Reminiscing as my son turns 3 years old.
He is three years old — roughly 40 inches tall and just over 37 pounds. At birth he measured 19 inches and weighed just under 6 pounds. Watching him grow this first three years has been a joy.
- Three favorite snacks: cheese, dried cranberries, yogurt
- Three favorite meals: mac and cheese; chicken nuggets; quesadillas
- Three favorite books: Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat; Curious George and the Puppies; Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?
- Three favorite TV shows: Thomas the Tank Engine; Sesame Street; Berenstain Bears
- Three favorite toys: Thomas the Tank Engine Take and Play sets; Melissa and Doug jigsaw puzzles; Matchbox cars
- Three accomplishments: Almost fully potty trained; can count to ten in Spanish; completes a 20-piece jigsaw puzzle on his own
We celebrated his birthday with a Sesame Street–themed gathering of family and friends.
For the cake, I used a spiced pumpkin layer for Elmo and a vanilla bean cake for Cookie Monster, both filled and frosted with silky buttercreams. To make the character faces I printed simple line drawings on cardstock, cut them out, and used them as templates. I rolled fondant in the necessary colors — red for Elmo, blue for Cookie Monster, white and black for eyes and mouths, and orange for Elmo’s nose — and traced around the cutouts with a paring knife. It was straightforward to assemble and my son loved it.
We also set up a Cookie Monster cookie buffet with five different kinds of cookies to please little hands and grown-up appetites:
- Snickerdoodles
- Chocolate chip cookies
- Cranberry–white chocolate oatmeal cookies
- Oreos
- Peanut butter cookies
In addition, I prepared “Oscar’s Trashcan” dirt pudding cups — chocolate pudding topped with chocolate graham cracker crumbs — which were a hit with both kids and adults.
He opened lots of fun gifts and kept talking about his party for days. It was a warm, happy celebration, and we’re grateful to our family and friends who joined us to mark this milestone.