3 Years Already!!!?

 How is it that my little sweet baby Dane is 3 years old?  I've been savoring every single moment of my sweet boy but I feel like my baby is slipping through my fingers a little more every day.  So independent now and so big.  His little body is getting bigger and growing stronger and he's just the cutest thing I could seriously eat him.  I struggle every day with what I should do and what I want to do.  I want to hold him and give him every single thing he wants.  If he pitches a fit I want to console him and honestly I want to just hold him and not ever let him go.  Stop the forward moving time process and keep him this age forever.  I think I would give just about anything if I could do that. 

Buuut, I do my best to be a good parent and try to raise a good little human which means not giving into those urges but standing my ground and setting boundaries and consequences and all that.  Sigh. 

Disclaimer:  I said try.



So anyway, his 3rd birthday came around anyway despite my wishing it away.  A few weeks ago we went to the store and he wanted a Ring Pop.  I told him no, not knowing what I was really doing.  I was actually creating a mini obsession.  So naturally, a week or two later when I asked him what kind of birthday cake he wanted, he wanted a Ring Pop cake of course!  So on Friday we had some friends over and I made Ring Pop cupcakes.  They turned out pretty good and all the kids absolutely loved them.  I mean what kid wouldn't?  It's like a two-for-one dessert. 

 

I had never seen 9 children be so quiet.

 

 

Friends at Dane's party:

Ethan, Fisher, Dane, Nellie and Macey

Austin, Avah, Will and Kaley

 

 

My Birthday Boy in his tie dye shirt, of course.

 

Opa and Oma got Dane a cowboy set: hat, bandanna, holster belt and two cap guns.  They have been quite the hit!

  

I swear.  This is what happened on Sunday morning when my little cowboy learned that his birthday was over.

You might have noticed that Dane is wearing two other shirts besides tie dye in some of these pictures.  We are making some progress!  I started out one morning by picking out a ..gasp.. non tie dye shirt.  I tried to get it on him quickly before he realized what was going on but he's no fool.  I explained that we were just going to wear this one today and if he didn't cry (insert stare and head tilt while wrangling shirt over head) he could wear a tie dye shirt again tomorrow.  It worked!  So I sometimes use that tactic and sneak approach and the obsession seems to be lessening.