A Wild Thing Turns Three

It finally happened, not the zombie apocalypse, not pigs flying, the fat lady didn’t even sing. Nope, but my Wild Thing did finally turn three. I say finally because there were moments when I wasn’t quite sure we’d make it. When we started calling baby Wild Thing before he was even born, my sister said to me something along the lines of you may want to rethink that because I think people tend to live up to their names. If only I had listened. 

Alas, at about nine months my wild boy started throwing tantrums where he threw his whole body on the floor in dismay. I’ll admit, it was kind of cute then. Long before he hit the terrible twos, though, and his meltdowns included his head writhing around on the floor of Target, the cuteness wore off. But, here we are, we made it to three. And, though I know three can sometimes be more challenging even than two, I’m celebrating a triumphant milestone in motherhood and in my sweet boy’s life: we survived another year. 

It was a year full of roars and choo choos, filled with little chipmunk giggles (you really should hear his laugh- it’s hilarious) and tears of rage, disappointment, and stubbornness (oh the stubbornness!!). He graduated from loving trains and everything Thomas to being obsessed with Land Before Time and his Triceratops hoodie. He likes broccoli, bagels (really any bread product), chicken nuggets, and my Justin’s PB cups. He loves his big sisters and will follow them anywhere. He cried once when his biggest one spent an overnight without him. He wanted her back. He adores his baby brother and is already teaching him things only big brothers can (like how to almost give mama a heart attack by hiding in the laundry room). 

Now, to describe his birthday to you. I need only two words: stomach flu. Luckily for him, I was the victim which meant though I was confined to bed, he still got to enjoy his day complete with a candle in his birthday jello (hey when getting out of bed gives you the spins, you improvise). Luckily, I was ready for the day because I had a birthday package from Vinyl Vinyard Co. Good thing, too, because I was all partied out from my mom’s 70th birthday. It made celebrating so much easier. And, when we finally got to do his official birthday party, I got to use all the fun decorations and though he wore his adorable dino shirt, this time he covered it up with his favorite hoodie. 

Now onto the party, we finally got in our trip to Dinosaur Land (one of many this summer l think- especially since our plans with local friends got rained out) complete with a dinosaur egg hunt. Then, we had a little celebration at the park with a picnic lunch, fun on the playground, and, of course, dinosaur cupcakes. Again, Vinyl Vineyard Co. came to the rescue with cupcake toppers and dino shaped table confetti. My dino lover was in paradise. 

The celebration is finally over (thanks to the stomach flu he got two whole weeks to sing “Happy Birthday to me!”). His dinosaur sign and shirt will live in his memory box. Some day, we’ll both look at it and remember how we survived his first three years with laughter, a few tears, some scrapes and bruises, and a whole lot of love. 

PS Be sure to check out my friend Hope’s business Vinyl Vineyard Co. on Facebook and Instagram, not only is she easy to work with but everything she touches meets my perfectionist note of approval, and that’s not easy! 

PPS Be assured, these two were there too. One was just whining to be snuggled and the other was taking the pictures. I’ll let you figure out which was which 😉