Bryson's 3rd Birthday

My parents have a fun tradition of taking each grandchild to Build-A-Bear on their third birthday. In the past it has just been Grandma, but now that Grandpa is retired, he came too!

Chick-fil-A for lunch first

Then a carousel ride

(pure enjoyment on that little face)

Bryson picked out a dinosaur for his stuffed animal. He really likes dinosaurs right now, hence the dinosaur shirt that is too big on him.

Bryson named him Teddy

(I think Bryson came up with this name because this is the same day that Bryson's cousin Teddy broke his femur bone and was at the ER. My parents were on the phone or texting with my sister Lindsey throughout the day and Bryson must have overheard their conversations about Teddy.)

Bryson wavered back and forth between a train cake and a dinosaur cake. As we got closer to his birthday, it was just a dinosaur cake. If you asked him what toys etc. he wanted for his birthday, his only answer was a dinosaur cake. (No one can understand the word "dinosaur" when he says it!)

Matt is much better than I am at decorating cakes (I did this one), but it sure tasted great!

We get together once a month with my family for FHE, so we celebrated Bryson's birthday at the same time.

The day of Bryson's birthday (Nov. 2) he got Thor's hammer, which he loves. He's also wearing the dinosaur pajamas that Grandma and Grandpa got him. His other presents from us were a helmet and a scooter and a few lift-the-flap books.

I thought we'd keep the dinosaur theme going and I bought dinosaur oatmeal for his breakfast on his birthday. Unfortunately it wasn't a winner. :(

After breakfast, we went in for Bryson's 3-year-old well-check visit. He weighs 31 lbs. (46th percentile) and was almost 37" tall (36th percentile). Everything else checked out great. At his 2-year-old visit, the pediatrician was concerned about his speech (or lack thereof) and his soft spot being two finger-widths wide still. A few months after that visit, his speech took off. Now his speech is in the range of normal and his soft spot is one finger-widths wide.

Since his doctor appointment is right by Sam's Club, we stopped in for a few items and Bryson got a pizza slice for his birthday lunch.

(sporting a dinosaur sticker from the doctor's office)

Bryson has started some "terrible three" behaviors and can be quite the firecracker at times. He can be very stubborn about eating his dinner or vegetables, but generally eats well. Bryson is scared of me being angry at him. (I swear I don't get angry that often but I guess it really makes an impression when I do!) If he has to go to time-out for hitting or not eating his dinner or not listening to me, he will cry in time-out while saying, "Mommy's angry at me." Bryson refuses to say sorry to another kid after he does something wrong; we're working on it... In general, Bryson has a hard time with kids his age or younger than him. He can be very bossy and has difficulty sharing (pretty typical for a 3yo).

He is in love with his baby brother Austin and loves to sing to him and touch him. If Austin starts crying, Bryson will run up to him and say, "It's okay baby Austin. I'm here." He also says frequently, "Baby Austin likes me" and "He's so cute."

Bryson loves to pray. He wants to say every prayer (morning, dinner, family prayer). A few months ago, he would add in words like "poo poo" to make his older brothers laugh. We've finally broken his older brothers' response to this and now Bryson does it a lot less. :)

Bryson didn't have any set-backs with potty training when Austin was born, but he still wears a pull-up at night. Most days he wakes up dry.

Swinging, play dough, drawing, and riding a scooter or some of Bryson's favorite activities. He is a really funny and sweet boy, and we love him to pieces!