Three

As hard as it is to believe, Ben turned 3 on December 30. We celebrated by opening a few presents when he woke up.

Please excuse the mismatched pajamas. It happens sometimes and was an incredible lack of foresight on my part.

Despite the incredibly pathetic look on his face (not unlike a look he once gave me when he was only 3 months old), he did actually have a good time opening his presents.

The presents were followed by birthday pancakes. I believe Ben actually ate several bites of these pancakes, which was a record. Despite the fact that he wants to make pancakes every weekend, he rarely eats them - which has nothing at all to do with the quality of my pancakes, I am sure.

After the pancakes, we took a very exciting trip to the train station where we picked up my parents who had taken the train from High Point to Raleigh for their own big city adventure.

We had a very busy afternoon, with lunch at the Pit followed by stops at the history museum and the natural science museum. After that we all needed naps so we reconvened for dinner that evening and then went back to my parents' hotel room for a little bit.

Ben was quite taken with a rather old-fashioned piece of technology he found in their room.

We topped the evening off with birthday cupcakes. And as is often the case with Ben and cupcakes, he did not eat a single bite, despite the fact that he'd been talking about his birthday cupcakes all day long. Thanks to the various holiday parties and birthday celebrations at his school, Ben strongly feels that cupcakes should be present at any kind of gathering that might be construed as a "party," however loosely defined. Cupcakes are required for everyone's birthday, even Mortimer's. And yet, he never eats the cupcakes. Cupcakes, pancakes...there seems to be a theme.

But he did blow out his 3rd birthday candle, and that was the most important thing.

Happy 3rd Birthday Ben! You are such an adorable little guy and your Dad and I are so lucky to have you in our lives. You make me and your Dad so "berry berry" proud every day. You are already such a little caretaker and I can't wait to see how your personality and spirit continue to develop as we embark upon another exciting year together. As your friend Buzz would say, to infinity and beyond!