Eli is 3!

Eli celebrated his real birthday 2 days after his birthday party. He woke up and found the floor covered in balloons for his birthday! In all honesty, J thinks he was too sleepy to even take much notice. It wasn't until later that day that Elina and Eli discovered how much fun it was to have tons of balloons in their room.

For breakfast, I always make chocolate chip birthday pancakes and the kids get to pick what color they want their pancakes to be. Eli chose green, so I spelled his name in green batter. He loved it! J says that she loves the annual birthday pancake pics because the kids still have sleep in their eyes.




Since Eli's birthday was on a school day, we let Elina play hooky so that she could join in the birthday festivities. She was pretty excited about that!

We took Eli to his favorite place in the whole world--the zoo! First Eli got to ride the train with Elina, Ah-Gong, and Ah-Ma. Then we all hit the zoo. Eli frequents the zoo these days, so he knows his way around. He loved showing Ah-Gong and Ah-Ma where everything was. It was also a special day because we actually saw the hippos moving. Those animals rarely ever move, so it was quite the sight.
I decided to make a second dinosaur cake since Eli loved the first one so much. This time I made a lemonade cake. The scenery was somewhat the same, but I added lava rock (crumbled Oreos). B said that this time the volcano was in Hawai'i or something.Eli got really great presents. There were a few times when he saw the gift, his eyes really lit up and you could tell how excited he was. His favorites (based on the facial expression) were the Dinosaur Train Interaction Characters (from Aunt A and from Elina), the Singamajig (from J) and the new Thomas track set (from Ah-Gong and Ah-Ma). Check out these happy/excited faces-- Elina made Eli this sweet birthday card, too. She was especially proud of her fancy writing. Here is the card (I love that she wrote "Have a dino birthday" and drew a T-Rex!)--Here she is reading the card to Eli (who actually looks more interested in ripping into the present)--



Here is what Eli can do these days--

1. Go potty by himself. Eli's been potty trained for awhile, but ever since the day he turned 3, he's been getting out of bed in the morning to go potty by himself. Before then he would cry for one of us or he would wake Elina up so that she could help him.

2. Speak more clearly and use more difficult words and phrases. I swear, right after the day he turned 3 he has been speaking more clearly and telling better stories. Consequently, he's also voicing his opinions more these days. The other day he told me, "Mommy, I wuv wowipops (love lollipops)."

3. Argue with Elina. Now that he's more verbal, he fights back more. He used to just go along with whatever Elina wanted, but now he will resist her.

4. Ride a tricycle.

5. Draw...like a caveman. He can make great circles, but for his other shapes he is better at tracing dotted lines that we have already made. He has also started naming his drawings..."it's a crocodile"..."it's a dinosaur." But he can draw eyes and limbs on his animals. The mouth is a little more strange. It looks like a limb or a tongue because he draws it as a long line that sticks out of the "body."

6. Use scissors (not always a good thing).

And here are his current faves--

Favorite food: This kid pretty much eats anything, even slightly spicier things (which B is very happy about). He's also become a big fan of candy, especially wowwipops.

Favorite drink: Eli will pretty much drink anything, too...but orange juice is up there.

Favorite song: "Jingle Bells," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," and "I am a Pizza"

Favorite book: Dinosaurs A-Z, Stomp Dinosaur Stomp

Favorite characters: Little Einsteins, Thomas the Tank Engine, Dinosaur Train characters, Tyrannosaurus Rex (in this next video, he says Tyrannosaurus Rex in his own special way...Elina loves it and copies him all the time)--

Favorite toy: Dinosaur Train Interaction toys, Singamajig

Favorite activities: Doing puzzles, playing with the sensory tub, going to the zoo, playing with playdoh, helping Mommy in the kitchen, relaxing and snuggling with family, riding the train, going to Chuck E. Cheese, playing with friends, playing in sand, jumping on the trampoline next door, and dancing until the cows come home (check out his moves in this next video...seriously, I think he could do this all day!)--


We all love our snuggly, happy Eli. He's really growing up too quickly!