Harry Noodle at 3 years old

Our little sweetie is out of the "not so terrible" twos, and into the threes!  I don't know what they call the threes, but I'm sure we are in for another exciting, action-packed year with our boisterous son!  Yesterday we started the day with a bang by letting him open his presents first thing before Elliot got up.  This was actually a good idea since there was no fighting over the gifts!  He received a watch, a LeapFrog ClickStart computer, a toddler-sized driver golf club, and a fishing pole.  He really liked everything, but he is infatuated with the computer!  He played it the whole time we were in the shower getting ready for the day with out moving from his spot on the couch, and he has played it for over an hour this morning as well.  I'm sure the newness will wear off and it won't be that cool in a few days, but for now he thinks it's the stuff.  After that, we all went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel.  It was such a beautiful day that we headed to the backyard and played outside as soon as we got home.  Harry practiced "hitting" golf balls outside with his new club for a while.  We stayed outside until naptime, and after that, I had a big surprise in store for him.  Travis had a track meet last night, but I didn't want that to stop us from doing something fun.  So, I enlisted the help of Mom, Esther and Paul, Scottie and Julia to take him.....bowling!  I know, not too terribly exciting for most, but for Harry....it is by far his favorite thing to do!  Daddy was able to make it there during the 2nd game, so he didn't have to miss out on all the fun.  The only way to tear him away from the lanes was to offer to take him to the arcade, and when it was time to go home, the poor guy was heartbroken.  He didn't throw an outrageous fit, but he was so sad.  "I want to do it again!" was his statement over and over (and over) again.  When everyone was telling him bye, he would tell them he wanted to do it again.  If you asked him if he had fun, he would say he wanted to do it again in this poor little voice like he was in shock that it was all over.  He is so funny how he gets so attached to something (see above story about the computer, too) and he has such a singular focus on that one thing that he has no desire to do anything else.  I am glad he had fun, and I was really touched that our awesome friends spent their Friday night bowling with a 3 year old!

The ClickStart...his favorite present (see that he is also wearing his watch)

The Spiderman fishing pole

Harry getting ready to bowl

All in all, we had a great day and were feeling extra blessed that God gave us Harry.  Although parenting him at times can be frustrating, it is overwhelmingly a joy and an absolute privilege.  I don't want time to speed up, but he wows us every single day with what he says and does, I am so excited about our future together.  We love you, sweetie, and hope you had an awesome day!