Happy Birthday Beanie!

photos - today's activities

The Activities

Today is Bean's real birthday. We've had a great day....thank heavens. The weather wasn't so great - it was overcast and rainy most of the day, so my original plan to spend time outside got squashed. But Bean came to the rescue. At breakfast this morning, I asked him what he would like to do after we went to the exercise place. He gave it some thought, tilted his head to one side and said "maybe.....we could go swimming?". What a great plan. Even better considering a swim pass is included when you put your kids in the gym's daycare! So off to the gym we went. Mama had a great boxing class and then we spent an hour in the pool. Schmoo is on spring break for the next two weeks, so no preschool for her. The highlight of swimming was putting Bean on a floating mat and pushing him around in the big pool. Schmoo and I took turns doing glides off the edge to push him along. He loved it when I dove under the mat and came out on the other side.

Next I asked him where he wanted to eat lunch. Chicken dips was the request - so off to A&W at the mall we went. We even squeezed in a trip to Wal-Mart to buy some new rubber boots for each of them and some sunglasses for Schmoo. Oh, and some new underpants (basic tighty whiteys) for Bean as we continue to have issues pooing in our underpants. We headed to Schmoo's gymnastics class next. It was the last class, so Bean and I got to sit downstairs to watch. At the end of class we even got to move around with her to take some pictures.

Home for a nice long Skype with Nana and Grandad and opening of their gift - the quarry mine tunnel for Thomas. You should see our elaborate train track set up now! We also had some birthday cake, just like I had promised. After a bit of a play, Bean went down for a nap with no fuss. He slept right until 5pm and Schmoo had a good quiet time in her room. When she got up, we snuggled up on the lazy boy and read books together. Well, I tried to read my own book and ended up mostly just reading her her books.

Papa came home to sit with the kids for their dinner. Bean requested spaghetti, but was distracted by the cookies that Papa had put into the oven. We had a final singing and cake eating moment (that's three times we had cake) and then opened the last set of presents. The Dinoco helicopter from Cars from Grandma Lady and a doctor's set and transformer from Mama and Papa. We're having a delayed bedtime tonight, especially considering Bean late nap. Papa has gone into town for a meeting and I'm going to spend the evening trying to keep my hands off the chocolate chip cookies that Papa insisted on baking.

Schmoo's Favourite Parts of the Day

Favourite - a long list tonight: swimming, doing glides, eating cake, eating a cookie, watching Babar, doing gymnastics, singing Happy Birthday

Not Favourite - none, it was a great day

Thoughts on the Day

I'm so glad that today has been a happy day. Schmoo has been happy to let Bean make the decisions for today, since it's his birthday. We had a great time at the pool. Bean's still not that into swimming around, so it can be difficult to have both kids there on my own. Especially since Schmoo is eager to move around now. Thank goodness for life jackets as she is confident to swim on her own and doesn't get too far out of reach.

We were thankful for all the birthday phone calls today - Nana & Grandad, Grandma Lady (who had a strange conversation with Schmoo about her name), Auntie E and Uncle C. There's a couple more birthday treats on the way from some friends, so that will be fun for Bean when they arrive.

It's amazing how quickly three years has passed. Both Papa and I made a comment this morning about where we were at 3 years ago today. Certainly in a different mind space about this little boy that has entered our lives. He still continues to amaze me with all the things he can do. It's so fun to see his own unique personality coming out and his standing up to his big sister on things now too.

The full slate of birthday photos will be sent by email for your viewing pleasure!