the whole day with him, but he was so excited for his little party at school. The school traditions are to fly his little birdie from the 2-year old branch to the 3-year old branch and then for him to serve cupcakes to his friends after they sing happy birthday to him.

Scrapbook from Nana

Still all about Mickey

Really pleased with how his teepee turned out!

Don't know who was more excited about the t-ball set, Jude or Daddy.

Maeve thinks Magnaformers are pretty great, too. 

On Saturday, we hosted Jude's first birthday party. We were reluctant to throw parties in the past since we don't have family in the area and didn't think Jude would get much out of them. So it was high time he had a celebration. To be honest, I dreaded the party chaos, but know it is a rite of passage. We kept things as simple as possible. Jude choose his guest list, which took the guilt away from me not being able to invite all of my friends with kids. I only used Pinterest for ideas for the Mickey cake and we ordered pizza for lunch to minimize the prep work. Oh, and we rented a bouncy house for the weekend thinking that would keep the kids out of the house. We were all really happy with how the party turned out. So much calmer than I envisioned. Maeve slept for the first 90 minutes so we could really focus on Jude and the guests. The bouncy house wasn't nearly as fun as the bubble machine Jude got as a present, but the kids seemed to have a good time. It was especially sweet to see how well Jude played with his friends from school. A glimpse into his everyday. 

Bubbles=big hit

So civilized!

Playing with school friends

After lunch and cake, they all got up and started playing nicely together. 

We made good use of having the bouncy house all weekend!

A little about Jude at 3. 

"I do everything myself"- He is one independent little man. The best is when he goes to the bathroom by himself telling us that he wants "his privacy." He's now putting his own shoes and socks on (albeit on the wrong feet most of the time) thanks to school. 

"I'm not tired" This kid still has serious FOMO and is always reluctant to go to bed even when he is exhausted. He falls asleep regularly eating lunch on the lap of his teacher or us on the weekends. Otherwise, we resort to driving him in the car as he passes out immediately. Can't the boy just learn that sleep is for his own good! 

Kids say the darndest things. Like when he causes an accident, "That's ok. It happens sometimes." When he is acting up and we ask him what's wrong, "The truth is Mommy, ...." "Otherwise" and "actually" as other favorites of his. 

He is a master manipulator. He knows that if he is sick we let him snuggle on the coach with cartoons, but if he's too sick he can't go to school. So his solution. "I feel a little bit sick and I feel a little bit better." He's already playing the "Daddy said I could do it" card, which is almost always a lie. 

He's a stereotypical boy. At a playdate with an older school friend, they picked up sticks and ran around pointing them at things yelling, "Kill! Kill! Kill!" This is clearly instigated by this friend. He told us last night that when he dresses up in the knight costume at school, this boy tells him he should use the sword to kill everything. Jude stood up to him and said that he didn't want to kill things. That's my boy! 

Are we allowed to call boys bossy? Well, he most certainly is. I have watched him play at school and tell the others kids how to play the game he wants to play and correct them when they don't do it they way he wants. He is very bossy at home, too and we are working hard on his manners. 

The parents at school started taking turns bringing in hot lunches for the kids two days a week. So every 6 weeks or so we bring in a dish. He is eating like a king and has declared that he loves dumplings (two Chinese kids are in the class). We are putting together a class recipe book, which I can't wait to get my hands on! 

On the weekends he enjoys Little Gym and Voetjebal (soccer). Next year at school, he'll be able to to sign up for an after school activity and we'll have to choose between Bollywood dancing, ballet, cooking, building or gym. 

So far, he is certainly more trying at 3 than he was at 2. The effects of having to share mommy and daddy's attention with Maeve are obvious. I look forward to watching them play more in the coming year as she becomes more mobile and interactive. While I was in the US with Maeve, he apparently said every day that he missed Maeve. Hopefully he continues to see the positives of a sibling instead of the negatives.