Hayden & Hudson's Happenings: Happy 3rd Birthday Hayden!

Hayden & Hudson's Mom here to write about Hayden's 3rd birthday! Can't believe our baby boy is already 3 years old - where has the time gone?! On Tues., Nov. 13th, actual birthday, we woke Hayden by singing, "Happy Birthday" and then had a special "I am 3" truck shirt for him to wear. He was super excited for it! Here's our birthday boy:

Hayden has changed so much in the past year it's hard to capture everything however here are some major areas in which he's grown:

It's hard to believe the "terrible two's" are over as we think Hayden's missed them! Sure, we've had growing pains here and there however overall Hayden listens well, is very independent and is naturally curious. He loves to use his imagination to play trucks, tractors, farm or even "cook/bake". Supposedly the next few years are the "magic years" -- partly because it seems like magic that our child is finally listening to us and partly because for our child, it is a time for his imagination to run wild. We so look forward to all you learn and what you teach us.
Hayden's vocabulary has grown so much this past year. He understands so many words and it seems like he can speak 400 to 500 words. He answers questions, his name, where do you live (*wish you could hear how he says Bricelyn, Minnesooota!), how old he is/how old he will be/how old Hudson is, etc., what type a tractor is a blue tractor (*answer: Ford) to who is Jesus' Mommy, "Mary". He can speak in more complex sentences including 5 to 6 words and loves to tell us stories. Sometimes true and sometimes crazy stories out of no where.
He loves to read books, sing songs/dance and be creative with Play-Doh, crayons, paint, etc. As we've been preparing for birthdays and the approaching holiday season the other day he picked up a holiday book with a picture of baby Jesus and started to sing Him Happy Birthday too! I asked him when Jesus' birthday is and he replied, Christmas. Always amazes us what he picks up on, remembers, etc. For example he knows who drives tractor vs. truck vs. combine for Daddy's business; we drive a certain way & he can point out people's houses, places of business, etc.
He knows how to count to 20, his ABC's, most colors & shapes and of course, animals with their sounds. Not surprising he knows all tractor & farm equipment including applicators, rippers and others that I didn't even know!
Physically he's really strong, can hop on one foot, do somersaults, getting good at gymnastics like the trampoline, etc. We swear he never walks and always runs. So cute to see his legs go as fast as they can carry him and his arms pumping away to catch up!
Our favorite is he shows genuine affection by saying, "I love you" without prompting, giving us hugs/kisses and even to Hudson! He's such a big brother - likes to correct Hudson and help with Hudson's needs, worries about him, works at making him laugh and plays pretty good with him.

On Nov. 13th Hayden spent the day at daycare where he got to wear a special yellow birthday crown, he was pretty proud of it, and he got to take treats to daycare, he picked out Go-gurt sticks. After daycare had weekly gymnastics class in which handed out healthy juice boxes for a treat/snack. After dinner of course we sang again and got another cake! Here's our birthday boy blowing out his candle:

Note he picked out a "zebra" cake which you alternate white & chocolate cake to get a "zebra" effect on the frosting. Hayden was so proud of his zebra cake he got upset when we tried to give him a bite as he shook his hand at us, picked the bite off the fork & tried to "replace" it where it came from! He wasn't to keep it intact. He didn't mind licking off all the frosting though!

Of course a birthday isn't complete without a little something to open. Since we already had the party there were just a couple of cards to open and we gave him Otis the tractor book and a personalized Cars book complete with his name, where he lives & even names of his friends. He loved both! Note the yellow crown in this picture is the one from daycare; he tried to wear it into the shower...