Harvey turned 3 a few weeks ago and because I can and because I wanted to, we threw him a birthday party. Since he’s totally into Legos, it was the perfect choice for a theme and I’m a sucker for a theme. The activities weren’t a big deal since we just brought out the Legos and let everyone play.

The most complicated part was the favors I sent home with each guest. I made little Lego shaped coloring crayons. This process isn’t for the faint of heart my friends. I separated crayons I bought from the dollar store into a handful of color groups, peeled the paper off of them, melted them down, and poured them into silicone molds to dry. Tearing the paper off of each crayon and popping them out of the molds in one piece was the hard part. I even used a mini blow torch to reattach the small nubs to the blocks. I do not recommend doing this. I’m a crazy person.

My mom made Lego shaped candy with a similar process and I knew that someone would inevitably mix them up. It happened. It’s not my fault. It wasn’t a kid.

We had marshmallows on a stick dipped in yellow candy to make Lego man heads and block sandwiches. We had a cake I made myself and a photo prop that Sean made himself. We like parties, but I’m happy it’s over.

I’ve not really been all that good at documenting my thoughts and observations on this kid as of lately, but that’s not for a lack of either thoughts or observations. So here’s to  trying to do a better job at things that are important to me.

We’re fast approaching his 3rd birthday and every day there is something new in him that wasn’t there before. His negotiating skills have been on the rise. No matter if he’s trying to eat less bites of dinner or if he’s trying buy more minutes until bedtime, he’s always negotiating back and forth, which has been highly entertaining and yet infuriating.

Hulk is is favorite. Not that long ago, he insisted on wearing his Hulk mask to the grocery store and shouting “Hulk smash” at anyone who walked by. He’s always up for a battle and is happy to assign you to be Ironman or a T-Rex, but Harvey… he’s always Hulk.

When he prays at the dinner table, he always says thank you for the characters of his favorite show Dinotrux. He goes through all of them each time and has to be reminded to be thankful for his meal and other non-essential things in his mind.

He’s quick to say sorry and happy to kiss your toe when you stub it on the couch.

He’s getting really good at Lego building. Also, stepping on them is really as bad as everyone says it is.

He loves to pull up a chair to the kitchen counter and help with whatever I’m doing even if it’s just transferring something from the cutting board to the bowl.

He loves apple juice and has now experienced the joy of candy. He asks for it most mornings upon waking up.

He likes to read books and loves to watch movies. The slide is still his favorite, but he’s warming up to the swing.

He’s his Daddy’s biggest fan.

Couldn’t love him any more.

I can with all honesty say that photography is one of my favorite hobbies. I really feel the need to try new things and stretch myself in my photos, but I also feel the freedom in it being a hobby. While I take a few freelance projects on from time to time, for the most part, I use photography to document my own life and creative journey. I finally feel like I can explore and make mistakes without the stress of letting someone down if my images didn’t meet their expectations. It’s just fun and I love it.

Last Christmas we got Harvey a play camera from Willow and Bass and while he’s played with it a few times, it hasn’t really been his favorite toy. The other day I was playing around with some new lenses and taking some test shots. He was immediately interested in what I was doing. He quickly ran into his room, dug out his own camera from the toy box and proceeded to take my picture while saying “cheese” while pushing the top button over and over. I was able to capture a few shots of him playing with me. I love how these came out and I’m so happy to share them.

I’m absolutely on board for him discovering his own interests and passions, but there is a deep part of me that loves the thought of us going on photography trips together, pushing the other towards better images through friendly competition, and all around enjoying something in common. As he gets older, I’ll continue to foster his interest in photography until he just doesn’t want to do it any more. I hope that day never comes because seeing this baby with a camera around his neck gives me all the feels.

It gets hot in Phoenix in the summer. Duh.

We’re right at the beginning stages of heat. The I haven’t yet burned myself on my seatbelt, but I’m starting to use the sun shade kind of phase. We’re getting ready for the wave of triple digits and like many prepare for the long winter in the midwest, we have our own preparations to make. We stock up on sunscreen, bust out the beach towels, have the ac unit serviced, make sure the water cooler in filled up, and buy this year’s kiddie pool. Of course, many people have their own real pools and we have access at both of our parents’ houses, but in our own backyard, we have the blow up shark. I think I love this more than having a real pool on most days. There’s no deep end, Harvey can get in and out on his own, there’s no chemicals to buy, it inadvertently waters our grass, it doesn’t take up our whole yard and did I mention there’s no deep end? The possibilities of him getting hurt are far less and he just loves the freedom to splash around and climb in and out on his own.

Our BBQ was cooking up some dinner and we found the perfect shady spot in the backyard to set up. I sat close enough to get splashed a few times while Harvey joyfully reminded me to soak in the sun and the memories.

Everyday this baby boy is less of a baby and showing me more of his big kid self. It excites me and kills me all the same.

This age and phase is such a bizarre mix of sweet moments and new revelations balanced out with temper tantrums and melt downs over the color cup I gave him. Some days he’s full of kisses and snuggles and other days he’d rather growl. Some days he sits and eats dinner at the dining room table and happily brings me his plate when he’s finished. Other days, he refuses to eat anything and throws it on the floor. He’s moody. He’s two.

He’s discovering his voice and most of the time it’s loud, but once in a while it’s soft and sweet.

One time while he was taking a bath, I took one of the bath toy foam letters, put it on my head, and dramatically sneezed it off. He giggled in that way that makes my heart melt. I did it again and again. Now, he does it every single bath. He stacks the foam letters on his head and then… ahh choo. He shakes his head and sometimes the letters don’t move at all. He puts them on my head too and soaks my face in the meantime. It’s hilarious.

We have a little bedtime routine and after bath time comes story time. He likes to read. I love that. I dream about all the books we’ll read together. I fanaticize about reading chapter books to him out loud as we both lie together before bed. For now, he has his favorites, so I’m excited for the time when he doesn’t want to read the same ones over and over again.

I love that we’re here crafting this tiny human and he’s a part of our family, a part of what we do, a part of who we are. He adds immeasurably to our dynamic and has more than claimed his own space here. He belongs.