three

A little blow-up water slide action. This is the only photo
where he's wearing a swim suit, not his birthday suit.
What can we say? The kid likes to be naked!

Tagg turned 3 years old on July 26th. I can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday that an angel placed him in my arms and gave us the greatest, most unbelievable gift you could ever imagine. And now that little bundled-up bald burrito-baby walks, talks, counts, spells, orders us around, goes potty by himself, reads books, has a fake laugh, an occasional mohawk, and knows that little tiny cars and balls are choking hazards for his baby sister.

In short, three years after that amazing day when we welcomed this perfect baby into our family, he's impossibly even more perfect. The dimple in his cheek, those killer slate blue multi-faceted jewel-like eyes, his blond hair with all of its cowlicks, his sweet loving nature, and his fascinating interesting entertaining self. Perfectly perfect.

With a couple of exceptions, the ONLY non-Cars related gift he got.
Apparently, I need to buy stock in Disney Pixar while he's under 10.

Tagg is definitely three...he's a pretty good negotiator. Me: let's read a book before bed. Him: how about three books? He's getting picky about food. PB and J, waffles, french fries, orange juice, and any candy or chocolate are high on the hit list. Whatever happened to the watermelon craze?!

Cars = Catatonic.

Tagg is fascinated with iPhones and the games he plays on them, especially Angry Birds (finally learned how to shoot the birds the right direction...he used to just aim them at the ground to hear them squawk), Balloonimals, and the spelling and matching games.

Tagg likes to repeat back our parenting techniques. Him: Daddy. You stop mowing the lawn. Put away the lawn mower. Right now. One...Two... Really. Or my other favorite...Daddy, I need to wipe your bum. Oh dear.

The new bike was not nearly as cool as the new Cars scooter that Grama and
Bompa gave him. I think he'll dig it around Christmas.
You know, when it's all snowy and stuff. Should be perfect.

One of his other favorite gifts was a recordable Good Night Moon book from Nana and Papa. I don't know why but that one brought tears to my eyes the first time I heard it played and every time since. He reads/listens to that and I Love You All the Time which is the book that Juno recorded for him a couple of years ago. I wish I had my grandparents voices reading me my favorite books, somewhere other than in my head. And I can't imagine how Tagg will feel when he's older and he can hear Juno, with her soft Southern accent, read a book to him about how much she loves him.

Getting ready for cake with muscle arms. Bear in mind, the cake already
hit the floor a couple of hours before party time when he saw it
and pulled it off the counter for a "snack" and then he
grabbed a good handful of frosting before the actual singing.
It really is all about the cake. 

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY, WONDERFUL BOY! WE LOVE YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING!

Tagg insisted that we have daddy's fireworks after the party at about 11.
Ouch. So we sat in the back of the truck and watched the show. Thank goodness
our neighbors spent about a ga-jillion dollars on fireworks. But Daddy's were still the favorite!

* You will note that I mentioned very little about his fascination with Cars. You should get that from the birthday photos. Is there ANYTHING that Disney Pixar doesn't make with a Cars theme?