A Thomas the Train Birthday

Brent turned 3 on Thursday, September 1. Why is it that every year goes by faster than the one before?? My little Brent has changed so much from 2 to 3 years old. I don't even see a "toddler" anymore. When I look at him I see a "kid". Crazy!
Brent is really into Thomas the train right now. He will sit down and play with trains for hours. It's insane! He also loves cars, trucks, and sports. Pretty much, he's a boy. He loves for us to read to him and is getting interested in puzzles. We spent this last year learning his ABC's and he knows just about every letter and the sound each makes. He is very smart and absorbs things like a sponge. Brent also loves to sing and dance. We will put on some tunes in the morning after Daddy goes to work (Jason Miraz, Maroon 5, Jack Johnson-to name a few) and dance in the living room. I love it when we are out shopping and a song comes on in the store with a good beat. Brent will stop what he's doing and break it down in the middle of the store. He'll say "look at me Mom". And then ofcourse I have to make a fool of myself and join in. Brent is now halfway potty trained. He is good with the #1 but not so much with the #2. Potty training Brent has been much more difficult that I had anticipated but we are getting there. Brent doesn't care so much for arts and crafty things. I have tried coloring, painting, playdough, different crafty things. It just isn't his thing yet.
Brent has been showing a lot of interest in Owen the last couple of months. He gets sad when I have to put Owen down for his morning nap and begs for me to keep him up. Whenever we are about to go somewhere he always makes sure that Owen is going too. He has gotten A LOT better at sharing. We have been encouraging (making) Brent share his toys with Owen pretty much since Owen was born. Even when Owen couldn't hold things. We wanted to start this as early as possible. It still isn't easy, but I see it paying off.
I already love that Brent is my first child because I see such great leadership qualities in him. I feel that he will be a good example for Owen and any other siblings to come. He is so passionate about life and so eager to learn. Brent is very organized and prefers for things to be in a certain order. He is very observant and doesn't miss a thing! This can be a good thing and a bad thing.
Brent asked to have a Thomas the Train birthday party this year (big surprise). We held his party on his actual birthday in the morning so all his little friends and their mommies could come. It was so much fun and I have to say I had a lot of fun planning it! Pretty much all the decor and games were handmade. We had a "bean bag toss" game, "pin the thomas", "hot thomas", and a pinata. There was lots of food, candy and prizes for the little ones and the mommies. Brent has such good friends and I am fortunate enough to be such good friends with their mommies.

We also held a little family party for Brent the Saturday before his Birthday. It was a hurricane/birthday party. All of Brandon's family was in town to get away from the hurricane so we decided to go ahead and have a party for Brent. We didn't have any power and it was raining cats and dogs outside with 40 mph winds. A one-of-a-kind birthday party. We cooked hotdogs and hamburgers in a frying pan on our gas stove and I bought a cake from Wal-Mart and stuck a Thomas Train on top. It worked! We also let Brent run outside and play in our flooded back yard. He had a blast!

I am pinning the album to the right.  The first few pics are of the hurricane/family birthday party and the rest are of his Thomas Friend Birthday Party.