While Zachary isn’t going to turn four until November, I’m already planning things to do for his birthday. I really like this set of questions to ask your little one each year. I wish I had started when Zachary turned three, but I know his answers will be a lot more fun at four since he is so much more interactive now.

• What is your favorite color?
• What is your favorite toy?
• What is your favorite fruit?
• What is your favorite TV show?
• What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?
• What is your favorite thing to wear?
• What is your favorite game?
• What is your favorite snack?
• What is your favorite animal?
• What is your favorite song?
• What is your favorite book?
• Who is your best friend?
• What is your favorite cereal?
• What is your favorite thing to do outside?
• What is your favorite drink?
• What is your favorite holiday?
• What do you like to take to bed with you at night?
• What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?
• What do you want for dinner on your birthday?
• What do you want to be when you grow up?

I can’t wait to see what his answers will be!

Have you tried this activity with your child for their birthday? Are there any other questions you asked (or would ask)?

He had an awesome Angry Birds party with our family and closest friends in attendance. Zachary absolutely LOVES playing Angry Birds (and we are eagerly awaiting Angry Birds Space coming out tomorrow, actually), so I decided to give his party a birdy theme. He was thrilled!

I had a lot of fun making everything for the party and at the end of the post, I’ll share some of the sources I used (almost everything was found on Pinterest) to create his Angry Birds Birthday eggggs-travaganza!

Angry Birds Cupcakes: Wal-Mart (they were surprisingly great!)

Balloon and Treat Bags: template here

Angry Birds Figurines – from Amazon, but no longer available

Birthday Sign – found on Pinterest

Angry Birds Plush – from Amazon

Inside the treat bags were Angry Birds Stickers and Angry Birds Coloring Pages (along with crayons and M&M’s!)

Angry Birds t-shirt – found on eBay (and no longer there), but similar to this one on Amazon

We can’t believe that we have such a grown-up little boy now, and the three years since Zachary’s birth have simply flown by. We are so thankful to have such a happy, thoughtful, and creative child. At three years old, Zachary loves to play with us, hug us, tell us how much he loves Mommy and Daddy, and he is constantly singing the most adorable songs. He is the happiest kid we know, and an absolute gift. It’s been so exciting to watch him grow up, and I love watching his personality and interests develop.

Happy birthday to our sweet boy with lots of love from Mommy, Daddy, Maya the dog, and your whole family!

Here is a dreamy looking shot of Maya at her happiest – snuggled into a patch of warm grass, with a tennis ball in her mouth. Happy birthday, little Maya! We love you!

Although we’re just planning to have a small family party again for his third birthday (as part of our celebration will be Zachary’s first trip to Disney World this fall), I’m still thinking about how I can fulfill his wishes for a fun party centered around one of his favorite games.

How old were your kids when they chose their own birthday party theme?

I’ve found some great inspiration for the Angry Birds party using Pinterest and basic Google searching.

First off, this adorable blue bird angry birds plush toy, which Zachary says is his favorite. Definitely need to get him one of these:

Gorgeous Angry Birds cookie favors by The Cookie Jar:

Fabulous Angry Birds party decorations by Busy Bee Party:

Last but not least, there are some amazing cakes out there! This one is from Little Miss OC’s Kitchen:

We had a very low key party for him, with just my parents, grandma, my best friend Amy (Z’s godmother) and our close friends Jason & Lu and their 3 month old baby daughter Lana. Zachary was showered with some amazing presents! He got a ton of Thomas/train stuff, an amazing train rug/playmat from GG, Toy Story stuff from Jason & Lu and Aunt Lissa & Uncle Brij from NY (who sent their packages – we will see them next month though), clothes, and a very cool tool/building workshop from Aunt Amy. Gram Z and Grampap from TN got Zachary some early birthday gifts when we saw them about 2 months ago, which he’s already been loving, especially his tent and alphabet magnets!  We also got some very sweet cards with gifts inside from other family members.

It was so  nice to spend time with our closest family members and friends. After a fun but hectic 1st birthday party, and the knowledge that his 3rd birthday will be hectic too, since he will want to have  all of his friends, it was a relief to have the special people in our life with us to share our baby’s birthday and just enjoy the day.

Here are some photos from the party. Zachary loooooooved all the Thomas decorations & seeing the cake. He especially loved the Thomas bracelets I got for him at the party store. He would not take them off! It was so much fun to see his face light up when he saw a “choo choo!” :)

After everyone went home, Adrian and I sat with Zachary as he played with his new trains, and talked about what a great day it was. It sounds cliche to write that, but that’s just what we did. We looked over at our sweet little boy, who was loving his new toys, his new Thomas DVD, and thoroughly enjoying playing, and thinking about how great our family is and how lucky we are to have our Zachary. We fell asleep early that night after putting Zachary to bed. It was a great end to a a great day!

There is a lot more that I could probably say about my little guy being two, but I think that paragraph kind of sums it up. I wouldn’t know where else to start. We are so happy to have our happy, quirky, adorable, funny boy. He is the most precious thing in the world to us. We are beyond excited because we know just how much he is going to grow and learn and change this year as he is on the road to turning 3 – and we can’t wait to find out just a little bit more of who he will become along the way. We love you, Zachary!

Photos taken on Sunday, November 21st.

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Zachary’s pumpkin-themed first birthday party was featured on the fun and inspiring kids’ party blog, Party Like a Kid! I’m a huge fan of the blog and love checking out the photos they post to get ideas for parties that I may have myself in the future. I still have NO clue what we’re doing for Zachary’s 2nd birthday party, but for now you can click the link below and relive fun times from his first birthday!

Click here to check out the feature!

Happy birthday to my mommy! I couldn’t have asked for a better mom who is there to help me out, help out with Zachary and Maya when needed, and provide support and advice. I love her very much!

Here’s a picture of me and my mom from my baby shower in 2008:

Thanks to my friend Jessica for taking this pic! :)