Jonathan woke up late on his birthday morning and discovered a bouquet of Happy Birthday balloons tied to the foot of his bed. He had a good long drink of mommy milk and then discovered his birthday crown on the sewing table which he put on after dressing in his "wedding clothes."

 

We had eggs for breakfast and he opened some presents aftwerwards.  He opened the chalkboard from us first, and said, "It's a picture with nothing on it!"  We didn't tell him what it really was because more clues were coming.  He opened the eraser, and knew exactly what that was, but said it was for our whiteboard upstairs.  Then he opened the chalk and said it was crayons.  When we told him it was chalk (the other chalk he's used has been sidewalk chalk, so it looks different) he said, "oh, chalk!" but still didn't get the connection.  Grammy suggested that he draw with it and he replied, "not inside..." (sidewalk chalks are only for outside drawing.)  Then Daddy pointed to the board and finally the puzzle clicked: his face lit up and he ran over and started scribbling, saying, "It's what I wanted for my birthday!"

 

When he opened his Japanese book from Aunt Janet, he said, "it's a pressy book like my other one!"  That means you get to press buttons.  He pushed a few and then put it on the shelf right next to the other one.

 

He got overalls that fit from Grammy and Papa, with a shirt that has a 3 on it, and some books, too.  (The day before, he had opened a froggy raincoat and boots and a Children's Museum membership card - both of which got used that very day.)

 

Then Daddy went shopping for last minute food items and we decorated the rooms with crepe paper and balloons.  Alissa called and said the boys were sick and miserable so they couldn't come.  Jonathan said, "But they have to come." Miss Lisa came first and helped us blow up balloons.  Then the Venables arrived and then Jason and Maya (Ellery was sick so Serina stayed home with her.)

 

Everybody played and talked, drew on the chalkboard, erased things off the chalkboard, shot balloons across the room, admired the cake and generally had a fun time.  You can see pictures by clicking on the link on the right, under Jonathan.

 

We ate pizzas (frozen cheese pizzas with added toppings and extra cheese) and carrot sticks and pineapple chunks. Jonathan and Maya especially were hovering over the cake, but we had to wait until the lunch dishes were cleaned up.  Then I lit the three candles and we had to wait again as Daddy talked to Verizon on the phone about our DSL.  But he was only gone a couple of minutes and the candles were still quite long.  When he got back we sang Happy Birthday and Jonathan was so thrilled to be the recipient!  I love the picture of him during that song - his face was like that the whole time.  When we were done, he just stood there and basked in it for a few seconds before we urged him to blow out the candles, which he did one at a time.

 

I had asked our guests not to bring presents, but instead homemade cards for him, and he opened them sometime around then.  Maya spelled out "To Jonathan Love Maya", Hannah drew some things and had Peter draw a hippopotamus, Miss Lisa wrote him a limerick!

 

We had ice cream with the cake; Jonathan had picked out some mint chocolate chip for the occasion.  It was a Cat in the Hat cake, and all week Jonathan had been asking to scoop out the cake with the rake.  So I let him eat his own piece with the rake which everyone thought was pretty silly.

 

A little more playing and then goodbyes and then a nap!  Grammy and Papa took us out to Japanese Hibachi - how many three year olds get that and enjoy it, too!?  The chef made him a giant flaming candle which was a hit.  I think this was the first time that he's gotten as many shrimp as he'd like.

 

At home he spent time with Grammy and Papa, reading, drawing and erasing, playing with his new sticker book.  And I guess he just wasn't ready for his birthday to end because at bedtime he just lay there for an hour and I finally said he could get up and play while I finished putting up the pictures from his party.  He fell asleep just before the end of his very fun and full third birthday.

 

Posted by Heather Daley on November 18, 2006, 11:15 pm | Read 1909 times
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Comments
Thanks! We all interrupted a game of Mhing to enjoy the great story and pictures. What a cute kid! Looks a LOT like his mother (especially in the glasses).
Posted by SursumCorda on November 20, 2006, 10:30 pm

"Looks a LOT like his mother (especially in the glasses)." That's why I took the picture - he reminded me so much of my third grade picture I wanted to document it.
Posted by joyful on November 21, 2006, 8:29 am

Sounds like a fabulous birthday! Happy birthday!
Posted by adustyframe on November 23, 2006, 12:53 am
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