Happy Birthday Patrick!

Our eldest boy turned three today! I can hardly believe how much time has flown. He is SO active that I struggle to keep up. But he's so lovable that it's very hard to be frustrated with him. He has large puppy dog eyes and a smile that lights up a room. He'll be the one in third grade that the teacher has a love/hate relationship with - gets good grades and is a hard worker, but is constantly messing around and either getting others in trouble or is in trouble himself.

Some things about Patrick:

• He loves Cars and Buzz/Woody. He'd watch those two movies everyday if I let him. There was a time that he had to carry his Buzz figurine everywhere with him. Then it got lost and is no more. Do you think we have a chance of finding it when we move??? (haha!)
• He has a slight fear of flies at the moment. One hit him in the head on a cold day while flying very slow and I'm sure it saw the obstruction that was Patrick in it's path but was unable to change directions soon enough.Mimi wanted to get him a fly swatter for his birthday to swat the things away, but I was too scared he'd spend more time swatting his sister or the dogs... We ended up with a lawn mower that blows bubbles. Much more friendly. :)
• He's begun to call people names. Fortunately his favorite is something like "You skulky" and I have no idea what it means or even what it's referring to.
  
• He weighs only two pounds less than Bekah and is only a half of a head shorter. I'm hoping he'll gain two inches by August when we go to Disneyland, but I suppose it's no great loss if he doesn't.
• Bekah loves to tease him and he loves to cry about it. I have wondered if he cries because he thinks he can get Bekah into trouble or if things really do hurt his feelings. It's probably a little of both.
• When we say prayers with him we have to be careful how to word things or we get scenarios like this: Me "Please help me make good choices..." Patrick "Please help Mommy make good choices..." I have to stifle a laugh every time. It takes some thinking to phrase it so that it comes out right on his end!
• He has begun potty training and is doing well. He's especially concerned about keeping Lightning McQueen dry and clean. Good thing we have him on our team or this could take a lot longer.
• This kid LOVES to be outside, but mostly just loves to move. I should rephrase that - I love having him outside because it means less things will be broken or bothered. Therefore, he enjoys his bike, taking walks, the trampoline, pushing Andrew in the stroller, raking leaves, shoveling snow, whatever!!

I wanted to make a Tow Mater cake for him, but finally decided that it was beyond my knowledge and current talent. So I opted for a racetrack. Much easier and he still loved it.

Just for the record, I never wear aprons. Don't ask why I decided to this particular time. But I thought that I'd better record it for posterity's sake. :) I'm thrilled that it turned out and worried because that means that I have to outdo it next year...
Eli's birthday is the week before Patrick's so we had a joint celebration and stuck both sets of candles on this cake.
Eli lays claim to the mess of candles to the left. We managed to catch Patrick's pre-blow. He's a pretty awesome kid!