¡Three, Amigos!

The buds are coming out, it's just starting to finally warm up more regularly and college basketball is in full force. Which means that, once again, someone has had a birthday. Xan turned three today, which seems unfathomable to me -- and apparently to him, as well. (More on that in a moment.)

First, what has now become a birthday tradition. Here is Xan three years ago, pretty much to the minute:
At age one:Age two:And, this year, at age 3:

It seems that the one consistent thing about Xan's birthday is that we all desperately need a haircut around this time. Someone has certainly learned how to ham it up in front of the camera now, even pulling out a good "cheeeeese" when necessary. Even wrapped in a towel, he can turn on the charisma.

Naturally, it wouldn't have been his birthday without cake. Or, as it was, cakes.

This year, we decided to use "trains" as a birthday theme, considering his obsession with them. You will note that this year's cake is actually made up of seven little cakes, all laid out on chocolate train tracks. You may remember last year's cake madness; this year, I joined the madness by being in charge of the tracks, realized that I didn't like it plain like that and added the "grass" with colored white chocolate. Please note that the cake pictured above was actually the second cake of its kind today -- and it's not even the "real party" cake, which will come when we have his friends over on Saturday. That will be an even more impressive feat. Yes, we are that mad about cake.

And just in case you think there's no "party madness" this year, please note the following picture, with an anonymous woman in the background who thought that making trains out of cardboard boxes would be simple.

(We would be gunning for crazy party parents of the year but, alas, that honor has been claimed by someone looking for her cake... er, cape.)

Happy birthday, kiddo.