Z Turns 3!

This is my Zander...



This pic sums up his personality in a number of ways. First you may notice the oversized, shiny black church shoes he is wearing. Those are Ashton's and they are about 4 sizes too big for him. He insists on wearing these around the house, outside, you name it. With no socks.
He is also wearing his favorite Rolling Stones T shirt. He wants to wear this shirt every day. Each morning when he wakes up he scours the house for it (I try to hide it so I can wash it). He also only wants to wear dirty jeans that he gets out of the laundry basket, where he can reach them. It is forbidden for me to try and get things for him. Everything from opening and shutting doors to putting the cap back on the juice MUST be completed by him. Even if it means my standing there impatiently while he struggles with it.
Today Zander turns 3 years old. And he has definitely filled these last three years with mischief and mayhem. David and I often wonder how we survive sometimes, our families do too because usually after a few hours with him, they are ready to check out. Besides David's mom who can miraculously keep up with him most days, ZZ quickly tires everyone else out. Funny, my sister pointed out that it is ironic that his nickname is "ZZ" when he is not fond of sleeping himself, now I see that it is because he is prone to bring everyone else to the point of exhaustion instead :)
For his Birthday we went with a "Toy Story" theme, or as Zander calls it "Finity and Beyond!" Though Hulk is really his favorite, we decided to nix that idea as his "Hulk" mode usually consists of utter destruction and aggression for extended periods of time. (Much like the real Hulk I suppose).





We do this type of party for Ashton every year, have all the friends over for a themed party of his current favorite character of the time. We play games, eat cake and have a pinata dangle from our 2nd story. Well, I don't know what happened, but this time around for Zander was absolute chaos. Granted, we did have two year olds running around, but we also had a lot of older siblings and cousins come too and it was seriously out of control. I mean look at Ashton in this picture...he's crazed.





(Note to self: Check the HOA sprinkler schedule before planning a party where swarms of kids want to play outside in the mud puddles before tracking it all in)
I think the only time everyone was in sync was when we sang Happy Birthday and my little Z got to participate in his favorite past time: "blowed out" candles.



See that little face and arm coming up behind me? That is Zander's little friend Jake coming in for a secret covert operation to steal the blow from Zander on the candles. He succeeded so we had to re-light them for Z.



General chaos ensued during the presents where at many times I was prying kids off my shoulders, lap and head. We even had Toy Story 2 on the TV right there to try and divert attention somewhat. Present opening at parties can be a dangerous business, the crowd just keeps closing in until Mom becomes a victim of kid trampling.





An hour and a half couldn't come soon enough (thanks to all the other adults there helping me tame the little ones). After peeling leftover pizza slices off the wall and uncovering the last plate of abandoned cake and ice cream melt, Grandma and Grandpa brought out their present, which was a HUGE hit.





But Zander had more fun with the box....



I know this post is about Zander's birthday, but I can't resist commenting on Ashton's recent obsession with basketball ever since the Playoffs began. He's started collecting the little trading cards and making me DVR games so that he can watch them over and over. At the mall he asks if we are missing any games on TV and points out that the guy making our sandwiches at Subway looks like Pau Gasol from the Lakers. David is loving it and that basketball camp this July can't come soon enough for Ashton.
But back to Zander. I think he must have given the impression to the neighborhood that he really likes Bubble Guns (I suppose his aggressive hoarding of them in nursery might be a clue) because he made out with three cool ones. And enough Buzz Lightyear gear to last him well into next month before he destroys it all. Thanks to everyone that came and those brave enough to entrust me with their two year olds, I hope they didn't come away with too many battle scars :)

"To Infinity and Beyond!"