Tavin Turns 3!

It's amazing to watch these little ones grow.  I have to say that I also get a little sad as the boys grow older.  I just love the sweet baby stages and hitting 3 really means Tav is no longer a babe, but truly growing into a little boy.  (Not to mention age 3 was the beginning of the tough discipline phase with Koen (that we are still in), so I've not been looking forward to seeing what age 3 brings for Tav and it's been looking lately like it will be much the same as it was for Koen).  Anyways, yesterday was Tavin Dale's 3rd birthday.  Here's what it looked like from start to finish...

We didn't have major plans, but we like making it special just as a family throughout our normal routine.  I made pancakes since it's a favorite for Tav.  He actually ate after Koen had already left for school.  Here he is devouring his birthday breakfast (Penn is being his adorable cute self in the background, squawking from the exersaucer).

Soon after breakfast, I let Tavin open his little present from Gramma and Grampa that had arrived in the mail a few days before.  He was so patient looking at it since its arrival.  He just kept calling it, "my box!"  Here he is with the package and when I gave it to him he said, "T for Ta-ta!"  I love that he's learning his letters!  We've been working on it and he's just soaking it up like a sponge.  Kids are amazing.

Tav, of course, spotted the theme of the gift immediately and was pretty excited to see some new "diggers!"

Much of the rest of the morning was digger play.  Tavin and I also enjoyed some special moments while Penn was napping.  We especially enjoyed reading some books together and playing a board game.  (Tavin is hilarious, he will applaud me and say, "Good job, Mommy (Dood dahb, Mommy)!").  A big treat for the birthday was that Douglas got to join us for lunch amidst his work day.  I made a Tavin favorite, Annie's whole wheat mac & cheese with peas mixed in.  On the side we had baby carrots and pears.  It was a big hit.  Here are my adorable boys.  Ahhh, love them!

So, here's the exciting part.  Now we got to let Tavin open his presents.  He ate his mac and cheese soooo fast because he was dying to open those presents!!!  He really wanted to open the big present first, but we made him wait and do the few others first as we knew the "big" present would take all the attention once it was opened.  First Tav opened a surprise present from the family we carpool with for Koen's kindergarten.  How sweet!  It was a puzzle, which is perfect for Tav as he loves puzzles right now.

Next he opened a new water bottle from Koen as his "monkey" water bottle from our friend, Mary, had broken.  Koen had seen this when out for Doug last week and they couldn't resist getting a new "hee-hee-ha-ha" water bottle for Tav.

This picture is hilarious. Tav is opening the present with one hand and pointing at the big present requesting to open it with the other.  Man, this starts early!

Tav totally got it and was so excited!  Koen is a VERY good brother.

Next, Tav opened a present from his godparents, Uncle Nate and Aunt Megan.  It's a hilarious Steelers country storybook.  I guess we are raising little Burghers!

Next Tav opened his gift from Koen, a big tow truck with a working tire lift and hook.  We removed the batteries before wrapping it up for Tav as we were hoping to forego the ridiculously loud noises it makes, but unfortunately Koen pointed out the buttons that work the noises and lights and so Tav has been asking for "bah-a-rie" ever since.  We might have to give in.  He's been enjoying it without the noise though, so we'll try to keep that going!

Tav also opened his card from Gramma and Grampa.  Such a cute card for this construction vehicle obsessed little guy.  And he loved pointing out his name once again!

Ok, so here it is.  The "big" present Tav was waiting for.  I had to get a video of this because I think Doug and I hit the nail on the head with this gift.  The little brother who always wants to keep up with big brother now can...

It's so cute how he subtly notices that it's a "coo-coo."  The excitement and pride just grows as the experience is realized on the sidewalk just moments later.  Here are some photos and videos of this urban scooter natural.

Check out Koen doing one of his "tricks" in this photo.

The whole brother thing is just priceless.  Look at these guys!

A Mommy moment.  It was tough to get Tav to look at the camera (hence the weird face).  He was a little too distracted by his fun new vehicle.

Penn also got to join in on the brother fun, of course his scooter equaled a ride on Daddy's arms.

Yet another Koen trick.  I like to call this the number 4.

Enjoy the videos!

After the scooter practice, it was time for Tavin and Penn's naps.  Tav was pretty  bummed to put the scooter away for the day, but he was also exhausted and fell asleep super fast and had a great nap.  While he was napping and right before Penn's nap, Koen had a little time with Penn.  Here he is making him laugh.  The video doesn't capture the hilarity that was going on before I got the camera out.  Koen can really get Penn laughing.  It's so special!

Anyways, after this I put Penn to bed and he had an awesome nap too.  It's a good thing the little guys got their naps in because we took our little family out for dinner to celebrate Tav's birthday.  I wasn't super optimistic about going out as a family of 5 (I can't even remember if we've done this yet), but it went excellently.  I had prepared well and the boys (especially Koen, the biggest wild card) did so well.  Koen had his sketch book and was so intent on his projects in there. 

Tavin had his plethora of diggers and kept pretty busy moving the sugars and sweet'n'lows around the table...

...and Penn Rye was just amazing as usual despite the fact the dinnertime ran into his catnap.  It was a fun meal.  Actually kind of surreal.  Doug and I looking at each other and mentioning..."we have 3 kids, we are at a restaurant with 3 children that are ours!"  It's just so weird sometimes.  How did the time go so fast?  How are we so blessed to have these unique, special little guys to call our own?  Very humbling.  But back to the birthday boy...Tavin Dale, we love you so much.  You are such a blessing in our lives.  You add so much laughter, so much love and so much fun.  We love your hugs, your laugh, your extreme loyalty and love for your big brother and your interest in your little brother.  You are quite a little boy and we can't wait (and pray diligently about) to see what the Lord has in store for you.  Happy Birthday, Tavin Dale!