Lucas Turns Three!

Well, now that it's April, I finally made it out of 2012 in the world of blogging!  Yay!!!

Fast forward to January 17.  It's a big day around here!  Little Lucas turns 3 years old!  My, where has the time gone?  Not only is he growing up so quickly, but the fact that he wants to be just like his big brother seems to make him grow up all the faster!  Here's what we did to make the day fun for his actual birthday...

sleepyhead wakes up--

he still loves sleeping with his "bunny"

and this is his face when i remind him it's his birthday, and he's now 3 years old!

big brother has to get in on the picture action

(and notice "stray jim" is also making his appearance--he loves that little cat)

somehow we started a birthday doughnut tradition...

he is so proud to be 3

i think he kinda likes the doughnut too!  ;)

chocolate with sprinkles...yum!

and his favorite fruit is still bananas!

After we dropped Anthony off at school, Lucas got to play with some of the wooden bead mazes there before we left.  We ran a couple of quick errands, and then...

...we met daddy at chick-fil-a for lunch!

next, we ventured to the pet store to check out all the animals...

these fish were so pretty

lucas really loves cats these days

we got to watch a dog being groomed

and we spied a turtle

we were having so much fun we decided to skip naptime!

(tigger wanted to be in our picture too!)

my sweet, sweet boy--

don't grow up too fast!

later in the day we let lucas pick where we would go out to eat to celebrate...

he calls chili's the "chicco pepper place"

(he actually calls a couple of restaurants this...he told us later, "that wasn't the one i was talking about!"  oops!  we still had fun!)

me and my big boy--no babies around here anymore!

handsome daddy and anthony

and guess who drove in just in time to meet us for dinner?!?

aunt mandy, james, reese, meme, and papa!  yay!

lucas gets some snuggle time with papa while we wait for our food

after dinner, we ordered the molten lava cake dessert--

he got a kick out of the servers singing to him!

oh yeah!  bring it on!

and everyone is eager to help him out!

woah--chocolate mouth!

that must have been good!!!

back at home, he poses in front of some of his gifts.

we let him open most of his family gifts this night

wow!  hop on pop is an instant favorite!  

thanks, nonna and nonno!

oooh!  a spiderman book from meme and papa!

"lambie" (also from nonno and nonna) turned out to be his favorite gift!  he immediately snuggled him and gave him big hugs.  then he didn't want to let go of him the rest of the night!  he still sleeps with him now months later!  another winner was this blanket aunt michelle and uncle josh made for him!  so cool!

Lucas, you are such a special boy!  It's so fun to see you grow and learn.  You have a bubbly laugh that is contagious--it makes others around you smile just hearing it.  You are compassionate, often thinking of the needs of others before they even voice them.  We love that about you.  You have a love of animals--both real and stuffed.  And you still adore your big brother Anthony.  When I ask you to choose something, your first response is often, "What's Anthony going to pick?"  :)  You are fearless, and it shows when you climb, jump off the fort, and do your "tricks".  I've never seen anyone fall down or get bumped as much as you, but it's because you're always trying new things and testing the limits.  Being active is so fun for you, but you do still love your books too.  You are so quick to catch on to things.  Lucas, you bring so much joy to our family.  We thank God for you every single day.  Happy 3rd Birthday, my little squoosy-wooshy cheeks!  :)

We love you!!!