Spencer turns 3

Another year has gone by and this kid is now 3!  Or, as he keeps telling me, "I'm still 3, Mommy."  Yes, for 365 days, Spence.  We celebrated this year with a joint party at the Owens' house for Josie's 2nd bday (we got rained/hailed out of the picnic at the park), which was a lot of fun.  Spencer's favorite parts of the birthday this year were having people sing to him and talking about the cupcakes for several days straight.  He also liked the presents, and ripped through them and then asked if there were more (as evidenced below).

As he gets even bigger every day, he is always full of energy and hilarious sayings.   A true negotiator like his father, he is never at a loss for a reason or excuse.  He is also very interested in explaining things to adults and sometimes other kids (although he is very targeted with other kids, making sure they aren't "babies who can't understand" him).  He seems pretty excited to be a big brother soon, although he has been saying recently that his little sister will be a boy, so we'll see how that goes.  Not to mention that he tells me often that babies cry and poop themselves, so I think he already realizes a new baby in the family isn't all fun and games. But he does kiss my belly and tell me that his kisses tickle his little sister and smiles, so that's pretty adorable.

A few of his sayings lately include:

• "Of course I can help you with that, Mom. Of course."
• "But big boys can do it by themselves, right, Mommy?" (lots of "right, Mommy, right?" added to statements these days, in addition to a million "why?")
• When you ask him what he did today:  "Oh, lots of fun things" without specifics
• And he called construction paper "construction worker paper" and construction cones "pine cones" for a bit
• Finally, he has picked up several British sayings because of Peppa Pig show, including "mending" things, going on "holiday," visiting the "seaside," and getting things from the "petrol station"

Not that everything he says is adorable of course.  He also likes to say things like:

• "You're being a naughty mommy. I want to watch another show."
• When another girl at daycare runs up to tell me that she ran fast, Spencer interjects with "No, no, no, no, no, Hope.  You're slow."
• When a new boy starts daycare and Spencer tells him, "You're too little. You should probably have your mom pick you up."  

Okay, onto the photo section.  Here are some birthday pictures and videos (you can see the sugar high progression here):

Excitement over getting a new guitar from Uncle Nick:


And ripping opening his Peppa Pig house:


And asking immediately for more gifts:



In addition to the birthday party, we have been exploring the city and doing the usual activities that keep 3 year olds entertained, including a trip to Lake Tahoe in early Feb with a ton of snow:

 And his first time on skis:

 Up the bunny slope tow rope with Dad:

Exploring with Finn:

Lots of hot chocolate was involved:

 
And he had a ball with his bestie Finn in the Tahoe rental house:


Beyond trips, he also likes the usual things, like plowing through spaghetti on the regular:

 Taking a hike once it finally stopped raining in Tennessee Valley in Marin:

 Collecting sticks galore:

Fun times at the SF Zoo:

 Driving the car:

 And here are the best family shots we could get early in the year at China Beach (yep, at least one of us looks very strange):

Finally, I will leave you with Dad and Spencer shredding it at the nearby skate park: