The One-Hundredth Post, dedicated to...

Alexander Beetle!

I know I'm a couple of days late, but I feel I should publicly wish my darling son a very happy Third Birthday. It's so amazing to look at him and remember how he's gone from this:

... to this:
And it's all just swept by! It's that gradual change thing; you just don't notice till it's happened. I mean, our little bloke isn't a baby anymore. He's always 'my' baby, and I tell him this on a regular basis. He responds with a laugh and "Nah, Mummy - I'm a big boy!" But this year in particular, with the arrival of out Little One, he has really stepped up to the plate and shown just how far he's come in just three (very) short years.

My son:

• Feeds himself successfully (I don't care how old you are, this takes skill!)
• Sleeps happily through the night
• Holds his own on a trampoline with much bigger kids
• Engages in conversation with adults and other children
• Separates without anxiety and enjoy his days a Preschool
• Draws fantastic pictures of people
• Shows an extremely cool appreciation of a range of music. He can identify music from decades past by The Beatles (as a group and as solo artists), Billy Joel, Australian Crawl, and J. Geils Band, right up to music from current musicians, like Mika, Jamie Cullum and Feist. Pete and I are SO proud of this!
• Loves books and reading, and treats his books beautifully
• Loves his new little sister, and treats her with much affection and care
  
• Can identify all four Beatles from pictures, even from all their different eras
• Tells Pete and I on a regular basis that we are 'handsome' and 'beautiful' respectively

He's a happy, loving, reasonably well-adjusted little boy who consistently brings much joy to his whole family. We love you, Xander-Man!

While I'm on the subject of WonderBoy's Birthday, I have to show the fantastic cake that my brother-in-law decorated for the occasion - Ed is amazingly talented at creating gorgeously decorated cakes for his kids, and is now being enlisted to do the cousins' cakes, too! How does he do it? Who knows, but here it is, in all its glory:

The Yellow Submarine!