McCord is 3 Years Old

...and what fun it is!

Birthday daiquiri tradition: 2 years old & now 3

It's amazing when I look back on McCord at 2 years old and now at 3 and see how much he's changed.  It's been a big year for this little guy.  Here are a few milestones:

• learned what it means to be a big brother
• potty trained 
• started his first year of preschool
• saw some amazing leaps in terms of language development
• learning ABC's and counting
• first trip to Urgent Care and got stitches in forehead

Probably the biggest thing that defines Mc right now is his interest in knights and all things medieval.  Several months ago, he discovered the knight helmet in the dress-up area of the children's museum, and he's been sold ever since.  He talked about it for weeks after our museum visit, so I finally ordered him one, and it's become a staple to his wardrobe.  Bo and I think he likes it so much because it has a little movable "window" that he can use to shield his eyes, and this seems to suit his shy nature. When he wears his helmet, he can be present with everyone, but just a little bit removed and protected behind his "armor." We've checked out all the books at the library about knights, dragons, and castles, and we even had a little medieval birthday playdate with some of his preschool classmates. We talk a lot about knights and their bravery these days - trying to spin this interest into a character lesson about helping others, doing what's right, and living with integrity.  

Good night, knight. 

Sir McCord helping me get set up for his medieval birthday playdate

I bought the invitation and all of the decorations from this graphic designer on etsy (I cannot  say enough good things about her!).  She customized everything  and all I had to do was print. I'm not sure how messages were delivered in medieval times, but McCord helped me put the invitations in bottles.  Since we only had a few of his preschool classmates over, we hand delivered most of them, but two of them we mailed through the postal system - bottle and all.  All we had to do was put stamps on them.   

Mc's official birthday was Monday, but we did a lot of celebrating over the weekend so Bo could be a part of the fun. We tucked Wade in a little bit early on Sunday night, so both Bo and I could be with Mc as we did evening storytime and prayers.  We crawled in his bed and told him the story about the day he was born, recalling the first time we saw him and the nurse shouted out, "it's a boy!" Now that same little boy has grown into a three year old almost over night.  We had a tough year, but I'm so proud of who he is.  McCord has an incredible imagination, he's creative, sweet, and thoughtful.  And I just love the way he wrinkles up his nose and laughs at himself.  He loves to make forts, play in his sandbox, and fix stuff.  He's always game for a craft project, and it's not unusual to hear him singing to himself while he uses the bathroom.  He's McCord: sometimes complex, sometimes shy, always interesting. 

Cupcake party at Mc's preschool.  He was so proud to have his little brother there. 

Mr. Safety, always prepared, because you never know when you might just get up the courage to jump in the water (takes him at least 1/2 hour)

One of the things we gave Mc for his birthday was a flashlight that you strap to your forehead.  He loves to look at his books in his bed in the evening after we turn the lights out, and he immediately put it on when he unwrapped it.  That night I walked past Mc's room as Bo was tucking him in for the night.  They were both curled up on the window seat in Mc's room, reading a Bible story together as they do every night.  It was completely dark in the room, except for Mc's head light shining a tender glow on the two of them.  It's funny how a singular moment will pierce your heart in such a way that it moves you to tears. One son, the baby, already fast asleep and the other son, enjoying a simple but sweet father-son moment. For that instant, everything felt all right in the world.  And I thought for the millionth time in my life how much I love being a mother.

Mother's Day 2013

Because I've been in the business of playing catch-up with this blog ever since Wade was born, I'm posting a very belated picture of my first Mother's Day with 2 boys.

We had a family of house finches build a nest on our back porch, and we noticed on Mother's Day that the baby birds had hatched.  It was quite amazing to watch her feed her little ones.  They've all flown from the nest now, and she returned to her nest for her second litter (if that's what you call it for birds).  Today we noticed that they just hatched out.  We're enjoying a back porch biology lesson from this little family of finches.  

Strawberry Pickin'

In my mind, the spring of 2013 will always be remembered as the Season of Strawberries.  

There have been several times in my adult life when I've thought how fun it is to be a parent (as an aside, there have also been countless times when I've thought how un-fun it is to be a parent), but picking strawberries with my boys this spring -- letting them get dirty and sticky as they explored an endless field of strawberries -- this has to be one of my favorite activities we've done so far.  We went 3 times this year and it never got old.