Our "Deere" 3-year old

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We had a lot of fun celebrating Charlie's 3rd birthday. Started out the day with a visit to Ontrac Farm Equipment (Whoo Hoo) as a combo birthday/potty training treat since our boy is quite the fan of tractors, especially the green John Deere kind. Actually, it was quite fun. Grandma and Papa came along and we let the kids climb on the tractors, diggers and mowers. Amelia seemed to enjoy it almost as much as her brother. It has me thinking that maybe we should trade in the city home, buy a tractor or two and move out to the country. Then we'd have a better excuse for Amelia's persistent and very unladylike spitting habit...

So, of course, Charlie picks out a John Deere 1/64th scale combine as his birthday "treat." The combine happened to be $65. I'm not sure why. I thought it must actually work as a miniature combine or something, but no. I guess it was just very authentic. Anyway, we went home with a smaller, less authentic, but still exciting baler instead. From Ontrac, we headed to "Dogtown" for lunch. Again, right up Charlie's alley--a restaurant boasting 50 varieties of hot dogs. Charlie and Amelia each had a Pup plate, Bob had a Junkyard Plate and I had a German Shepherd--sauerkraut, yum. Papa was the most festive--ordering an Irish Setter! After that, Rochester's St. Pat's parade. Charlie must really think that his parents spare no expense on his birthday! Is it me or does Rochester realllly do up the St. Pats parade? We left after 1.5 hours and still had to cut way around the parade route to get home since it was still going!

Later, the fam gathered to do the whole cake, ice cream and presents thing. Bob constructed an amazing tractor cake (below) that was a big hit. I love how, in the video above, Aaron is excitedly yelling, "It's a donut!" when the cake is brought out-referring to the "tires". All in all, such a fun day celebrating our boy who touches our hearts in so many ways. Some current character highlights:

-Inquisitive. Charlie loves to talk about pipes and wires. Often when we are driving in the car he will ask me to tell him about the "treatment plant." This stems from the time when Bob explained to him (in detail) what happens to the contents of the toilet when you flush. As for the wires, he loves to hear about how the wires along the road bring electricity to the houses. These conversations could go on endlessly since, after each explanation you give, Charlie utters that famous childhood word, "Why?"
-Sweet. In the morning and after naps, Charlie is so sweet. He will amble down the stairs and find me usually drinking coffee on the couch and catching up on work or email (or some mindless TV). He'll snuggle up next to me and say, "I love you Mom" (followed by, "Can I watch a show?" in his asky high voice) Last night, he was calling for us from his bed. Bob and I went in and he said, "I wanted to say I love you guys."
-Good Bro. Lots of times Charlie surprises me by being concerned about his sis. Even when he was planning out his birthday and requesting a digger cake, he was very concerned about Mia saying, "Maybe we should make Mia a cake too, Mom, a princess cake." Usually the two of us (Charlie and Jen) are up first in the morning and he listens like a hawk for the first sound from his sis. As soon as he hears her, he tears up the stairs to give her a morning greeting. They are totally in cahoots together now. Yesterday, I came in the bathroom to see not one, but two rolls of toilet paper in the toilet. When I pinned Charlie down on who did what he said, "I threw one in and Mia threw one in Mom." A sure sign of trouble is when you hear a gleeful laugh--from either culprit. Toddler laughter means trouble in our house.
-Outdoors. Charlie will go outside anytime, anywhere, anyhow. Even in the dead of winter, he'll say, "I can just wear my sweatshirt Mom."
-Unique. Charlie will create contraptions out of anything--computer cords, Ipod earbuds (ughh), belts, ropes, buckets. He'll somehow wrangle these into the most complex tangles and then drag them around attached to one of his tools, a flashlight, a notebook. He also loves to store things in boxes and bags. Most days he's carrying some little collection around with him--a snack, a tool, a figurine, papers. Makes me wonder what he will turn into someday. Aunt Beth wrapped 3 bungee cords around his present and these have been especially helpful in his recent "engineering projects."

I wouldn't trade these days for anything. OK, maybe I will trade the lipstick day, the foam peanut day, the fireplace incident day, the mascara day and a couple of the extra nasty-potty training accident days. I know what your thinking, why don't you put your make-up out of reach, Jen? Well, here's the thing: Charlie can find mischief anywhere no matter how "safe" you think you may be. Honestly though, I know these stories will make for vivid memories someday, memories that will always make me smile and be thankful that no other boy in the whole world is quite like ours.