3 Years Old

Happy third birthday to D.L.F.!

 

D.L.F. helped T put up streamers and balloons this morning, and then my parents took the kids for a while so T and I could take care of more party preparations. I baked a gluten-free coconut carrot cake based on this recipe, although I tweaked it by using a mix of brown rice and coconut flours, and adding extra eggs, some applesauce, and xanthan gum, and using honey and stevia in place of sugar. Oh, and using half butter and half coconut oil for the oil. With all those changes, I was really hoping the cake would turn out all right, and it did. It was moist and tasty. I frosted it with a cream cheese and maple syrup frosting. We had lasagna and salad for dinner.

 

The kids had a wonderful time with my parents and Uncle J, who kindly brought his guitar and played lots of fun songs. D.L.F. received lots of nice presents, including some new clothes, books, Duplos, and perhaps his favorite gift, his very own tricycle ("It's a motorcycle!" he gleefully exclaimed as T wheeled it down the hallway toward him). What is nice about the trike, since we live on a busy street and don't have a yard of our own, is that is folds up and is pretty light, so I can just hook it over the handlebars of the stroller when I walk the kids to the park, and D.L.F. can ride it there.

 

Oh yeah, this little imp was at the party, too:

 

A Few Everyday Moments I Want to Remember About My Kids' Toddler Years

-When they sit close together while watching a movie, sometimes they grab each other's hands and laugh uproariously as they shake their arms up and down together.

-If Cupcake sees Baseball Guy lying on the floor, she will pick him up and go in search of D.L.F. Then she will hand Baseball Guy over while gleefully exclaiming, "GUY!" D.L.F. usually says, "Thank you; that was very nice of you." Cupcake is very attached to her own lovey, Rosie, whom she usually also calls "Guy," although sometimes she'll say "Ro-ee."

-Cupcake knows she's not supposed to touch the dishwasher while I am loading and unloading dishes, so instead she'll walk into the kitchen, peer down at the opened dishwasher door, tell herself, "No-no!", walk out of the kitchen, then walk back into the kitchen and repeat over and over until she finds something more interesting to do.

And now I shall post two pictures of D.L.F. when he was a baby, for no good reason except that he was (and still is) so cute, and I love him.

 

 

Computer Clarification

Today I overheard D.L.F. telling Cupcake that she wasn't allowed to use the computer, because "it's only for grown-ups and Papa."

Excuse My Messy Chin...

...but I just finished a cookie (and I liked it).

 

Zonk

Just how we like 'em on long car rides:

 

 

Beach Trip with T's Parents

I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures from a trip to the beach a few weeks ago with T's parents. It was COLD and WINDY, which explains the funny expressions and windblown 'dos.

 

 

 

 

He's More Fun than a Barrel of Monkeys

More quotes from D.L.F.:

(As he patted the couch under him): "I am sitting on the Christian!" (he meant "cushion").

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"The stroller stepped on my foot!"

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Updated to add:

When we were driving home from vacation this past Saturday, there was one stretch with lots of tall trees on both sides of the road. T and I were commenting to each other how pretty the landscape was and describing the trees, and all of a sudden, D.L.F. piped up from the backseat: "TOILET-trees!" I guess he'd acquired some of our vacation-packing lingo and had been waiting for an opportunity to use it.

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Whenever I am ready to get D.L.F. up, I stand outside his bedroom door and ask, "Is there a [D.L.F.] in there?" Usually, he simply says, "Yes." Today when I asked that question, however, he replied, "I hope so!"

And Another Quote

D.L.F. to Cupcake in the bath: "Don't touch the water, or you might get wet."