Henry and John's Reptile Birthday Party

Last Saturday we celebrated Henry's 5th birthday and John's 3rd birthday with a reptile party at our neighborhood clubhouse. We had about 20 kids at the party. The kids raced in and out of the clubhouse grabbing nuggets and grapes as they played on the playground and threw rocks in the lake. Before the real reptiles arrived, they had fun playing with the decorative ones I put out on the tables. The snake cake was a tedious 5 hour challenge, but the look on Henry and John's faces when they saw it made every minute worth it.  Henry ate the entire head of the snake, tongue and all.  Not to be outdone, John ate three pieces.

The live reptile show was the highlight of the party. Henry and John were braver than I thought. Grandma and Papou were too! The kids faces grew more and more animated with each reptile that came out. The 12 foot python joined us for a family photo, but I only agreed to do it if I held the tail.

After the reptile guy had packed up and left, Gus noticed a box that was left behind. We found a lizard inside! I called the reptile guy, who was already at another party. He assured me the lizard was very docile, and said he would come by the next day to pick it up. Yes, we had an overnight reptile guest. Henry thought he won the lottery! Pa and Henry wasted no time taking the lizard out on our back deck to play.

Later that day, the boys opened a few gifts - legos, puzzles, books, scooters, trucks, and games. They spent the rest of the afternoon playing with their new toys and their new (temporary) pet lizard.

John is 3 years old!

Likes: Doing puzzles, reading books (I read my first Bob book all by myself this month!), swinging at the park, counting, playing with anything that has wheels, painting and coloring, pretend play with Henry (we pretend we are Wild Kratts or the Berenstein Bears), eating peanut butter toast, bananas, applesauce, cheese, pasta, pizza, berries, and quesadillas, taking naps, going to the gym playcenter, trying samples at Costco, wearing my Spiderman wristband 24/7, making Peter laugh, being sung to when I'm hurt, learning new poems with Daddy, asking to be held in my cute, little Italian accent - "picka me up" or "holda me", and listening to Johnny Cash in the car.

Dislikes: Being told to do anything that I don't want to do, getting boo-boos (I fall down a lot), eating vegetables, peeing standing up (why stand up when you can sit down and enjoy a long book?), and having my hair combed.

Growth: I weigh 37 lbs., and I am 39 and 3/4 inches tall. This puts me in the 92nd percentile for weight and the 95th percentile for height. I put on 5 lbs. in the past year and grew 3 inches. I'm still a big, ole Buddha at three years old!

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We conducted John's three-year-old interview when Grandma and Papou were in town for the party. The tradition continues!

John's 3rd Birthday

We celebrated John's birthday as a family on the 22nd so that Daddy could spend the day with us. It was the day of John, so he picked his favorite things all day long. He requested "little chocolate and vanilla doughnuts" for breakfast. There were also balloons and party hats. Everyone cleaned their plates (including Peter, who ate his first doughnut).

Later that morning, John picked his favorite outing - the bookstore.  His favorite lunch followed - a quesadilla from Chipotle. After a long nap (which John also loves), we went out for dinner. John requested "a pizza party", so we went to Mellow Mushroom. While we waited for our pizza, Peter tried his first taste of lemon and proceeded to eat the whole wedge. John didn't eat any lemons but he did eat two and a half slices of pizza.

After dinner, we came home for cupcakes and presents. Our book worm was happy to open three new Berenstein Bear books. John insisted on a strawberry cupcake because "strawberry is my favorite. And Papou likes strawberry too!" The strawberry cupcake from the bakery came with a pink crown on top, so I quickly replaced that with Lighting McQueen and Mater. After eating his entire cupcake, John was happy to finish Henry's leftover chocolate cupcake too. He was just preparing for his real party at the end of the week.