Foto Friday 2, vol. 12 - Catch Up (part 2 - Preston)

Party Boyphoto by Catherine Lacey Dodd
Preston had a fabulously fun birthday party at the park. Surrounded by his friends and their parents (and his family, of course!), he celebrated with a bounce house, pinata, pizza and the politely requested (good thing I found one or I'd have been busted!) dump truck cake.
Nana flew in and surprised us all that morning. (The best surprise ever, Nana! Though, as she predicted, after Preston saw her, he promptly asked, "Where's Papa?!" We missed you, Papa!) Grandpa John drove up from Mexico, too! Gracie, who had come down with (yet another) bilateral ear infection and sinus infection (after only ten days off antibiotics), ended up having a pretty good day, as well. There were so many great moments, it's hard to narrow it all down! Here are a few of the highlights:







The celebration on his actual birthday
Just like last year, Preston helped make his birthday cake. Thankfully, he didn't expect me to make a dump truck! I was a little daring and made a soccer ball cake... though the decorating tool I purchased was missing half the parts and I ended up having to free-hand the ball markings! It turned out pretty cute (from a distance!) and, most importantly, it tasted yummy!

As he woke on the morning of his birthday, I could hear Preston's breathing change as he stretched and realized he was actually awake. The next thing I knew, his sweet little voice said, "Mommy...? I'm three now?!"
Sigh. "Yes, Buddy, you are three now," I said choking back the tears that crept up on me as I realized how really big three is and how excited he was to be that big.

For the record, that big, huge bowl in front of Gracie is actually John's bowl! She did not, however, hesitate to dig right in!


Preston the Explorer
Once daylight savings starts, we often take evening walks. One night last month, while it was still a bit chilly, we went on a quick walk around the block. As we were getting ready to leave, Preston informed us that he was going to be an explorer. He got his backpack (and put his "baby George" inside), his fireman boots (but called them his "explorer boots") and his View Master which he said were his "binoculars." We headed out the door and... well... he explored. He found baby animals (which he imagined), looked for "clues" and found a snail that he thoroughly inspected. (And when he was done examining the snail, he stomped on it. I was horrified and actually screamed... John just laughed and said, "That's what boys do." Poor little snail.) One thing he definitely isn't lacking is an active imagination. He told all kinds of stories about things he was seeing and hearing while we were out. I highly recommend going on an such an expedition with your child(ren)... it's amazing what you'll see through their eyes!


Dates with Daddy
Preston loves his Daddy... he loves helping him around the house, he loves watching sports with him, he loves sitting in the window waiting for him to pull in the driveway from work and, without question, he loves going out and about with Daddy.





Mad Hatter
(From late March that, for some reason, I never got around to posting.)I took Preston to Michael's to get a few things and he ended up trying on every single hat they had! We had so much fun playing! :-)