Owen turned 3 years old on August 24th! It was a month of celebrations filled with Owen's most favorite thing...TRAINS! In early August, Owen got to meet the train that started it all, Thomas the Tank Engine! Owen was a bit awe struck and not sure what to think as we boarded a passenger car pulled by none other than Thomas himself.
Once on board, he gazed out the window as Thomas pulled us along for a ride.
The morning of his birthday, Owen walked down the stairs to find quite a surprise waiting for him...a train table and new train track!
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| "Oh my goodness!!" |
After hours of playing, I was finally able to convince him that we should do something fun for his birthday. Just what do you think he choose to do...go to the Train Museum of course!
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| Here comes a train! |
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| "Check out my new puzzle!" |
And you can't leave the Train Museum without stopping by to see the real live retired engine and train cars (or the "Black Train" and "Green Train" as Owen likes to call them for obvious reasons.)
On this trip to the Museum, Owen was treated to a special birthday treat...a train puzzle!
That evening, Owen's birthday cake FINALLY arrived! He had been waiting and waiting for it since he had picked out the design two weeks prior. Every day he would break down in tears, crying "Oh no! My birthday cake is not here yet!" So when it arrived, to say he was excited is putting it mildly!When it came time to cut the cake, I decided to just let him dig right in! Why not? You're only three years old once! Owen munched away. He thought the cake was good, but the frosting! The frosting was by far his favorite part!
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| YUMMY! |
A few days later, Owen had his big birthday bash. It started out with some festive music at the Latin American Band Family Jam, an event organized to raise funds for FANA. Owen wasn't really sure what to think of the music or the dancers. Things must have gotten a bit too loud, because at one point he plugged his ears!!  |
| "It's too loud, Mom." |
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| "Look what I found!" |
After the show, we hurried off to the Children's Museum to continue the party. Owen had fun making crafts, finding animals hidden throughout the room, and touching a real live turtle!
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| "Oh! It's moving!" |
After presents, pizza, and cake, we were off to play with all the fun exhibits at the Museum.
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| Cole & Owen playing with blocks |
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| Owen running the conveyor belt |
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| Owen & Nana Judy playing with bubbles |
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| Owen & Mariah-the next Blue Man Group! |
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| "Yippe!" Shane throwing Owen into the air |
Owen loves swimming! He's quite the little fish, kicking, floating and jumping into the water. The more splashing the better!
While Owen is an old pro in the pool, it was Cole's very first time in an icy cold pool! And no one could convince him that swimming was supposed to be fun!
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| Shane, Cole, Jess and Owen |
We all had a wonderful time celebrating Owen's 3rd birthday. As he enters a new year of discoveries and interests, I didn't want to forget about those items that might seem insignificant to him someday, but light up his eyes with delight at his ripe old age of three.
Introducing Owen's top ten favorite things...
#10: Mac 'n Cheese - Owen's favorite meal! He would eat it three times a day if I let him! But not just any Mac 'n Cheese will do. No fancy shapes or flavors - only the original Kraft Macaroni and Cheese for Owen!
#9: Water - Whether it's in the shower, the bath, a pool, or a cup, just add water and Owen will have a blast! It's wonderful to watch how imaginative he can be, transforming water into a super fun toy, that is until the crazy three year old in him comes out and the bathroom floor is covered in an inch of water! He's such a fan of water that most mornings it's nearly impossible to get him out of the shower. It's only when the hot water is gone that he'll willingly leave. But it's the days of the long morning shower followed up that evening by a soak in the tub that sure put a damper on the water bill!#8: Suckers - What started out as a once a week treat when picking up groceries has turned into a request (or perhaps more of a demand!) on every errand we run. "I need a sucker" is quickly uttered the moment we walk into a store. For now, I still have Owen fooled that the store is the provider of the suckers and not Mom. Although I'm not sure how much longer he'll fall for me pretending to grab a free sucker off the store shelf. I just hope he never helps himself to the actual store inventory!!
#7: The Cross - I have never before witnessed eyes light up at the sight of the Cross at church. Every Sunday before Mass begins, Owen will have his eyes peeled on the back of the church waiting patiently for the Cross to appear. And when it does, oh boy! The excitement just radiates out of his face! And then he waits and waits until church is over, asking at least once where the cross is, until it eventually appears again. He soon realized that seeing the Cross only on Sundays just wasn't enough, and he started finding toys that resembled it (like his train set's railroad crossing arms) and marching around the house humming tunes. Eventually his little toys weren't life-like enough, and Mom's broom became his new "Cross". He is quite the devout little Catholic, seeing the Cross everywhere we go - in sidewalk cracks, patterns in windows, power lines, pretty much anywhere!#6: A tie between the movies: Pete's Dragon and The Little Mermaid. Owen was rummaging through our old movies one day and stumbled upon these two classics. Thank goodness I grew up loving both of them because Owen does not tire of watching them over and over again. He loves humming along to the tunes of both movies. He gets a kick out of pretending to be Elliot (the dragon) and will often say that Ursula (the octopus) is "kinda mean". Then he ponders for a moment and exclaims "I will buy Ursula a new train table! Then she will be happy!" Thank goodness for movies! The only way I can get him to nap these days is to pop a movie in and tuck him into bed. He's usually snoozing within a half hour!
#5: Cuddling - To his mom's delight, Owen is quite the cuddle bug. He can't seem to fall asleep these days unless he's cuddling with Mom. And how can I resist those big brown eyes looking up at me when he is tired and saying "Let's go cuddle, Mom." There are even some nights when I ask him which book he would like me to read to him and he responds, "No book. Just cuddle."#4: Mom - That's right! Mom makes the list. I'm of course biased, but just ask Owen's Pa how many times a day he hears, "No Pa! Mom does it!" No one else can pour him a glass of juice or put on his PJs quite like Mom!
#2: Froggy - His green frog security blanket goes most places that he does. We brought it with to Colombia and he quickly grew attached. He'll find the silliest places to put Froggy when he's playing during the day, that when it's time to go to bed, we are searching the house for him. Luckily, when I realized just how much Owen loved the little green guy, I searched and searched the web until I found 2 more on Ebay. One can never have too many Froggies! |
| Owen and the "Green Train" at the Train Museum |
The life of a three year old is busy, busy, busy! Filled with new interests and new experiences. Who knows what fun, exciting things the next year will bring?!?
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