For JP's big day, we decided to celebrate it after the CureSearch walk. He technically turned 3 on Monday, September 24th, but we figured family and everyone would be in town for the walk on Saturday, September 29th, so we'd have the "real" party then. I can't believe my little man is already 3! He is the still the size of a 2-year-old, my very own pint sized boy!
Some little facts about JP at age 3:
His favorite food is Cafe Rio salad with little chips and sauce (tomatillo dressing)
His favorite superhero is Spiderman
His favorite movie is Cars 2
He is in the 5th percentile for height and weight, or in the 50th percentile for 2-year olds (meaning he is the size and weight of your average 2 year old)
He says the funniest things to us every day (I asked JP what his shirt said (it says "let's roll") and he paused for a second before he exclaimed, "Hey wagon! Let's bounce!" or "I have a diagnosis - you have stuffed bellyosis!" or one day I took my hair down and JP ran his hands through it while saying, "Mom, your hair looks great!" He followed that by holding my face in his hands while saying, "Oh Mrs. Gibson!" with a big kiss on my cheek or "I want to tell you a secret!" so I lean over and he puts his hands around his mouth and whispers, "I'm so silly!" then covers his mouth and giggles. I could probably go on and on...)
He loves, loves, loves anything Utes related. Mostly Swoop.
He adores his baby sister but sometimes the chemo/steroids/cancer drugs get in the way of his better judgement and his sweet hugs turn into choke-holds and pats turn to hits. Maybe that's not a cancer thing and just a toddler thing?
Every morning when he wakes up he needs to know where his "cute baby," "sweetie," or "my baby" is. And the moment he sees her it's, "Hey Elsie girl! It's brother boy!"
He loves his Nurse Amanda, our home health nurse. She comes to draw his labs before chemo so we see her quite often. He calls her Nurse Amanda and himself Dr. JP and he will give us a full check up after she leaves - the same way she gives him check ups.
He can count to a million (ok, slight exaggeration)
He is better at the iPad, PlayStation and Wii games than me - how is that possible?
He loves to play NCAA football (PlayStation) with his daddy.
He has a huge heart and hates to see anyone sad. "Mommy, are you sad? *kiss* There, don't you feel better?" and "Let's take these cars to my cancer kids at the hospital so they can feel better like me!"
He is an amazing example of strength - without even realizing it. He has no idea how brave he is.
Moving on to the celebration part of him turning 3... We have a friend from when we lived in Cedar City who bakes amazing cakes for her friends. She sent me a message on Facebook and asked if she could make JP his birthday cake. Um, yeah! We all know I can't frost cakes to save my life so this was an amazing offer. I didn't realize just how amazing it was going to be until she delivered it and JP broke it basically immediately because he tried to pick it up to put it on thinking it was a real Utes football helmet! It really was incredible - I can't even imagine how long it took her. All I know is that every cake he will have for the rest of his life will never be as awesome. And that's ok.
We went to a park and had a small lunch and let JP run around playing with his cousins and a few friends. I remember sitting at a picnic table watching JP run around on the grass giggling and chasing/being chased by his friends/cousins/uncles and I had to keep blinking to clear the waterworks from my eyes so I could see it clearly. He was just SO HAPPY. I hate that cancer took our care-free summer of running and playing away from us. I hate that we couldn't even do "normal" summer activities (like playing at the park) because his numbers were too low to be around other people. I hate that all I see is germs wherever I go. That being said, JP's birthday could not have been more perfect and even if it was just for a day, we were able to pretend we were kinda normal. It was nice!
Just look at the joy on his face!
He seriously loves Swoop. As in L-O-V-E-S Swoop.
Tearing into his gifts
Ever wonder where JP gets his silly personality?
Thank you to everyone that came to the walk and/or to JP's small birthday gathering. We are tremendously blessed to have such a large support system.
He is just so cute! And that cake is amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteIt was so good to see him playing, and eating, and happy! You too! We are so glad that we were able to make it.
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