Liam is 3!

Liam wants everyone to know that he is...

!!!

Our little man is 3, and in many ways, it just doesn't seem possible.  The morning of his birthday, we had a little exchange that went something like this:
"Mommy, I three?"
"Yes Liam, you are!"
"I not two?"
"Nope-- you're 3!"
"No I not"
"Yes, you are!"
"Really?!  I three?!"
"Yep!"
"Oh!  I a big boy now!"

And what a big boy he is.  Turning 3 was what finally convinced Liam that it was time to say good-bye to diapers and hello to the potty, which really is a birthday present for everyone.  About a week and a half before his birthday, Liam decided he wanted to wear underwear instead of his diaper, and he hasn't looked back since!  It took several days before he made the leap to being fully potty trained (i.e. #2), but as with everything as far as Liam is concerned, it was on his terms and he let us know when he was ready.  He's still wearing a diaper overnight, which is a-okay by us.

So back to his birthday!  Since his birthday fell on a Wednesday this year, we decided to throw him a little party on the Sunday before.  He invited his neighborhood buddy Lucas, his gal-pals Brigid and Kara, and of course Miss Doreen and Uncle Sam.  Nana, Grandpa, Jen, and Pete were also there to help celebrate. Liam was so excited that the party was for him!  He wanted to have a "baseball party," and we were pleasantly surprised to have a beautiful sunny day where the kids could actually play outside!  

We recently discovered that Liam has developed an unfortunate intolerance to lactose, so combined with his sensitivity to eggs and allergy to nuts, I had to get creative for his birthday cake.  So I borrowed a cookbook from my vegan friend at work, and Nana and I baked our first vegan birthday cake!  And it was actually pretty good! 

Just in case, though, I also baked a normal cake with buttercream frosting so there was an alternative for our guests... which Liam dubbed the "itchy cake" since that's exactly what it would have done to him!

Liam helped to sing "Happy Birthday" to himself and was pretty excited to get to blow out his own candles:

Amidst all the festivities, I discovered little Joer sitting on the floor of the kitchen with a captured balloon.  He stuck the end in his mouth and was batting at it like a nut as if it were a punching bag.  It was a riot!

Opening presents was a group effort, and Liam was lucky to have such good helpers :)

Liam was super-excited for his new toys, puzzles, and games (thank you to all his generous friends!).  He also got to open presents from Nana and Grandpa-- a doctor kit, scrubs and a doctor's coat!  He loves to make-believe about going to see Dr. Niami, Dr. Wodell, and even Dr. Missy (his dentist), so this was beyond fun for him.  In under a minute, he and Brigid had torn into that kit and were taking each others' blood pressure and listening for their heartbeats.  And you know what?  Given Liam's experience with doctors in the past year, and in a very different way, Brigid's experience with doctors over the past 2 years, seeing them playing like this together was both awesome and a little emotional.  I couldn't help but stop to thank God for good health and prayers answered.

As we all know, kids + birthday cake (vegan or otherwise) = a little bit of crazy.  Liam, Brigid, and Kara for some reason decided to jump up on the window seat in the kitchen and start a rousing chorus of "GO IRISH!"  Although this is a short clip, suffice it to say that this went on for a rather long time.  Loudly.

On Liam's actual birthday, the festivities continued.  Dad, Joergen, and I were up before the birthday boy, so we donned our birthday hats and woke him up with the Happy Birthday song.

He was a little befuddled!  He said, "It's my birthday again?!"

That evening, it was time to open the rest of his presents.  He got a "super-cool" (in his words) boat from Aunt Erin, Uncle Thomas, Sarah, Pierre, and Augustin:

New books (with CDs!) from Uncle Tim, Aunt Jackie, and Colin:

And lots of fun new playclothes from Grandma and Papa!

Grandma and Papa also sent him his very own digital camera!  He has been having a blast taking pictures of everyone and everything, and he's actually pretty decent at it!  Even Joergen would smile for Liam's new camera:

One of his favorite gifts was this baseball jersey from Uncle Andrew, Aunt Beth, and his Illinois cousins.  Um, how cool is this?! 

Liam sure felt lots of love from all of his family and friends, and really, what could be a better present than that?