Happy Birthday Tut!

Tut's birthday was yesterday and it was also exactly three months since we got custody of him. We had a birthday party for him yesterday after work at a local indoor play place. We had a great time visiting with friends and watching the kids play.

Some of the adults joined in too. :)

Tut seemed to understand that the party was for him and he knew exactly what to do with the candle after we sang Happy Birthday, but I'm not sure he understands the age part. On the way there, I was telling him that he is three now and holding up three fingers. The conversation went something like this. :)

Tut, you are three years old now. Tut is three!

No, mom three.

No, Tut is three. Three years.

No, mom three.

eh, whatever.

Tut doesn't seem to like cake. We went to a birthday party a month ago and he took one bite of cake and said he was done. At his party, he ate the ice cream but didn't eat the cake. He did taste the frosting though. I will test this theory again since we have lots of leftover cake, but it just means more for us! :)

Tut was very excited about his presents, but I think this one is the favorite. :)

He had a riding toy like it in Thailand too.

He also like the water/sand table we got him. He ended up getting presents at two different times because we didn't want to haul them all to the party. :)

I started back to work this week and Tut has been doing well at daycare. Last week we started part-time to help him get used to it. On Monday, we went for about three hours in the morning and I stayed the whole time. I tried to stay out of the way and not interact with him. At first, he wanted me next to him at all times, but by the end he was participating with all the kids and let me stand across the room.

The next day I explained that I was going to stay for ten minutes and then I left after that. He was pretty upset, but I told him I would pick him up after lunch. They said he cried for a few minutes and then was okay. The next day, Robby dropped him off and I picked him up after lunch again. He was upset when I got there because they were starting to put the kids down for naps. On Friday, he stayed for a full day. He was having fun playing when I got there and they said he did great.

This week, he has cried each time we drop him off, but first he shouts "len!" (play) when Robby pulls into the parking lot so we know he likes it there. :) His anxiety over the changes has mostly been displayed in his sleep problems. He wakes up a lot during the night and usually just wants me, so most nights I sleep in his room. It is a lot easier than walking back and forth 5-10 times each night. His behavior hasn't changed much, just a bit more grumpy from less sleep. He has definitely come a long way from our initial transition three months ago!

Thanks to everyone who gave us suggestions for the transition to daycare. I think the ones that helped us most were visiting the daycare a few times and starting with shorter days and going over a simple schedule with him. We started telling him that Robby would drop him off at school, he would play, eat lunch, take a nap and then I would pick him up. It seems to be working. Today he even wanted to finish the craft project he was working on when I came to pick him up, so we stayed a few more minutes. :)

We got the family pictures we took while visiting Robby's family. It is nice to have an updated one.

Tiana got these cute ones too. :)