Braddock turns 3 part 1

Goodness...I fell off the wagon as far as keeping the blog updated!  So, here we are...a month later!  May 3, 2012 was Braddock's third birthday!  When he woke up that morning, Michael, Nestle and I went into his room to wake him up singing, "Happy Birthday!" ...and he literally fell on the floor crying.  It takes him a while to fully wake up these days, and even then he has gotten very routine oriented and enjoys having as much "sameness" as possible.  I asked him how he was feeling and he said: "Bwaddock felt sad!  Mommy did not say, "Good morning, sweetheart, did you sleep good?"  He wasn't upset about the song, but rather because I didn't first say what I always say when I go in to greet him in the morning!  Bless his heart :(

  He 'opened' a cozy truck from Abram (the hope is that they would both be able to enjoy it because we were giving Braddock a 'big boy bike'),

 

 and then Michael fixed a special "birthday muffin" breakfast.  Braddock and Abram were SO excited! 

The boys and I spent the day at home hanging out and playing, and when Michael came home from work, we went out into the driveway so Braddock could get his gift from us.  Braddock was so excited, and he kept saying, "Now!  Abram can drive the tricycle, and Braddock can drive the big boy bike! Let's go!!"

We made a trip to the mailbox and back before it started to rain, and then came inside to do dinner and birthday cake.  Abram wasn't so sure the candles at first, but Braddock kept saying, "May I have more cake, please??" although there was still cake on his plate.  At first we pointed to the cake he still had in front of him when we realized he was talking about the candles and the singing!  We ended up singing "Happy Birthday" and blowing out candles three times, but loved every minute, he was so excited!

That night, before he went to bed, I asked him a few of his favorites to start seeing how they change over time...

Braddock's Favorite Things at 3 Years Old:
Color-Red
Activity- Anything outside, swinging, playing cars
Toy- Tractors
Food- "Regular Chicken" (also popsicles and cantaloupe)
Music- Zac Brown ("Chicken Fried"...we change the words to make them fit Braddock :), John Mayer ("Waiting on the World to Change") (also Dr. Jean, and Letter/ Nursery Rhyme cds)
Song- "Big Green Tractor" (and above)
Movie- Milo and Otis, Elmo's Music Movie, Signing Time
TV Show- Blues Clues, or Top Gear with Daddy ("The Snow on the Mountain")
Book- SO many..."Click clack Moo", "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom", "Mike Mulligan", "Llama Llama..."
Sleep with-"BeeWee, Tiger, Spot the Dog, and Winny"...but not before 2 books and 3 songs ("big green tractor", bushel and a peck, and "I love Braddock yes I do"), prayers, and"goodnight hat, goodnight chair, goodnight books, goodnigth bears, and goodnight, Braddock!")