He's THREE

How is he THREE??!! My sweet Elijah turned THREE on Saturday. The time has flown and although he has given me a little more time to savor him as a baby, because of his developmental delays, it has still gone lighting fast. It seems as if overnight he has become a Toddler. Although he is still not independently walking, he is sooooo close and he is soaring in so many areas. He wants his independence, he manages to communicate his needs and he has quite a sense of humor.  We threw a party for him at Gymboree Play and Music.  He LOVES music..and play, for that matter, so the theme I thought up? Music and Play. Of course! :)

Some of the party details: I started with the idea of a VIP backstage pass as an invitation...



Mailed it off... (But tried multi-tasking too many things at once and never got invitations out to two of the most important guests- my own nephew and one of Elijah's "besties"...)



I created a fun eating area with Electric guitar centerpieces that I made, and made use of existing Gymboree colors (while adding some other shades of blue) in our plates, utensils and linens- blues, purple, black and orange!





I purchased straw cups for all of the kiddos, because that is what Elijah uses and created a party favor inspired by my little man. We gave bags filled with a toy vibrating microphone and a CD of Elijah's favorite sing-a-long songs.





The rest was all about play and enjoyment. It was fun to see the kids having so much fun!


Playing with Daddy...


My adorable Nephew made it to the party, despite the unmailed invitation :(


Circle time...


Paying attention...


Big brother getting in on the play action!


Climbing!


He loves the parachute!!

It was the perfect end to an anxiety ridden week. At the age of three, kids who have a diagnosis of developmental delays transition from receiving services through an organization in California called "The Regional Center" to services that are provided through a child's school district. We are in the Los Angeles Unified School District. We've been getting such amazing services for Elijah that the transition is a bit like owning a fully loaded Mercedes and then being told: "Here is your brand new Pinto. Oh! And by the way, we're not entirely sure if it will run. And the air conditioning doesn't work. Plus you'll have to kick the door to get it open..."  BUT....at the end of the day, both a Mercedes and Pinto can get you from point A to point B, so as long as that happens, we're good. My general mantra has been, It's PRESCHOOL. How bad can they F it up?? Perhaps that's cynical, but I think at this point I'd rather be pleasantly surprised.

THREE. Wow.