My sweet boy I owe you an apology.

I’m sorry it’s been three months since your birthday and I’m finally sitting down to write you a celebration letter.

I’m sorry you were bumped from being my sweet youngest baby to being a big brother, a new house, and tossed into kindergarten all in one year.

I’m sorry I failed at planning a proper birthday party for you, and I’m so thankful people showed up, and that you had a great time watching Spiderman and eating popcorn with your friends at our house.

I’m sorry the world likes to set preconceived notions about who you are, what things you should like, and how you should act. I’ve learned so much more about you this last year and I’ve fallen even more in love with you.

Actually, you have learned a lot of new things this year. Like how to tie your shoes. Speaking of which you LOVE shoes. Goodness. You’d get a new pair every week if you could. Surprisingly for a six year old you take very good care of them too. You are very particular and like to even like to clean the bottom of them (and check the inside for bugs, which good thing cause one time one crawled out).

Reading is coming along for you. We need to find some books to read together each night because you are finally enjoying storytime. You also have been great at sounding out words. I’m so excited to watch you grow.

You are beginning to learn the concept of saving money. But really you love to spend it. You have been working hard to save for some special toys though. I’m rooting you on.

For years I’ve said “I’m trying to figure you out.” Or said that you’re not very much like me, and like I didn’t quite “get you.” Not in a bad way, just in a way that you are your own little person that I’ve been trying to analyze and understand. This past year I feel like I’ve cracked your code. I’m beginning to understand you so much more, and at your core you are a sensitive, hilarious little boy who loves to play. You also tell me a lot more about what’s going on inside your head, and though you ask a lot of questions, you’ll answer some of mine too. One of my favorites was your answer to if you had three wishes. You said you would wish to be a train conductor, have a t-rex that won’t eat you, and a snake that won’t bite you.

That’s just one of the things I’m loving about you. But here are six more.

Here are six things I absolutely adore about you right now

You’re a Loving Big Brother

You jumped into your role of big brother so beautifully. Your little sister gets the loudest and most excited cheers from you when she hits a new milestone. Whenever she is getting into something she’s not suppose to or running towards the stairs, you’re usually the first one to run after her and make sure she’s ok. You’ve started to pick her up now and then, and you’ve gotten so much better with sharing your toys (you just don’t like when she puts them in her mouth).

You + Snoop = Match Made in Heaven

Snoop has been in our family since before you were born but this past bit you’ve been the one to take the biggest interest in him. You feed him every day, let him in and outside, and you give him what you like to call “his favorite food” aka dog treats. I’ll randomly find you outside trying to get him to race you for a treat. And getting him to give you high fives. (Race being the key word. You LOVE to run, and compete at the YMCA). When I told you he’d eat a grasshopper that snuck into our home at first you were worried about him, saying he wouldn’t like it, but then you laughed and screamed as he chased and ate it.

Your Jokes

First of all, you are one of the most joyful little people I know. You are still a big jokester and seriously I should have been able to peg this from when you were a toddler. All those times you’d run into the street laughing and near give me a heart attack. Or open the front door and run down the driveway… That was the little clown in you that’s been in your from the start. Thankfully you’ve grown out of growling at strangers as if you’re a dinosaur. Though you’re still a goofball you’ve moved on to less dangerous or obnoxious tricks like “made you look” jokes. And trying to hold in a laugh when you’re fibbing about something

Your Movie Reactions

This could possibly be at the top of my list. Super heroes are becoming a new favorite of yours but I’m trying to slow you down a bit, reminding you of how much we love Lightning McQueen and Buzz Lightyear. Whenever we watch a movie together… It could be any movie, but it’s usually a movie you’ve never seen before. You have the best reactions. If you think something is funny you laugh out loud for all of the theater to hear. When we watched Avengers for the first time you screamed and jumped around on the couch as Iron Man fought the bad guys. As you watched The Rescuers Down Under for the first time you screamed and jumped around when the bad guy was about to fall down the waterfall. It’s like you can’t control your emotions, but that’s one of your most beautiful qualities. It’s easy to know how you’re feeling, and you aren’t afraid to share them.

Your Questions

Every day you amaze me with new thoughts and curiosities. You still love to compare size, speed, age, and danger levels of things. And you still ask SO many questions. I should keep track of how many questions you ask me in a day. I think I’ll do that this week. I’d bet it’s around 200. I try to answer as many as I can but sometimes I give up and ask you what you think. That tends to work sometimes but other times you persist. Lately we’ve been able to get you to ask Alexa to answer questions we don’t know, or have no way of knowing. For instance how fast an airplane is, and the second fastest person in the world. You’ve also been known to ask the temperature of lava and who is stronger… Bumble Bee or Octopus Crime.You always ask me if I’m your favorite and I always say yes. You are my favorite little boy in the entire world.

You care about everyone’s feelings

Before I mentioned how you’re a caring big brother, but you’re a loving little brother too. And a loving son, nephew, grandson and friend. You wear your heart on your sleeve and you care about everyone’s feelings. Whenever anyone is feeling bad you ask why and try to help. When your big sister gets in trouble you stand up for her and try to cheer her up (even when she doesn’t do the same for you). Your smile is the most infectious smile in the world. Everyone who meets you and gets to spend some time with you adores you. Your teacher this year was the best we could have asked for. Somehow she understood your little heart and won it over. You were the perfect student. You are still my sweet, cuddly little boy. You aren’t a huge fan of kisses but you’ll allow them from me.

I feel so incredibly lucky to be your mom, and I can’t wait to see the boy you grow to be.

Happy belated 6th birthday my sweet little boy. I love you infinity!

Love,

 

Mom

 

 

Six months ago my son was thrust out of being the baby and given the title of big brother. He wasn’t sure what he was getting into—to be honest, I wasn’t either. But he’s settled into his role beautifully. Cheering up his baby sister when she’s upset, sharing his toys, and teaching her new tricks.

Between his big sister doing cheer and other activities, and his little sister needing a lot of attention when she was first born, he hasn’t done many activities out of the home just for himself. But that changed recently.

If you ask him about his favorite things, running is likely to be at the top of the list. He will run down and back on the driveway, around inside the house, and race his own shadow (I’m not joking).

I decided to sign him up for a recreational track class at the YMCA and he is loving every second. His smile is infectious and we all love cheering him on. His little sister watches him with adoration. I imagine she’s wishing she could run alongside him.

When my first two were babies, for the most part, I was able to work around their schedule. But the thing about having older kids with a baby, is that a lot of the time our littlest one just has to go with the flow. So I just toss some snacks and the baby carrier in the car, and bring her along for the ride.

Now that Lee Lee can sit up it’s getting easier to prop her up on a blanket with a couple of snacks. She loves her newfound independence.

When she gets hungry it’s usually easy to nurse on the go, but now that she’s enjoying solids I’m packing easy things she can eat too. I love Brandless Baby Food because it’s a simple organic meal on the go in a no fuss pouch. No GMOs, and a wonderful mix of fruits and veggies. I haven’t found a flavor Lee Lee doesn’t like yet, but so far her favorites seem to be Organic Pear, Spinach, Kale and Pea, as well as the Organic Pear and Prune (I guess she really likes pear). Sometimes I’ll stick a whole apple or pear in my bag to share with her, but this way I know she’s going to be satisfied if she seems extra hungry, and I’m not worried about missing her biting off a chunk that’s too big.

It’s not always easy to keep an eye on my budding track star as well as a talkative big sister, and a baby probably just days away from crawling. So having things that are easy to give her make a world of difference.

We can high five him on one hand, and keep a snack in the other.

One of her favorite distractions are Baby Teething Wafers. She just got a couple of bottom teeth in and she absolutely loves chewing these up. I always make sure to toss a couple packages in my diaper bag so I have them for her to gnaw on if she gets fussy. Like the Baby Food, these are also organic and gluten free, as well as made without artificial colors or flavors.

There are two things I find appealing about ordering from Brandless: 1. Most of the prices are between $3 and $9. Makes it easy to add up my shopping cart total. And 2. There’s a subscription option. So I can schedule automatic deliveries when I know I’ll be running low on baby (or other household) items I’ll need and get deliveries as often as every two weeks. I don’t know if it’s just me or if most of society is beginning to trend this way, but I rarely go inside grocery stores anymore. Between grocery pickup and delivery I can usually avoid my chaos that is shopping with three kids.

My boy is only 5 years old. He’s still learning to read, and he sometimes acts like a dinosaur. But to his little sister, he’s a jokester, a playmate, and her little hero.

I know she’s not going to remember these days… Propping her up on a blanket while her big brother runs down the track. But he will. He always looks over as he’s crossing the finish line to see if we were watching. He always has a bright smile on his face when he declares if he won, lost or came close. Lee Lee gets excited watching all of the back and forth action. And I hope this is the start of something special. Being sister and brother means being there for each other. And I hope these three are always there for each other. Always each others’ heroes.

My sweet little boy, where do I begin?

This last year with you has been full of surprises. That’s because you surprise me daily. The things that come out of your mouth, and the ways you try to shock me.

The most common word I use to describe you is “weird” I know I shouldn’t do that. It’s probably not great for your complex, but I often don’t know how else to put words to the way you are.

“My wildcard” is another term I sometimes use. Because you’re so unpredictable. For others–Your teachers, babysitters, and friends–you’re an angel. They haven’t a clue about the side I see. But I guess I should be glad you save your silly side for us.

I think part of the reason I find you a little odd is because you’re nothing like me. Which if course is totally ok. But you’re also nothing like anyone. You’re so hard for me to describe, define, and predict. But I’m going to try.

One thing I do know is you’re not shy. That’s evident every time we go to the store together. It’s gotten to the point where we order our groceries online and pick them up, or take turns going to the store without you because every trip with you is like a comedy show. You say hello to anyone and everyone. You strike conversations with complete strangers about the weather, your shirt, their hair, my shoes, or bodily fluids. Or sometimes you’ll just chase people. Yes, actually chase them down the aisles, telling them to come back. Occasionally you’ll do this while roaring like a dinosaur.

I underestimate you all the time. Maybe it’s because you’re my youngest. I forget you can say and do things on your own.

You build train tracks with ease now and they’re almost never sitting on the floor. You take unit blocks and build your tracks as high as you can. We know better than to try to help, or ever take down one of your creations. While you’re extremely independent when it comes to construction, you can’t stand being alone.

We’ve given up on trying to put you to sleep in your room. You’d come into ours in the middle of the night anyway. Instead now you’ve set up camp on a little mat at the foot of our bed. Your sister is often alongside you.

You love jokes. You may not understand the process of a knock knock joke but you try anyway. And you never seem to tire of the “high five!” “too slow” trick. Laughing hysterically every time I miss.

You don’t like to color, draw, or anything like that unless it involves Lightning McQueen. But you love playing with cars, dinosaurs, and riding your bike. Last year we started hiking together. In the beginning you didn’t like it, but you’ve really come around. You look forward to exploring places with water you can play in.

I can see you trying to figure out the world, and understand how things work. You ask more and more questions every day, and you have the best memory. You always remember where you put things, and places we’ve been.

My favorite quality about you however, has got to be your kindness and sensitivity. You’ll act all big and tough most of the time but the second your sister is actually hurt, or crying, you’re the first to run by her side to help. You cried more when she got her shots than when you got your own.

As a toddler you’d play by yourself for a little while, then come over to my nap to snuggle for a bit. You still do that, and I love it.

“I missed you Mommy!” You still say that to me days after coming back from a trip, or when I get back from the store.

You’re everything I never knew I’d wanted, yet exactly what I need. My sweet little boy.

I love you so much and I can’t wait to see what this new year of life holds for us.

Love,

Mommy

 

PS: When your party VIP list only included members of our family, we decided to skip a party and just have fun with you. Here is how we celebrated your birthday this year.

PPS: It’s so hard narrowing down a few favorite photos of you from the last year so I’m going to share a bunch. I especially love the one of us together on the escalator. I believe we rode it up and down 692 times that day.

 

What was your favorite movie when you were 3? Can you remember your favorite toy or song from then? For the last several years I’ve thought it would be fun to ask my daughter a set of questions every birthday, and see how her answers compare. I’ve been so upset at myself for not doing it on her third birthday, and the fact that I’ve continued to forget each birthday since.

But there’s no use in fretting about the past when I can do something about the present. I’m going to do a Q&A with my 5-year-old Lil’ J soon, but for now, here’s one with my little guy.

I mentioned before how I have a hard time trying not to compare my kids. This is one of those situations. I know at 3 my daughter would have had a hayday with this. My son wasn’t as amused, but to be honest, he did a lot better than I thought. I didn’t think he’d be able to answer all of my questions, but I tried anyway, and some he answered in hilarious ways I never imagined. See what I mean:

So here’s a few different lists of birthday questions for kids each year. The first 10 are easier for younger kids, and the next list is a little more inquisitive and deep. I’ll pull from more of those for my daughter.

Birthday Questions For Younger Kids

1. What’s one of your talents? (Or ask them to do something you know they can do like count as high as they can)
2. What’s your favorite animal?
3. What do you like to eat?
4. What do you love to do?
5. What do you want to do? (When you grow up?)
6. What’s your favorite toy? (thing)
7. What’s your favorite song?
8. What’s your favorite movie?
9. What’s your favorite book?
10. What’s your favorite TV show?

Birthday Questions For Older Kids

1. Describe yourself.
2. What are you thankful for?
3. What makes you happy?
4.. What makes you sad or angry?
5. What do you want to be when you grow up?
6. What’s important to you?
7. What do you love most about yourself?
8. What do you love most about your mom?
9. What do you love most about your dad?
10. If you could go anywhere, where would you want to go?
11. Who do you admire? Why?
12. What do you want to learn more about?
13. What’s something you’d like to do to help someone else?
14. What are you afraid of?
15. If you could only keep one thing, what would you keep?
16. What’s your favorite memory?
17. What are you proud of yourself for?
18. What are you looking forward to?
19. What do you dream about?
20. What else do you want to say?

You can ask them and write their answers down, or record it like I did. Next year you’ll have fun comparing their answers from years before! I’m working on making this into some fun different printable forms and should have those ready within the next couple of weeks.

I’d love to know how your kids answered some of these! Get any funny answers?

My Dear Sweet Baby Boy,

Ok, well maybe it’s time I stop calling you baby. You’re 3 now.

Wow, has it already been a year since I last wrote? Let me fill you in on how much you’ve surprised me this past year.

Two was such a big year for you. You started preschool and made new friends. To be honest, you went in already knowing all of your letters and numbers. I wish I could say I had something to do with that, but the truth is, you fell in love with this train named Bob, and he teaches you all of that stuff on YouTube kids. You even schooled me the other day when your pointed out a hexagon. I thought I was correcting you when I called it an octagon but I was wrong. You are so incredibly clever. Sometimes a little too clever.

You don’t really like listening to directions all of the time. You like doing what you want, when you feel like it. It’s proven to be a challenge when we’re out and about and you just don’t want to sit still. Not that I can blame you. Because of this I try to bring you places I know you can run and play and have fun. That’s what you should be doing at this age! There will be plenty of time to sit and be boring when you’re older.

You and your sister are beginning to play together more and more. You’ve always been mostly kind to each other, but now you both play more and fight more. You love to mess up her creations, but together you like playing tag. Lately you’ve also started to enjoy coloring with your big sister. She’ll draw you your request–usually an airplane or a dinosaur– and you’ll color it.

Around Daddy you love to exercise in the garage, do pull-ups and dance. You guys also have fun going shopping together. Specifically to sports equipment stores and athletic wear stores. You’re on your third pair of Jordan’s and about your 5th Nike jumpsuit thanks to him.

You’re still very much a mama’s boy. At this very moment you’re curled up on me falling asleep. I don’t always allow this, but I make exceptions when you aren’t feeling too well or are really in need of some extra cuddles. Or if I’m in need of some extra cuddles. You are really so snuggly and sweet. I’m sure some day you won’t like to be known as cuddly and sweet, so I’m enjoying it while I can.

Over this last year you’ve really shown us what you’re interested in. You love trains of course, but you’re also really starting to enjoy other vehicles and dinosaurs. Especially dinosaurs. I’m sure in no time you’ll know the names of different dinosaurs like you know the different kinds of trains.

You also love vacations. Every day you tell us you want to go on a Disney Cruise, or go to Disney World. I love that you’re starting this fascination at a young age. Your favorite movie right now is The Good Dinosaur. It’s definitely the only movie you can watch from beginning to end, and you even love quoting some parts. It’s hilarious when you yell at people “Nash, get you of your sister’s bubble!” And they have no idea what you’re talking about.

I love watching you grow and discover the world, and seeing your personality develop. You seem very laid back. You don’t always get frustrated, but when you do, you get mad at yourself for getting upset. It makes me feel so bad. You also get angry at yourself for crying. It’s really cute and sad at the same time when you start yelling “Don’t cry! Stop crying!” I’ve started telling you it’s ok to cry, and I try to cheer you up.

My hope for you this next year, is that you continue to explore the things you love, and try new things. I hope you keep making more friends, and show the world how bright your light shines. I’m excited to see how much you learn, and hear more of what you’re thinking about.

Everyone we know mentions how sweet you are, and I hope you never lose that. I hope you grow up to be a polite, brilliant, handsome young man who is kind to others.

I’m so proud to be your mommy. I feel so lucky that you’re my son. Even though you give me a run for my money sometimes, and you have so much joy just bursting out of you all the time (which can be tiring), you are the perfect little boy for me, and for that I’m so thankful.

Know that I’m always here for you, and I love you more than you know! And you know what? No matter how big you get, you’ll always be my baby.

With love from the bottom of my heart,

Mommy

Some kids like trains, some kids love trains, and then there’s my son. Absolutely enthralled by trains.

Today my train-loving little boy turned 3. 3 adorable years old, and I’m so happy to say he’s mine.

I’m always doing surprises for his big sister and I thought it was about time I started to do some special ones for him.

Several months ago there was a streak of a couple of days where I left the house and came home with plastic bags full of more train tracks. Used, and from friends. Because of this, the next few times I came home with grocery bags, he came up to me and inspected them for tracks. I guess he just assumed that’s where I went when I left him home with daddy.

Mornings before school he’s frequently asking me to help him build his wooden tracks and sometimes when I do, I really get into it.

Other times we’re in a hurry and I’m rushing him to pack up his trains, get dressed, and get out the door.

Well this day was more like the latter. I was finishing his lunch, fighting with him to get his clothes on (as usual) and running out the door. I told him we could build trains tracks when we got home. It’s true, we were in a hurry and needed to go. But I didn’t plan to build them when we got home. No, I actually had a much better surprise in store. Watch and see…

Pretty cool right? I can’t take credit for the entire video. The wink was 100% Lil’ J’s idea who said “I thought the train was going to blink. You should make it blink!”

This little project was a two-way surprise for my son. For one, he was SO happy to come home and see the tracks he had been begging me to build all morning. And two, he LOVES watching this video of his trains coming to life. I think he may think they really are alive when we leave now. Though I have more fun surprises in store for his birthday, I think this one was a great start.

How did I do it? I think I’ve discovered the easiest way to make a stop-motion video.

I never thought I’d have the patience to make one, but I’m trying out Canon’s new EOS 80D DSLR — an upgrade from my beloved EOS 70D and it has several awesome improvements, including a time lapse setting on it so you can set your camera on a tripod, tell it how many pictures you want it to take and in what interval.

For this video I set the camera to take about 20 pictures in a row, each 7 seconds apart. Between each photo I’d move the trains and tracks a little. I got a good workout running in and out of the frame, and it sorta felt like I was running suicides, and after a while I had to up the time between photos to be around 14 seconds.

About 400 photos later, I had the story in pictures. I put each one on a movie timeline about 8 frames long and POOF! Magical trains, and a video I hope he’ll cherish forever.

I’m always using my camera to capture memories we were making together, but for this project it was fun to create something he loves, with his favorite toys.

A few other things I’m loving about this new EOS 80D camera and its new lens combo:

• You can record video and use Wi-Fi at the same time: It may sound a little excessive but it’s been a feature I’ve been waiting for! Now I can not only take pictures with my kids on my own using my Canon Camera Connect App over Wi-Fi, but now I can get in more video shots with my kids as well. Or start and stop recordings, and adjust my manual settings without needing to get up.
• Full HD-60p video and smooth autofocus: If you have a DSLR that does video you may have noticed how frustrating it is trying to manual focus the lens. With this camera you can touch the screen and tell it where to focus, and it’ll do the rest.
• The new EF-S 18–135mm f/3.5–5.6 IS USM’s: Not to get too technical but this lens now has a new Nano USM Autofocus system, which is what makes the lens deliver high speed Autofocus and also allows for quiet and smooth AF transitions, perfect for movie recording. In other words, it’s fast AND quiet so I can snap photos of my kids when they’re jumping around and not miss the shot, and you don’t hear it trying to search for the focus in video mode.

All of the features came together perfectly in making this little project for my little train-obsessed birthday boy. I’m actually not sure how I’ll top it next year, but hopefully I’ll come up with something just as magical.

From birthday parties to family vacations, to holidays and more, I’m teaming up with Canon every month to share how we capture our special milestones. I’ll also dish out tips to help you better capture your special moments with your family. Shout out to my favorite camera brand for sponsoring this series.

I sometimes feel like I’m reliving my childhood with Lil’ J. As I help her style her doll’s’ hair, or when she asks me to play dress up with her, I feel like I’m 7 all over again. Even as I see her enthusiasm for Disney movies grow, it brings me back to the joy I felt playing and watching movies with my sister all summer. It’s all fun, but has a twinge of deja vu. With my son, I’m experiencing a world I’ve never known. A reality that feels new and adventurous.

I never owned a train set. I don’t recall ever having any toy dinosaurs, or even knowing the difference between a steam engine, a freight train and a monorail. My son is proof that we are who we are no matter our parents influence. I may have some impact, but this kid who came from me and my husband (who also isn’t into Dinosaurs or trains) is finding his way and his love for world in ways I’ve never even tried. Not to mention his personality… That’s something new too.

Though we don’t share interests naturally, I’ve realized I love what my kids love. Or rather–I love seeing the look in their eyes when they’ve discovered something that ignites their passion.

I can trace my son’s love of dinosaurs back to the day I was trying to sneak and watch Jurassic World on TV. His sister was at school and he was distracted watching train videos on YouTube Kids. Or so I thought. Any time the suspenseful music picked up and or the sound of mauling filled the air he looked up, determined to see what was happening, even when I would try to fast forward or cover his eyes (yes, I realize I should have just given up and watched it later, I’m a bad mom, I get it). I’ve since found a few more age appropriate dinosaur videos he likes to watch.

After that he started to play with dinosaur toys at the babysitter’s house, and now even goes into nursery at church willingly because there are a couple of small dinosaur toys to play with. I knew I wanted to do something special involving this interest of his.

I love surprises. My husband is awesome because he knows this and surprises me with the littlest things like sparking cider on Bachelor Monday, or chocolate covered strawberries delivered on Valentine’s Day, or something I’m not expecting every Christmas. My love of surprises goes both ways though. I love surprising my husband but it’s really hard to do, so I default to surprising my kids. A lot!

I was telling a coworker about some of my spring break plans when he mentioned a dinosaur park in Texas with life-sized dinosaur statues. I knew this would be the perfect surprise for my dino-loving boy.

We planned our visit on a day my husband was off so he could also see the look on our son’s face when he realized where we were. I told Lil’ J and Aunt Kim to keep it a surprise as we drove out for a day trip to Cedar Creek.

“Don’t mention dinosaurs!” I told them.

As we turned into a parking lot Big T yelled from the back seat.

“I see a dinosaur!” He saw it before the rest of us. An unpainted statue behind a building. He couldn’t get out of his car seat fast enough. The moment we set foot in the entrance for admission, he went straight to the tiny dinosaur toys. He had no idea what he was in for.

We purchased our wristbands and stepped outside. To the right was our good friends waiting for us on the playground. To the left were two huge brontosaurus-looking statues. My daughter ran right, my son ran left.

“Mommy and daddy dinosaur!” He bound to them and looked up in awe and wonder. I held back tears as my son gleamed up at the statues. This is his thing.

We walked through the park and saw all sorts of dinosaur replicas.

My daughter enjoyed herself too, but my son was in HEAVEN.

Sadly I don’t remember many of these dinosaurs by name besides the T-Rex, Triceratops, and Stegosaurus. I’m sure that will all change in time if my son continues to be interested in them.

Then sooner or later, I’ll know more dinosaur names than Disney characters. Because that’s what true love is all about.

I’m trying to plan an awesome birthday party for my soon-to-be 3-year-old. Some of my friends tell me their almost-3-year-olds have given then all of the details of where they want their party to be, and what kind of theme. Lil’ J was like that before her third birthday. She wanted a Rapunzel-themed party at the bouncy place. Perfect!

My little guy isn’t quite as specific. For the longest time our conversation went like this:

Me: Do you want dinosaurs or choo choos?
Son: Choo Choos.
Me: Are you sure? Do you want choo choos or dinosaurs?
Son: Dinosaurs.
Me: Dinosaurs or choo choos?
Son: Ummm, choo choos.
Me: …

Finally one day I was successful and got him to say something OTHER than the last thing I said and it was dinosaurs that won! Probably a good thing because last year,we did a train party. Oh my goodness, I’m terrible because I STILL haven’t shared all of the pictures and video, but maybe I’ll make it a goal to do that before his next birthday.

I get really excited when it comes to planning birthday parties, especially when my kid currently has something they’re really into and we can come up with a fun party theme.

I know what you’re thinking the PBS Show Dinosaur Train would be the perfect theme! But no, my son is obsessed with actual freight trains and scary dinosaurs. Not cartoon Thomas or colorful talking dinosaurs.

If we were to do a Dinosaur train party it would have to look something like this:

He hasn’t seen Jurassic World (exactly) but he has seen the last 3 minutes of the two big dinosaurs duking it out at the end of the movie. He watches it on YouTube over and over. If I try to bring up any kind of happy, friendly singing/dancing dino on YouTube Kids, he wants nothing to do with it.

It’s almost the same with Thomas. He has no problem playing with Thomas trains, or watching videos of other people playing with Thomas trains. But he doesn’t like the show. It’s like he can’t understand why a train is talking and not driving around.

He’d much rather me queue up a 45 minutes of freight train home videos. He likes actual trains and actual dinosaurs.

So right now I’m thinking making just getting Jurassic World party decorations, maybe printing off a few pictures of trains, hosting it at one of his favorite places to play and call it a day. It’s really a miracle I’m even thinking about it this early. Normally I like to procrastinate.

Have you done a dino-themed party before? Any tips for making one with realistic dinosaurs without the potential terror?