Papier-Mâché Birthday

Tomorrow is Sterling's 3rd birthday. We had his party on Saturday with some friends and family to celebrate. I made him a piñata.

A couple weeks ago, we were having dinner at the park and a Mexican family was having a birthday party with a really cool piñata. Larry did recon and we got a basic idea of how to make it. So I got ambitious. I blew up a huge punch-balloon, made a vertical and horizontal frame out of cereal boxes to give it strength, added some cereal box cones and some tinsel. Then I found a basic recipe online for Papier-Mâché and mâchéd my heart out! It was alot of work and time-consuming (about three days), but also very theraputic...

The first night I mâchéd, I left it in the kitchen overnight to dry and in the morning I came downstairs to find the balloon deflated and my mâché shriveled. I thought about spitting nails at that point, but then I had the happy thought of removing the old balloon and inflating a new one inside- which worked wonderfully. Anyway, it turned out great! Although, I did see a "Fast Car" one at Target for $9.99 and decided maybe I'll just do that next time (even though mine was cuter). I think the boys really liked taking out their aggression on it (and, inadvertently, Doug's fingers)!

Sterling got some soccer stuff for his upcoming pee-wee soccer classes and a bike & helmet.

He's been holding up three fingers to anyone who comes over to tell them he's three now.

Funny Sterling

Sterling does some really funny things lately that I don't really know how to incorporate into a blog except to list them. Here are the top five:

5. Our phone charger cords have become an item of fascination. He likes to plug them into the wheels of his monster trucks and, "Look a' this one! Sterling get gas, Momma!" He begs me to go to Costco to get gas, and when he's in a parking lot, he will invariably open someone else's gas tank lid. Apparently, we've expanded our obsession with cars from "dual exhaust" to gas tanks...

4. He says "sorry" to everything. If he hurts you, he says sorry. If he kicks the ball the wrong direction, he says sorry. If I swat his behind for being naughty he says (albeit sadder), "Sorry, Momma." No, don't be misled- he is not repentant for what he has done. By this, he is saying, "Say sorry, Momma." And usually I do, except when he's been extra-special naughty.

3. Michelle burned some Raffi CD's for us that we play in the car sometimes at Sterling's request to "listen Raffi Song?". A couple weeks ago, he began singing along. I wasn't sure what I was hearing at first because it was mostly mumbled and very quiet, until the parts he knew well which he would sing out loud (and on tune!). Absolutely adorable to hear him sing Frère Jacques.

2. Sometimes I'll find him in our bathroom with one of our contacts cases that he's filled up with eye solution and he is putting his finger in the liquid and then in his eye (somberly and repeatedly). When he sees me watching he says, "Sterling put 'a contacts, Momma."

1. He says, "Whoa... EA-sy Momma," when I go around a corner too fast in the car. This he learned from his father.

Preschool

Yesterday was Sterling's 1st day of Preschool. It was "orientation" day and the Moms and siblings stayed. We reviewed the number, letter, shape, & color of the day and sang our ABC's. Then we split up into different stations and created a "beginning book" that had Sterling's photo, weight, height, age, favorite color (he says pink), and favorite shape (moon). We do this at the end of the year also to see how much he's grown. Then we made fruit pizzas, read a book and passed out the preschool "pet," Hedgie the Hedgehog, to Anna who will be the caretaker this week.
Sterling was all over the place! He's is one of the youngest and a boy- so he had a hard time sitting still. Hopefully, this improves with time. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of him with my own camera, so I don't have one to post of him in his new jeans, polo, "fast car" backpack, and gelled-up hair. I'll post it when I get it from Miss Andrea.