A 3 Year Old, 10 Kids, and 15 Square Meters

One week ago my little man, Matthew Alex, turned 3!

Matthew chose a McDonald's happy meal for his birthday meal. Claire and Matthew were playing "happy meal monsters" in this picture. :)

Matthew opening up some of his presents from family in the US.
Matthew loves puzzles.

We decided to invite all the boys in his class for a Toy Story Birthday party. We couldn't really invite specific boys, because we didn't know specific boys besides one other than Matthew. There are 12 boys in Matthew's class and we thought that surely only about 6 or 7 of those would respond. Well, all in all we had 10 kids (including Claire). I'll admit that I was a little worried about that many little boys in our small apartment, but we had a plan and my French friend, Aude, was there to help (she was a life-saver)! We prayed about the party and God answered. All the boys did so well. Matthew had a blast, so we labeled the evening as a success.

Doesn't he look like such a little man here? Look at that hand in the pocket. :)

You can see about half of the kids in this picture. Balloon games ruled the evening. Great way to get energy out! Matthew is in the back in the red and gray striped shirt.

Eating cupcakes and watching Toy Story.

We enjoyed being able to meet other parents and see the little boys that Matthew goes to preschool with. In Paris, people drop their kids off at preschool and leave very quickly to catch the train to work. There is hardly any time to talk and visit except for the occasional "bonjour" and "au revoir". Now that it is winter, I'm finding it hard to tell who people are all bundled up in their hats and coats! It's at parties like this that we get to know people and connect on a more "normal" level.

ABOUT MATTHEW

Now I have a 3 year old little boy! I can't believe it. It gets harder to believe with each child that I have. Here is a little description of our boy!

Likes:

-Watching football with Daddy.

-Wrestling with Daddy.

-Getting a baguette with Daddy. (see any patterns?)

-Playing airplane with his sister (they go all over the world in their airplane).

-Hamburgers

-Carrot Juice (the kid downs it and then asks for more)

-Running with no direction in mind at the park

-The movies Cars and Toy Story 2

-Playing with his Thomas the Train Set

-The color green

-Music (any kind) He can make a song out of anything.

-Learning about Jesus. Matthew understands Jesus as a real person who did real things.

-Hugs

Dislikes:

-Micah drooling on his toys. He shares them but just can't stand the drool.

-Melted cheese

-Quiet time coloring. He has a hard time sitting still for more than 5 minutes.

-Sticky hands

-People forgetting to say "goodbye" or "hello"

-Green Beans

-Coat Zippers. They have to be pulled down. He can't stand them touching his neck. :)

-Socks